Water, Sewage & Effluent July August 2018 | Page 15

Although the responsibility
of the municipality does not
reach across education,
social and health services,
these challenges are
interrelated.
There are also other potentially far-
reaching benefits that are specific
to using a specialist in this sector.
With multidimensional insight into the
dynamics at play, they are also able
to delve deeper to help identify and
address the psycho-social impact on
the community.
Although the responsibility of the
municipality does not reach across
education, social and health services,
these challenges are interrelated. For
example, job losses at a mine can
plunge workers and their families
into poverty, which could result in
the need for feeding schemes and
counselling to deal with stress. Armed
with this knowledge, the municipality
and independent specialist can
play a central role in facilitating
decision-making about the placement
of investments — for example,
potentially funnelling funds and the
jobless to building new infrastructure
or other projects initiated in the
community.
Being able to make these
observations and decisions takes
involvement on the ground and in
boardrooms and municipal councils.
For companies that are committed to
making a real difference and making
their investments count, it is important
to put the right team and guidance
in place. Find the right partners
with the right skills, capabilities,
and motivation to drive economic
development success — it is good for
business, for the community, and for
the country. u
An independent economic
development specialist is aware of
these challenges and often has the
insight, tools, relationships, and
capability to resolve many of these
challenges.
• W i t h a f o c u s e d m a n d a t e ,
an independent economic
development specialist can drive
collaboration and ensure proper
monitoring, management, and
reporting.
• To ensure transparency, an
independent specialist can
be given a limited mandate by
the business; that is, only the
Far-reaching benefits
The municipality’s IDP describes
the development priorities of the
community as identified at an
annual ward committee meeting.
For example, if the schools in the
community need to be expanded,
a clinic needs to be built, or road
infrastructure needs improvement,
these requirements will be
allocated (or not) to the budgets
of the relevant departments — in
these instances, the Departments
of Health, Education and/or Roads
will be tasked with delivery.
technology
Specialised tactics
authority to conduct business
related to the economic
development programme. This
makes it difficult for public
sector or other stakeholders to
engage on topics that are out
of scope.
with large organisations to deliver
on socio-economic development
programmes is often a challenge.
There are also a number of other
barriers to interaction. Organisations
remain wary of engaging too closely
with municipalities. While they
recognise that it is important for
them to access the IDP to understand
t h e m u n i c i p a l i t y’s d e ve l o p me n t
priorities and invest in programmes
that can augment and complement
the municipality’s efforts, a lack of
clear processes and governance
within local government structures
makes private companies cautious.
Their own governance is at risk if
they entrust these local government
structures with investments or the
management thereof. While a change
of leadership has brought a new,
tougher stance against corruption in
the public service sectors, it will take
some time to rebuild trust.
It would nevertheless be a
mistake not to seek out the inputs
of municipalities. There is a way
this can be done without placing an
additional burden on the municipal
authorities or subjecting the
company to undue risk.
About the author
Janine Espin is managing
director at Economic
Development Solutions.
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