Former Makana Municipal Manager, Pravine Naidoo has been instrumental in drafting a new law which will prevent municipal bosses being employed in South African government and the world if found guilty of misconduct.
Former Makana Municipal Manager, Pravine Naidoo has been instrumental in drafting a new law which will prevent municipal bosses being employed in South African government and the world if found guilty of misconduct.
Naidoo explained that the new proposed legislation was an effort to professionalise local government management and enhance the Local Government: Municipal Systems Amendment Act 07 of 2011 recently signed by President Jacob Zuma.
The legislation is currently being reviewed by the portfolio committee responsible for Local Government and Traditional Affairs before it goes to parliament.
Rhodes alumnus, Naidoo is now based in Paarl, in the Western Cape. He is the Chairperson of the Institute for Local Government Management of South Africa's regulatory and professionalisation committee.
If this law is passed, its legislated form will be known as the Local Government: Professional Management Act of 2012.
Purpose of act
This Act, according Naidoo, compels municipal councils to appoint qualified, non-political, and competent municipal managers and senior managers to lead and manage the administration of their municipalities.
“Any municipal manager or senior manager whom are found to be guilty of corruption, mismanagement, maladministration, financial misconduct or any other misconduct by their municipalities, will be summarily, after due process, struck off the roll of local government management practitioners," Naidoo explained in a recent press release.
"This effectively means that, depending on the nature of their misconduct and stipulated time-periods, they would never be able to obtain employment in any municipality in South Africa or internationally whatsoever.”
“We want to enhance the image of local government management in South Africa," said Naidoo.
"We want our municipal administrations to manage public resources in an effective and efficient manner, in order to inspire confidence from members of the public."
The proposed law will also call for all municipal managers and senior managers to register with the not yet established South African Professional Local Government Management Council. Under this body, they would have to subscribe to a Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics.
More than an act
In addition, a new professional post-graduate practice qualification would be made compulsory for municipal managers and senior managers, in order for them to be "professionally certified".
President of the institute, Khayo Mpungose, said that there was a need for stringent measures in local government "otherwise it becomes a loose arrangement and compromises professionalism".
"The law evolves out of a need. If there are gaps, you obviously have to deal with them," Mpungose said.
While the national and provincial spheres have public service commissions to regulate professional conduct, local government have no such regulatory framework.
"Generally, as a key stakeholder, we believe it must be there."
He said that the draft legislation had the support of the Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs, as well as the South African Local Government Association.
