Council Speaker Nandi Mayathula-Khoza accepts certificates on behalf of councillors at a recent graduation ceremony

RELATED LINKS: Councillors noted for upgrading skills A SPECIAL ceremony was held in honour of some 70 councillors who completed courses to upgrade their skills, part of a project aimed at improving service delivery for Joburg residents. Read more Councillors go back to school THE City of Johannesburg has embarked on a new exercise meant to improve the capacity of councillors, developing skills they could use elsewhere once their terms of office end. Read more Office of the Speaker THE Speaker presides over council meetings, ensuring that they take place every three months and are conducted in accordance with the rules and orders of the City. Read more Office of the City Manager JOHANNESBURG'S administration has been radically overhauled to produce a much tighter and more focused headquarters core, unique among major South African cities. At the head of city administration is the management team chaired by the city manager, Pascal Moloi, who also sits on the mayor's committee to ensure a close working relationship. Read more

Better trained councillors give better service CITY councillors have undergone extensive training to ensure they improve their service and advance the City's Batho Pele vision. June 23, 2005 By Anish Abraham EXPECT improved service from City councillors: extensive training programmes have been undertaken by the City to boost the level of skills and performance of its council members. Unknown to many people, councillors have been undergoing training over the past four years. They have been taking part in various programmes aimed at increasing their productivity and advancing the City's vision of Batho Pele - People First - and service delivery excellence. The Policy on Capacity Building for Councillors was approved by the City on 28 June 2001. In line with the business plan, councillor training has been commissioned through the Office of the City Manager and managed by the Office of the Speaker. Although the training has been taking place since the policy was approved, those councillors who have taken part were only recently publicly acknowledged for their commitment to gaining new skills, at a ceremony at the Westcliff Hotel in Parktown. "Such courses are needed to ensure quality service for the electorate as well as to develop better councillors," said the speaker, Nandi Mayathula-Khoza, at that function. Leadership Through the programmes councillors learn to develop policy decisions effectively, to demonstrate confidant political leadership and to provide a democratic and accountable local government. Shirly Serobatse, the head of councillor training in the Office of the Speaker, said the Office of the Council Chief Whip and respective party whips were responsible for nominating councillors for the various training programmes. The Councillor Training and Capacity Building Programme is divided into two parts. The first is a study assistance programme, through which councillors can register with an accredited institution and study towards a chosen qualification. The second is short-term training programmes, which are outcomes-based and accredited by the respective sectoral education and training authorities (Setas). Serobatse said the training strategy devised by the City included activities ranging from the acquisition of simple skills to the development and change of complex socio-economic attitudes. "The process of identifying needs is ongoing and the training programmes planned are always adaptable to the changing needs of the councillors." Ethics Those councillors selected to attend the training programmes have been exposed to several courses over the past four years, with a new set of courses each year. These include effective communication in business, business ethics and corporative governance and financial management. The Department of Provincial and Local Government, the South African Local Government Association and Technikon SA have facilitated some of the programmes. Councillors who completed courses this year studied business English, basic isiZulu and project management. Mayathula-Khoza said there were also some council members who were working towards completing their Bachelors and Masters degrees, which would ensure that the quality of service provided by these councillors would improve. From R95 000 in 2001/2002, the programme has been expanded and a budget of R1,5-million for the 2005/2006 financial year has been approved. Some of the courses scheduled for July 2005 to June 2006 include a woman leadership training programme, voice training and power presentations, team building, driver training and computer training. For more information, contact the Office of the Speaker on 011 407 7487. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za