Johannesburg’s ability to recover from its existential administrative and infrastructure problems will depend substantively on whether its next government can install competent leadership across the city’s key institutions, according to the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE), a think tank in Johannesburg.

The warning comes in CDE’s latest report, Kickstarting Delivery – Joburg’s Mission Critical Jobs, the third publication in its Johannesburg Matters series.

“Unless the right people are in charge of key functions it is not possible to get better results. Getting senior appointments right is critical to the pace and quality of reform. It is also why these changes can be expected to face opposition from vested interests,” the report states.

CDE executive director Ann Bernstein says the first major challenge facing the administration elected in November will be deciding who should run the city and its major utilities.

“The first test of the government elected in November will be who it appoints to run Johannesburg,” Bernstein says. She argues that broader efforts to improve the city would have little effect if the institutions responsible for implementing them remained compromised, incapacitated, and politicised.

Johannesburg has experienced considerable political instability in recent years. Since 2016, the city has had nine mayors and eight coalition administrations, while senior positions at municipal entities have frequently changed hands.

The report highlights concerns about both political interference and shortages of specialised skills. One shocking revelation is that not one of the members of the Johannesburg Water Board is a professionally qualified engineer, while at least seven of the city’s 24 most senior management positions are currently filled in an acting capacity.

As the report observes: “The hollowing out of the City’s senior management is one of the most damaging consequences of years of political interference in appointments.”

This would not be news to the city: its own annual reports have identified continuing vacancies in critical areas including engineering, financial management, information and communications technology, project management, and supply-chain management.

CDE says that a transparent and competitive process to appoint a highly capable city manager is essential, while arguing that Johannesburg Water, City Power, and Pikitup require boards with appropriate technical, financial, and management expertise.

The organisation also wants the incoming administration to conduct an immediate audit of the people occupying mission-critical posts, including their appointment dates, contracts, and employment status. Vacant positions should be filled quickly, while only officials who are performing effectively should be retained.

One recommendation is that board members of the city’s utilities should be appointed on three-year contracts, rather than the current one-year arrangement, which makes them susceptible to political manipulation, and abuse for patronage. Boards would need to seek out the best CEO for the position, and they would need to be held accountable for successfully leading their organisation.

Bernstein says, before the election, political parties should commit to making appointments on the basis of competence, experience, and integrity, and to preventing political office-bearers from interfering in procurement, appointments, and operational matters.

“Senior appointments and board positions cannot continue to be treated as political bargaining chips,” she says.

CDE also says temporary external expertise may sometimes be necessary where infrastructure faces an immediate risk of failure. Such interventions, it argues, should have defined objectives, transparency, and accountability.

“People trump policy,” Bernstein states, arguing that institutional capacity must be strengthened if wider reforms are to produce results.