Development boss vows to clean up

By ROUX VAN ZYL

Finance Reporter

THE Eastern Cape Development Corporation’s new chief executive, Mxolisi Matshamba, yesterday vowed to pull the organisation back from financial disarray.

Speaking at the release of the ECDC’s annual report, Matshamba, in his first public statement as chief executive, said he would not sleep easy until the organisation delivered a clean audit report.

The ECDC annual report showed its operating loss rose from R60 million in the 2004/5 financial year to R80,8m last year.

It also raised a number of operational challenges. Furthermore, the ECDC was shown not to be aligned with other emerging development agencies and government departments.

On Wednesday, the provincial legislature economic affairs portfolio committee ordered the ECDC board and senior management to come up with a turnaround plan.

Matshamba joined the organisation on Monday after heading the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Trade and Investment South Africa (Tisa) division as acting chief executive for the past two-and-a-half years.

“The organisation has become internally focused and when this happens some stakeholders lose confidence in the organisation,” Mtshamba said.

The ECDC also experienced a high turnover in top management over the past two years. Its previous CEO, Kevin Wakeford, left earlier this year due to “frustrations”.

As major factors contributing to his resignation, Wakeford cited lack of skills and competencies in the organisation and uncertainty and instability created by the many acting management and staff positions.

Asked how he would ensure success, Matshamba said it was important to first stabilise the organisation, because “once the organisation has become unstable it is really vulnerable”.

“During my experience working with state organisations I’ve learnt that it is crucial to get the buy-in from political stakeholders and win their confidence. This can be done through regular briefings, but not by being a cry-baby and running to them with each problem,” he said.

Matshamba said the ECDC should also be aligned with government principals and other development institutions in the province.

“Once you have that, you will be able to reduce political interference. My intention is to serve my term, I’m passionate to be here,” he said.

He said that only three of the provinces – Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal – made use of the offerings provided by the DTI.

The organisation’s long-awaited restructuring process that started more than a year ago was put on ice until a new chief executive had been appointed.

ECDC chairperson Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu, who joined the ECDC earlier this year, said the organisation would meet at the end of the month to find clear objectives and timeframes for the issues hindering the ECDC’s performance.

Nkuhlu said he had gained valuable background experience in ensuring the stability of organisations when on the board of the Development Bank of SA and the industrial Development Corporation.