Political Correspondent
KENNY Fihla, the City of Johannesburg's councillor responsible for finance, strategy and economic development, is modest about his achievements and does not believe that his departure will have an adverse affect on the running of the city.
"Whatever we have done in Johannesburg, we did it as a collective. There are many capable men and women in the council who can do the job," he says.
Fihla's decision to leave the council, where he has been since 1995, has been hailed by insiders as a great opportunity for the African National Congress (ANC) to appoint another younger person to run with the baton.
"The timing has never been perfect. He leaves long before the drafting of election lists , allowing the ANC to look among its comrades for a successor," said a colleague who would not be named .
Armed with a master's degree in economics from Wits University , Fihla, 35, was on top of his portfolio at the council.
As chairman of the then transformation committee, Fihla and his officials notably Ketso Gordhan, who was city manager and is now an executive director at Rand Merchant Bank conceptualised and engineered the Igoli 2002 restructuring plan, developed to tackle challenges of finance, institutional arrangements and service delivery.
The plan created a political crisis for Johannesburg as it was opposed by the likes of the South African Municipal Workers Union, the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party.
Fihla, an ANC Johannesburg regional chairman, lobbied the ruling party at all levels with his team, telling the organisation that the city needed the plan if it was to survive.
"It cannot be business as usual," the team used to say.
They ultimately won the battle when the ANC backed the plan, saying Johannesburg was too important a city to be left to deteriorate.
Fihla and his team took the city out of a financial crisis in the late 1990s, when there was not even money for capital projects, and turned it into the financial powerhouse it is today with a capital budget in excess of R1bn.
With the experience he has, backed by academic qualifications , it was only a matter of time before Fihla would look for greener pastures. The council became too small for him and he had reached a ceiling in his career.
With an annual salary of about R250000 as a councillor, something that keeps most young activists out of local government politics, it is no wonder that Fihla has joined Business Against Crime as CE.
"I need to grow and develop. This move provides me that space. The situation in Johannesburg has substantially stabilised, and one leaves with a great deal of comfort that the city is in good hands with great leadership," Fihla says.
The ANC accepted his decision as there was realisation that people could contribute to the transformation of the country in various ways.
As for failing to collect more than R4bn in outstanding debt, he says: "I would not like to comment on this because it is being used for narrow political objectives to undermine the ANC.
"I think the performance of the ANC in this council speaks for itself."
Aug 29 2003 07:06:37:000AM Xolani Xundu Business Day 1st Edition
Publisher: Business Day
Source: Business Day
City of industry loses its cash man.
Posted On Friday, 29 August 2003 02:00 Published by eProperty News
Johannesburg councillor Kenny Fihla is leaving for greener pastures'
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