Go-ahead for mayor’s plans

Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba sighed with relief on Thursday as councillors approved his institutional review plans.

They also passed the metro’s 2018-19 Integrated Development Plan, a critical requirement in the Municipal Finances Management Act and cog in the budgeting process.

The plan sets out the municipality’s goals and development plans and aligns them with the available resources.

Three metro council meetings had collapsed following a decision by the EFF to boycott council meetings to protest against the DA’s “treatment of small parties in the coalition”.

With the review plan it is intended to reduce the number of section 56 managers from 38 to 12. They report to the city manager. The council plans to reintegrate the city’s entities into the city itself.

The institutional review was tabled on Thursday when the council met successfully for the first time since August.