Learning from a decade of partnership
It’s 10 years since the metro got together with business and central city property owners to create the Cape Town Partnership, and its successeshave been widely praised. KATHARINE MCKENZIE looks at ideas that have come out of this approach to urban management.
Swopping waste for food
An innovative programme of supplying food parcels in return for waste collection has proved successful in informal settlements in Hibiscus Coast Municipality.
Recruiting – and keeping – the right people
Lack of capacity is often cited as a reason for poor service delivery, but good municipal human resource managers can make a plan to attract and retain the calibre of people they need. LUKE REID spoke to five HR managers about the challenges they face and the solutions they have found to overcome these.
Improving municipal audits
Achieving an unqualified audit should now be right at the top of the priority list.
Reaping what they sow
Small-scale farming is helping poor communities to help themselves, with thousands of locals growing their own fresh organic food and many of them earning a living from their produce.
Boom time in Maputo
A growing economy and greater regional integration bring a sense of optimism to the bustling streets of the Mozambican capital, despitethe obvious disparity between rich and poor.
What is wrong with local government?
Service delivery protests that are increasingl y frequent and more violent are not only hitting the municipalities with the poorest service delivery but of ten high capacity ones too, with profound implications for the entire system of local government.
Why the co-operative governance system needs to change
Local government is in severe distress, the economic crisis is hitting hard and service delivery protests signal rising public dissatisfaction.YUNUS CARRIM says it’s time for a major public debate about the structure and function of our government.
Rating public investment
Which is a better investment – RDP housing or social rental housing? That’s the question researchers set out to answer as South Africa continues to struggle with its massive housing challenge.
Managing risk in a recession
Local government will not be spared the fall-out of the recession, but argues GLENN HO, this is an ideal time to review municipal efficiencies and focus on doing more with less.
Talking to Landiwe Mahlangu
As soon as the World Cup is over, the country heads right into the 2011 local government elections SHARIVAN MOODLEY spoke to the Chairperson of the Municipal Demarcation Board about what promises to be a hotly contested poll.
Using soccer to fight crime
In the crowded township of Khayelitsha, a group of motivated young people are working to fight crime and encourage tourism.
Harry Pothole and the New Minister of Magic
Tyres are burning. Freeways blocked. Rubbish overturned. The people are not happy – at least in those municipalities run like a fish and chips shop that hasn’t changed its oil for two years.