Municipal Benchmarking Initiative on right path

All municipalities were invited to attend the National Municipal Benchmarking Initiative (MBI) Annual Workshop which was held in Port Elizabeth on the 21st and 22nd of October 2013. The primary target audience was senior water services technical and management staff. Seventy-Three (73) persons attended the workshop, with municipal participation being 71% of total attendance, and a good distribution of metros, district municipalities and local municipalities was noted.

A guest speaker who has extensive experience of benchmarking with SAB Miller opened the workshop and discussed how to unlock the benefits of performance improvement benchmarking. Following this, all six benchmarking modules were covered in the workshop, and topics included: What two things do you need to know to start constructing an IWA Water Balance? Which is my “real” organogram: the ideal, funded or filled organogram? How does scheme functionality impact your service delivery? What strategies and tactics can be used to curb theft and vandalism? How sustainable is my Blue Drop/Green Drop status? What are meaningful targets for O&M and asset rehabilitation expenditure? A cocktail networking session was held at the end of Day 1, and a lucky draw was held at the end of Day 2, with the winner taking home an i-pad mini.

The feedback obtained showed that the general sentiment from municipal participants was overwhelming positive and that the MBI is on the right path. Municipalities showed an eagerness and enthusiasm for benchmarking and there was a general expression to become more involved going forward. The project team aims to build on this success and continue to produce MBI events that both interest municipalities, and help them improve performance.