Zungu’s Crucible: Can Johannesburg’s new MMC steer the City toward stability?
Opinion
Amid eroding public trust and service delivery challenges, the appointment of Councillor Sithembiso Zungu as the new Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Group Corporate and Shared Services represents both an opportunity and an immense challenge.
Image: Facebook
JOHANNESBURG stands at a crossroads. Amid eroding public trust and service delivery challenges, the appointment of Councillor Sithembiso Zungu as the new Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Group Corporate and Shared Services represents both an opportunity and an immense challenge.
Tasked with overhauling the city’s administrative functions, Zungu must transition from his role as ANC Chief Whip, where he navigated complex coalition politics, to a leader who can help reposition Johannesburg as a functional, world-class city.
Zungu assumes responsibility for Group Corporate and Shared Services at a critical juncture. The Auditor-General continues to red flag the city’s irregular expenditure while Treasury is threatening to defund the City.
So key to the City's turnaround strategy would be the calibre of professionals that can reposition the City to a world-class city. This portfolio oversees vital functions including financial management, human resources, IT systems and supply chain operations, all essential for effective governance.
And with the City's budget exceeding R80 billion, the ability of the new MMC to implement sound financial controls and improve operational efficiency will directly impact service delivery to the city’s 6 million residents.
The challenges are stark. Johannesburg’s residents have grown increasingly disillusioned after years of incoherent communication, inconsistent service delivery and governance failures. Where there should be pride in Africa’s economic hub, there is instead frustration and unmet promises.
The city struggles to communicate its successes while every new crisis dominates public discourse, further eroding confidence in municipal leadership. There is absolutely nothing different or extraordinary that the City of Joburg and City of Tshwane are doing.
The City of Joburg must work, and we hope Zungu’s experience as Chief Whip, where he maintained party discipline amid coalition tensions, prepared him for tough negotiations will come in handy. However, his new role demands different skills; he must now demonstrate administrative vision rather than political manoeuvring.
Key priorities include improving revenue collection systems to address the city’s financial sustainability, balancing labour relations with productivity demands, and ensuring competent personnel in critical positions through the professionalisation of the administration.
Critically, Zungu must address the perception gap between government actions and public awareness. Johannesburg boasts numerous skilled professionals and thought leaders whose expertise remains underutilised. By engaging academics, business leaders and technical experts, and implementing transparent performance metrics, Zungu can begin rebuilding trust in city administration.
For Johannesburg to regain its stature as a world-class city, Zungu must recognise that while all political parties practice cadre deployment, the difference between success and failure lies in deploying and surrounding political offices with competent and efficient experts. He must champion operational efficiency by streamlining processes to accelerate service delivery while tapping into the city's vast pool of technical and professional expertise.
This requires implementing transparent governance measures with clear accountability for all departments, ensuring that appointments are based on merit and technical competence rather than political loyalty alone.
By combining skilled professionals with political leadership, Zungu can create an administration capable of reclaiming Johannesburg’s status as a world-class city. This comprehensive approach must be coupled with robust communication strategies that highlight progress and rebuild public confidence in municipal operations.
The political context also adds complexity, as with local elections approaching, MMC Zungu must therefore balance party expectations with the need for technocratic reforms that could help redefine the ANC’s reputation as a party of governance rather than just patronage and corruption.
With the ANC having placed significant trust in Zungu’s abilities, Johannesburg residents are wary of a City that is always in the news for the wrong reasons and will judge this appointment by tangible results.
The opportunity exists for Zungu to become the leader who reconnects the city's government with its people, if he can translate political experience into administrative excellence. The task is formidable, but the rewards, which are a functional Johannesburg that works for all its residents, make it worthy of the effort.
The coming months will reveal whether MMC Zungu can meet this historic challenge.
* Phapano Phasha is the chairperson of The Centre for Alternative Political and Economic Thought.
** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, IOL, or Independent Media.