Local government officials need to lead beyond the authority they are vested with when collaborating with the private and non-governmental sectors. At the same time they need to be culturally intelligent‚ with an ability to work well with people who are different from them.
This was the advice from a panel discussion on 21st century leadership in local governance headed by Common Purpose South Africa CEO Elsbeth Dixon. She was speaking at a conference on local government leadership in Pretoria.
Dixon said that traditional notions of authority within businesses did not always translate well into lessons for local politicians‚ considering both the political and executive responsibilities of local government.
“We need to be able to operate in a very different set of spaces and have the courage to listen and respond to feedback in those spaces‚” she said.
Creating reliable networks and learning from other cities was important in redefining the approach to local government‚ said Dixon. She added that improved communication between local government and its constituents was crucial to improving services.
Panellist and political scientist Matlotleng Matlou said local government needed to fix the small service delivery issues and that citizens need to be a bit tougher on politicians. He was disapproving of the City of Tshwane’s vision 2055‚ saying Tshwane needed to fix problems in 2015 to build a patriotic spirit amongst people.
“It is high time that the complacency that has set into South Africa ends‚” said Matlou “We have overplayed the miracle of 1994 and leaders have taken for granted their position (sic). We are cruising on a plateau.”
He added that citizens should be taught to understand politics more in a bid to reinvigorate the power of the vote. “It is important that we appropriate the word servant and give it status. The elections for local government are next year‚ organise‚ if you think that the current believe that the present local government is not satisfactory then kick them out‚” he said.
“(In) the South African context there will be allegiance to particular political formations because of the history behind them‚ but you can’t eat history‚ it will not develop us. We have got to get to the point where we say you are voted in to office to deliver.”
Culture of service needed in local government
Local government officials need to lead beyond the authority they are vested with when collaborating with the private and non-governmental sectors. At the same time they need to be culturally intelligent‚ with an ability to work well with people who are different from them.
This was the advice from a panel discussion on 21st century leadership in local governance headed by Common Purpose South Africa CEO Elsbeth Dixon. She was speaking at a conference on local government leadership in Pretoria.
Dixon said that traditional notions of authority within businesses did not always translate well into lessons for local politicians‚ considering both the political and executive responsibilities of local government.
“We need to be able to operate in a very different set of spaces and have the courage to listen and respond to feedback in those spaces‚” she said.
Creating reliable networks and learning from other cities was important in redefining the approach to local government‚ said Dixon. She added that improved communication between local government and its constituents was crucial to improving services.
Panellist and political scientist Matlotleng Matlou said local government needed to fix the small service delivery issues and that citizens need to be a bit tougher on politicians. He was disapproving of the City of Tshwane’s vision 2055‚ saying Tshwane needed to fix problems in 2015 to build a patriotic spirit amongst people.
“It is high time that the complacency that has set into South Africa ends‚” said Matlou “We have overplayed the miracle of 1994 and leaders have taken for granted their position (sic). We are cruising on a plateau.”
He added that citizens should be taught to understand politics more in a bid to reinvigorate the power of the vote. “It is important that we appropriate the word servant and give it status. The elections for local government are next year‚ organise‚ if you think that the current believe that the present local government is not satisfactory then kick them out‚” he said.
“(In) the South African context there will be allegiance to particular political formations because of the history behind them‚ but you can’t eat history‚ it will not develop us. We have got to get to the point where we say you are voted in to office to deliver.”
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