By Thebe Mabanga
The funding model for municipalities requires a radical overhaul, alongside a call for professionalisation within the local government sector, according to Dr. Imogen Mashazi, the outgoing City Manager of Ekurhuleni set to retire at the end of July after a distinguished career spanning more than three decades.
Mashazi also advocates for the elimination of cadre deployment and the signing performance contract at all levels of employment, including general workers and cleaners, not just municipal senior managers, Heads of Departments (HODs) and executives.
“The funding model of local government needs to be relooked, we are seeing municipalities collapse and more will follow” she said in an interview with Inside Metros.
Mashazi points to the fuel levy as one area ripe for reform, noting that while it is collected at fuel stations within municipalities, the revenue goes directly to the national government.
She argues that a portion should be retained locally to strengthen municipal finances.
In a position likely to spark debate, Mashazi also calls for an end to the ringfencing of conditional grants, suggesting that municipalities should be given greater discretion in how these funds are allocated to meet local priorities.
“Even the equitable share formula must be reviewed” she said.
Local government currently receives just 7% of nationally raised revenue, while national departments get over 50% and provinces receive around 40%.
Mashazi believes this distribution is imbalanced, arguing that provinces receive a disproportionate share relative to their responsibilities.
She cites, for example, the R1.9 billion in healthcare workers’ salaries, which she believes should be fully funded by provincial governments rather than burdening municipalities.
While municipalities are expected to raise their own revenue through electricity and water tariffs, property rates, and licence fees, Mashazi says this model is flawed.
High unemployment and widespread poverty mean many residents simply cannot afford to pay for basic services.
“We provide services to RDP settlements, hostels and informal settlements and people do not pay for those services” she said.
Then challenges such as illegal connections and other leakages compound the problem — resulting in the City purchasing R3 billion worth of electricity from Eskom, but recovering only R2 billion in revenue.
In areas directly supplied by Eskom, enforcement measures such as cutting off supply are not enforceable, further weakening municipal control.
On professionalising the administration, Mashazi emphasises that municipalities must adhere to established guidelines, such as the proper composition of interview panels.
She notes that these are often violated, with politicians dominating interview processes in an attempt to override accounting officers or external experts.
Mashazi recently hosted a private, intimate gathering for selected friends and colleagues to celebrate her 65th birthday and her pending retirement.
Guests included the MMC for Finance, Jongizizwe Dlabathi; acting City Manager and CFO Kagiso Lerutle; her Heads of Departments and senior managers; her friend Savita Mbuli; media personality Kgopedi Dilokwe; and former Ekurhuleni City Manager Paul Maseko.
The occasion turned out to be a bittersweet reflection on a life and career marked by many notable achievements—yet not without its setbacks.
The most recent challenge was an attempt by council to inexplicably place her on enforced leave for the final three months of her tenure.
This followed a health scare in March, which she attributed to suspected poisoning.
The incident led to the failure of her internal organs and, alarmingly, was said to be spreading to her brain.
“As a woman of prayer, I dedicated my healing to the Almighty God, and I’m truly grateful to still be alive. I never thought I would reach 65.” Mashazi as she invoked a popular Psalm 23.
Maseko reflected on the early battles he led as City Manager and Mashazi was heading the Department of Health when City of Ekurhuleni was formed in 2000 by amalgamating 11 town councils.
One of the battles they waged, and won, was to have the City named Ekurhuleni, a move that was resisted on the grounds that Tsonga language from which the word is drawn is spoken by a relatively small proportion of residents.
Lerutle, now the acting city manager who Mashazi has endorsed as a successor, paid tribute to Mashazi’s mentorship and motherly leadership style.
Lerutle represents a shrewd hiring strategy on Mashazi’s part.
He leads a crop of professionals who were poached from the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) who also include the head of supply chain Mpho Mphuthi and, tragically, the recently deceased Mpho Mafole.
Lerutle has been directly responsible for helping Ekurhuleni obtain successive clean audit from the 2019/2020 financial year and have maintained high audit standards since.
One of the practices she eliminated was to allow for deviation in supply chain practices.
“It became known that if you come to with a deviation, you must also have your resignation letter. Because I just did not allow it” she said.
Mashazi expressed pride at how the team that she has assembled has grown together.
She used the occasion to remind her subordinates to respect the political leadership but not bow to their pressure.
“Yes, respect your principals (MMCs), but remember that your accounting officer, the city manager, is your boss,” she said of a political interference, a practice she detests.
She is particularly proud that she has served her two terms in full and was appointed first by the ANC, then reappointed under a Democratic Alliance led coalition under former mayor Tanya Campbell.
This shows high regard for her across party lines.
Former Ekurhuleni city manager, Dr. Imogen Mashazi. PHOTO: Eddie Mtsweni
Mashazi proudest moments, and early impact in Ekurhuleni came in the early 90s when she was stationed in Springs at a time when black workers and residents could not access health facilities in town.
She sourced funding from Impala Platinum and converted a police station at Payneville into a clinic.
After that she completely changed the face of clinics in the then East Rand.
Mashazi, who holds a doctorate in Nursing Science, belong to a generation of nurses from her area of origin, Soweto, who after the 1976 riots when white doctors could not enter the area were trained with basic clinical skills such as reaching diagnosis and prescribe schedule 1 to 4 medication.
This was not the case in East Rand and clinics only offered prevention and promotional services. Mashazi helped expand the service to include curative as well as rehabilitative service to offer a full spectrum pf primary health care.
She then became Head of Department for Health and Social Development under former mayor Ntombi Mekgwe then under former mayor Mondli Gungubele, she was made COO.
She led the City to several notable accolades including the best in customer satisfaction for service delivery, a title the City later lost to Cape Town, as well as green and blue drop status for water quality.
Mashazi is described as a driven leader who can stay up till late to refine something she needs implemented.
“I am an aesthetic person, when we were redesigning clinics, I would sit with the architects to get what I wanted,” said Mashazi.
Mashazi now looks forward to a period of brief rest while setting up her foundation which will focus on women empowerment, health and wellness issues.
She also hopes to contribute to the body of knowledge on leadership and governance.
The City has lost a stylish, resilient and brilliant steward for its residents.
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