The council's failure to appoint a new CFO before the end of August will place tremendous pressure on the metro.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber (NMBBC) president Andrew Muir has urged the Nelson Mandela Bay Council to urgently fast-track the appointment of a permanent CFO “to avoid further dysfunction in the metro” after the NMBBC expressed its concern over the council’s failure to appoint a new CFO, as well as other key personnel.
This comes after the council, which is on recess until 20 September, has still not met to approve the appointment of new key personnel.
On 18 September 2018, then-Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene set new regulations, making it compulsory for all municipal councils to make the relevant competency requirements a condition of employment after it was revealed that more than half of South Africa’s municipal CFOs and managers do not have the required minimum competency levels – even at large municipalities including Johannesburg and Tshwane.
Read more: Nhlanhla Nene says more than half of municipal CFOs not properly qualified
Muir said that the concerns were despite National Treasury reporting that the failure to appoint a permanent CFO before the end of August, would affect the approval of any rollover applications for unspent conditional grants.
Muir said:
“Should this happen, it would place tremendous pressure on the metro’s financial viability – leading to further non-performance on critical service delivery areas.”
He explained that all the role players need to recommit towards rebuilding the city and putting the best interests of its people first.
