A Guide for Councillors

The Role of Councillors in Municipal Finance Management

Part 3

The organisational structure needs to be ef fi cient and ensure that the administration is accountable to council and that council is accountable to the community it serves.

The municipal council approves the organisational structure when the budget is adopted. Staf fi ng must be in line with the tasks outlined in the IDP and should be affordable in terms of the budget. Council needs to carefully consider how each function is to be done before it recruits or allocates staff. Council must be sure that the people it employs are able to do the job. They must also attempt to fi ll all posts advertised as quickly as possible. Failure by the people employed by the council will lead to failure by the council to deliver on its promises. Setting the number of staff SOME PEOPLE SAY THAT WORKING FOR THE MUNICIPALITY IS EASY – THEY SAY THEY DON ‛ T HAVE TO WORK VERY HARD...

WHEN WE APPROVE THE NUMBER OF STAFF, WE SHOULD BE SURE THAT THEY ARE ALL ACTUALLY NEEDED. THEY MUST ALL BE ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS SERVICE DELIVERY.

The staff complement must be able to

meet municipal service objectives fi t within fi nancial constraints meet the municipality’s fi nancial ability to sustain services.

The overall goal is to balance staf fi ng with the budget. • • •

36

Understanding the Municipal Finance Management Act