General

Polokwane to gear up for municipal skills course to improve

Municipal officials in Polokwane will be given the leading advantage to participate in a specially designed municipal skills programme to increase skills competencies at local government level, which will be funded by local government if participants are municipal officials. Wits Business School, in association with the Department of National Treasury, has teamed up to develop a programme for municipal officials to increase and enhance their management skills at local government level which are critical in the process of service delivery. The programme commences in Polokwane on July 1-6, 2007. This premier programme, a Certificate in Management Development for Municipal Finance (CPMD), will provide senior municipal officials (Municipal managers, Chief Financial Officers and Senior Officials) with an in-depth understanding of the changing needs of today’s municipal service delivery and indicate how it impacts on the economy. The programme will be rolled out in all nine provinces and is pitched at NQF level 6. Wits Business School director Professor Mthuli Ncube welcomed the programme: “This is Wits Business School’s commitment in working hand-in-hand with government to increase skills competency levels and we are certainly proud of our partnership with government in this effort towards improving service delivery at local government level. “This programme was designed in consultation with The Department of National Treasury and Local Government Sector Education and Training Authority and critically addresses the area of leadership and municipal finance management competencies required to ensure increased capacity for service delivery within the local government sphere,” added Ncube. Programme director Timothy Maluleke said that the issue of raising skills levels in local government was long overdue. The CPMD programme is specifically designed to help students with an understanding of the legislative and policy framework for financial management in local government, help improve ethical behaviour in municipalities, provide an understanding of the role and accountabilities of municipal officers in the disbursement of public funds for efficient service delivery, focus on municipal budgeting process for effective planning and implementation as wells as facilitate effective leadership within local government. “The programme in Johannesburg, Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, Eastern Cape, Bloemfontein and Kimberley was a huge success due to the demand and need for the programme and we are confident that the course will be just as successful in Polokwane ”concluded Maluleke For more information on the course please contact programme director Timothy Maluleke: on: Tel: (011) 717- 3543