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One of the youngest mayors in the
country, Timothy Nast’s determination to implement
good governance in Midvaal Municipality is bearing
fruit.
Born in Johannesburg, Nast, 27, grew up in the
picturesque village of Henley-on-Klip, where he cut
his teeth in local government politics as a
representative of the former Democratic Party which
evolved into the Democratic Alliance. |
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Mayor’s vision for
Midvaal
His vision for Midvaal, which has a
population of more than 100 000, is “to keep it an
area where people can live a good quality of life at
an affordable rate”
Nast’s goal as executive mayor is to ensure that the
municipal infrastructure is maintained and that
Midvaal stays financially sound.
“The economic downturn forced the council in the
beginning of 2009 to implement tough measures to
protect its revenue stream.
“Daily, one hears of municipalities that are unable
to meet their salary bills, because ratepayers are
suffering financially in the recession. Businesses
are being forced to lay off staff and to reduce
working hours as the effects of the financial crisis
hit home.
“Recently, the Minister of Finance announced that
the national government’s revenue in the first
quarter of this year fell short of its target by
R15-billion. More and more of our ratepayers are
finding it increasingly difficult to pay their rates
and service bills.”
At the beginning of July, Nast called a meeting of
the municipality’s 600 workers to explain the impact
that the recession was having on the local
authority, and how each one could implement savings
in their respective departments by becoming
cost-efficient.
“The process of debt-collecting is painful in these
tough economic times, but the biggest mistake
ratepayers can make is to ignore the outstanding
amounts on their municipal accounts.
“We understand their situation, but those who are in
financial difficulty are invited to make special
arrangements with the municipality,” Nast said.
He pointed out that a municipality as small as
Midvaal relies on income generated from the sale of
water and electricity to large industries. “When
these industries consume less, then we see a decline
in our revenue which forces us to adjust our
expenditure.
“Ordinary residents are also consuming less or, are
simply unable to pay their municipal accounts, and
this places even more strain on our resources.”
Fortunately, Midvaal’s administrative and political
management foresaw this situation as far back as in
January, when they were preparing the 2008/2009
revised budget, Nast said.
“Our response was to immediately freeze all vacant
staff positions that were not required for essential
service delivery. We also issued guidelines to all
departments on how expenditure patterns would have
to change in order to adjust to the declining
income.”
The Municipal Manager, the Chief Financial Officer
and Mayoral Committee Member for Support Services
manage the day-to-day cash flow and inspect all
requisitions thoroughly before they are approved.
The mayor also receives almost daily reports on the
municipality’s bank balance, as well as current and
future commitments and he is often faced with making
difficult political decisions.
“Financial, and specifically cash management in
Midvaal is now our daily priority. We cannot allow a
situation to unfold where we do not have enough cash
in the bank to pay salaries and bulk purchases such
as water and electricity.”
But Nast said that while the country’s economic
outlook was bleak, there was much hope in Midvaal.
“By predicting this situation some months ago, we
had the convictions to take tough decisions that
would lessen the negative impact. Furthermore, the
strict financial discipline and prudence practiced
over the past eight years, also played a major role
in assuring our soft landing in times when many
municipalities are crashing,” Nast said.
He added that he was relieved when it finally became
clear recently that Midvaal was “busy turning the
situation around and that our outlook is indeed a
positive one”.
The municipality recently experienced a payment rate
of 109% and the overall payment rate for the year
to-date is 92%.
“This is much higher than in other municipalities.
Furthermore, our active cash-management strategy has
ensured that we will not have to employ unnecessary
delaying tactics in paying our suppliers and our
biggest assets − our employees − will not have to
worry about whether they will be paid at the end of
the month.
“I have come to realise that our predictions had
come true, that those organisations that have the
determination and outright guts to tackle difficult
decisions early on in this crisis, will also be the
first to see a recovery.”
After completing his auditing articles, Nast is
continuing with his studies in finance. Engaged to
be married next year, he tries to balance his
all-consuming job with regular exercise. |
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