Interventions for fostering growth Suggestions to enhance investor confidence Build leadership and management skills
Leadership and management failures are arguably the greatest single stumbling block to effective service delivery and development. It is stated that it is often not the lack of capital that stops service delivery, but the inability by senior officials to activate and manage the process. - Move away from a public-sector driven economy to a PPP-driven economy, in which the private sector is more involved in driving infrastructure investments. The private sector will fund infrastructure if there is a return on investment and if corruption can be rooted out.
Enhance private-sector involvement
- The private sector must be treated as an equal partner to the public sector to foster real partnerships. Consult contractors and the construction industry early on in a project to save government money by mitigating risks during the implementation phase. - Embrace PPPs where they deliver better value for money. PPPs will reduce demands on the fiscus and can be used to fill finance gaps for infrastructure development. Streamline PPPs to reduce complexity. A new way of thinking is required regarding municipalities, particularly district and rural municipalities, where competency is lacking. Some of the suggestions to get municipalities working again are: - Establish a model to allow for the private sector to partner with local government. This will speed up development. The private sector must be involved throughout the entire cycle, from budgeting, financial management, maintenance and supplementing professional skills.
Fix municipalities
- Professionalise local government to maximise its development impact. Municipalities need to conduct proper planning and improve the management of budgets and cash flow. - Enforce accountability for qualified audits and take people to task for failures. Equally, promote clean audits and prioritise the eradication of corruption. - Consider bonus-driven targets that incentivise better performance. - Simplify management systems. Officials set themselves up for failure because of unwieldy procedures.
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