10 AUGUST 2005 MUFAMADI IMPRESSED BY JOBURG'S STRATEGY ON BILLING The Minister for Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi met earlier this month with the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Councillor Amos Masondo, the Member of the Mayoral Committee responsible for finance, Councillor Parks Tau, the city manager, Pascal Moloi, and the CEO for Revenue Roland Hunter. The purpose of the meeting was to brief Minister Mufamadi on the progress made in resolving the City of Johannesburg's revenue and billing challenges. "I was very encouraged by what was presented. The steps the City itself has taken to address their revenue issues including the billing problems impressed me. I was briefed on their Programme Phakama (relating to the restructuring of the revenue function in the City) and am pleased that Project Consolidate will be contributing to the implementation of some of that work. "The involvement of Project Consolidate in this particular initiative evidences the principle of collective responsibility and accountability for municipal performance across the spheres of government. The City's revenue and billing challenges are indeed the challenges of government as a whole,” says Minister Mufamadi. The national department recently appointed Mr Tsogang Sebina as a Service Delivery Facilitator to work with the City of Johannesburg specifically on their municipal billing and revenue systems. "I believe that the City of Johannesburg's efforts, in conjunction with Project Consolidate, will give a much-needed boost to the generally poor image local government has and that they constitute a genuine contribution to helping other municipalities to fast-track their learning curve. Finding creative solutions to issues such as poverty - as Joburg has done with its Special Cases Policy - is something I appreciate because the challenges we face cannot be tackled individually. "I have requested the City and my Department to work together to identify ways in which the City can share their experiences so we can replicate these elsewhere and enhance our collective learning,” says Minister Mufamadi. ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY FOR PROVINCIAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT For more information please contact Xolani Xundu, Media Liaison Officer, at (012) 334 0680 or 082 777 8079