[Podcast] Drakenstein: Effective Leadership, Good Governance and Getting Things Done

Presented by Business Engineering | Future Cities Africa 11 consecutive clean audits. South Africa's best secondary city. The Western Cape's top municipality. Drakenstein doesn't talk about good governance - it just does it, year after year. Dr. Johan Leibbrandt, City Manager of Drakenstein Municipality, joined in 2017 with a specific mandate to drive change. In this conversation he unpacks the leadership disciplines, financial practices, digital innovations and performance management systems that have made Drakenstein one of South Africa's most consistently high-performing municipalities. WHAT WE COVER On leadership and corporate culture Everything starts with appointing people on merit - no exceptions. A shared vision of a city of excellence is cascaded to every level of the organisation. You manage things, but you lead people. Drakenstein's SUPLIS programme gives junior staff a direct voice upward. Simple disciplines - answering phones within five rings, responding to emails within 24 hours, wearing name tags - form the foundation of a service culture. And GOYA (Get Off Your Ass) is a cultural principle: you cannot manage remotely. On financial sustainability In 2020 Drakenstein's Ratings Africa sustainability score was 34 - well below the 50 viability threshold. Today it stands at 73. Revenue collection is at 98%. Staff costs are 26.5%. Electricity losses are 6.6%. When the valuation roll grew 63% between 2021 and 2026, Drakenstein capped property rate increases at 12.5% - the first municipality in South Africa to receive CoGTA approval to do so. The indigent support package is R1,750 per month, nearly double the national norm. On economic development Invest in infrastructure first - that creates the conditions for investment to follow. Remove red tape and roll out the red carpet. Investors are partners. Building plans under 500 square metres are approved within 30 days. Drakenstein's unemployment rate is 17.4% - one of the lowest in the country, by design not by default. On digital transformation Drakenstein has used the Collaborator system from Business Engineering for over 10 years across building plans, contracts, land use and administration. They also use and app that allows residents to report faults with GPS and photo and get a closing notification when resolved. All 52 critical traffic intersections have uninterrupted power supplies - keeping traffic lights on during load shedding. Every strategy must be mapped on GIS. On performance management Over and above quarterly performance management, a daily M&E system tracks every management decision against named individuals and due dates. A weekly dashboard shows what is green, amber or red. Ward councillors sign performance contracts. Every meeting produces an action plan - not minutes.