Cape Town's lack of contract supervision and political oversight leads to problems of service delivery

The absence of project and contract direction and supervision in the Cape Town's Parks and environmental services departments and the lack of political oversight by ward and mayoral committee councillors of these departments is creating problems for quality of service. 

I will illustrate the problem - absence of contract specification and supervision - with Parks Department's tree pruning contracts but I believe it's also city-wide with contracts like invasive species control and soft - non-engineering - contracts.

August is the last month to prune greenery and prepare gardens for summer. There's an old saying that when the city prunes public open space trees, it's time for homeowners to do theirs. But from what I've seen, it's best not to follow their modus operandi: over-cutting that damages trees.

There's the right way and the wrong way to do it. The city and its contractors follow the principle that cutting more and more is always better even when it's unnecessary and may cause damage. 

From the bad jobs I've seen and the lack of a rationale, Parks, and environmental services generally, issues contracts without providing specific instructions; provides no on-site supervision - contractors do as they wish - during and after; does not ensure contractors and their workers have the skills, and has no guiding or holistic principle in practice. 

The lack of specifications and supervision appears to be because the city lacks specialist skills, capacity and resources. Specifications include assessing the time and resources needed. And those skills the city have are at manager level who are unwilling or unable to provide the dedicated attention projects and contracts need. I call this "supervision from the office".

This incapacity in supervision affects the city's expanded public works programme (EPWP) workers too. I've seen instances where twice the number of workers take twice as long as the city's contractors to do the same job, and how workers sit around rather than working.

So contractors are appointed who do everything from the initial scoping assessment, including job specification, to performing the job. They self-supervise with no city supervision and inspection during and after the project/contract ends. They submit their invoices and are paid. Note large, engineering contracts are not managed this way because of the scale and sums involved. But with them too the city largely relies on its professional team for guidance. 

The reasons for this incapacity is Cape Town too, like other municipalities, suffered a loss of skills and institutional memory after 1994. Many of its staff should not have been appointed and others promoted beyond their competence, with senior posts politically appointed sinecures. While staff have skills, these are paper skills, in effect, pencil pushing rather than real-world professionalism. The present scandals implicating former senior managers and politicians in solid waste and housing (see footnote) are the publicised tip of the iceberg.

It's not surprising then that even basic tasks, like pruning and invasive species control, is affected. 

Three weeks ago trees at our local park were cut by contractors working for Cape Town's Recreation and Parks Department. Photos of what they did don’t do it justice. About 50% of the total including along the two bordering roads were over-cut, half of that severely, leaving just a fringe on top. The remainder were mildly to moderately pruned, showing an inconsistent, inexpert approach to the whole job. Before cutting the trees all had rounded, full foliage. Also, how they were cut was inconsistent with the leeway for growth allowed trees in public spaces - parks and verges - elsewhere in the neighbourhood. 

It's inconceivable this was the work of experts.

Before cutting (source: Google Street View)

Three years ago other nearby trees were over-cut following previous years' incompetent cutting. They've not recovered. I complained to Parks manager Jacques Cedras who at first denied it, then conceded my assessment was correct. They did not learn from that. 

The trees here were planted almost 40 years ago but in a couple of hours many - those in the photos and others - were a shadow of their former shelves. Aside from being damaged, aesthetically they're unattractive, shorn of cover and do much less now to provide shade and offset carbons and heat. 

The city is big but that's no excuse to neglect greenery management for years, decades even, then out of the blue rush in and hack everything in sight. Trees can and should be allowed to be a little wild. They're not ornamental topiary. 

The contradiction is Parks is not cutting park and open space grass until November to enable seasonal wild flowers to grow (those not killed by WHO-cited pesticides they sprayed in prior years!). Emphasis on "wild [sic]". But trees that take decades to grow are fair game.

Incidents like these show the harm caused by a thoughtless council that lacks an understanding of local urban landscapes and communities. 

In addition to beautifying the area, trees provide shelter in winter and summer to people and animals - birds roost in there; act as sound, wind and visual breaks and offset heat and carbons. All of these have been harmed at our park. 

The damage caused by thoughtless city-wide cutting is probably contributing to the city lagging behind its greening goals. Parks is confused about its environmental goals, if it has one. 

I asked a specialist at Stodels about pruning. "Trees that are severely cut could die from the stress. If they must be cut, especially Spring when they're shooting, it must be done in thirds separated by a period of time to reduce stress and ensure they don't feel they're under attack." 

She said the ideal tree shape is typically rounded. Most of pruning is common sense.

Immediately following the cutting, I contacted Cedras who promised "feedback" that same week but remained silent (he's usually responsive). I copied mayoral member for Community Services Patricia Van Der Ross and mayco for water Zahid Badroodien.

A week later - two weeks ago - Ross' assistant - and only because I'd written to People's Post - Riaan Plaatjies emailed the trees had been cut because of roadworks in the area and to allow the machines to pass.

His/Parks' explanation is false, though. Trees on the park itself, set well back from the road, around 50% of the total, were cut too, all more than necessary. Others that were pruned bordering the road still have branches overhanging the road. Neither Plaatjies, Cedras, Ross or Badroodien would explain why trees along other roads in the neighbourhood where roadworks will also be done were not pruned. Many of their branches overhang the roads lower even than those those that were cut at the park.

Last week Plaatjies said he'd contact me with the time for a site visit but never did. Sensing I was being played, as usual, I emailed that I wouldn't be part of a publicity stunt. He responded suggesting I was not "cordial". 

Throughout the exchanges Badroodien had been silent, to which I commented on. Then suddenly the following day he emailed, copying half dozen others, and irritably said the matter is closed. He said that at a site visit he'd accepted the reasons from "experts", and that I'd not been there (and other meetings on my "doorstep [sic]"). (Conveniently Cedras had been on leave so it's not known who these experts were.)

Cape Town's Code of Conduct for councillors states councillors must "perform the functions of office in good faith, honestly and in a transparent manner". 

But with me, Badroodien was neither of these. He withheld information about the site visit - he did not say when that was - which I was not informed about then ridiculed me for not attending; he withheld information about the experts he'd consulted then ridiculed my supposed "expert[ise] in horticulture" which I never claimed to possess. 

He disparaged my focused concern and commitment to my neighbourhood - he said I showed no interest in what happened on my "doorstep" because I didn't attend his ward meetings.

He was sarcastic of my "long emails", which I did write since he, Van der Ross, Cedras and Parks had been uncommunicative, opaque and uncooperative for three weeks. 

Badroodien withheld information from me about his decision to accept the experts' explanations while in the interim I and likely Van der Ross' office - the portfolio holder of Parks - believed the matter to be unresolved. He instructed them the matter was closed despite undisputed evidence of Parks' lack of contractor and EPWP worker supervision.

All of this was intended to embarrass me and neutralise my observations of city and Parks' dysfunction and his and councillor oversight of the administration.

Gaslighting is what they do. I came on strong because it makes no difference if one is brief and submissive or adamant - they ignore, obfuscate and misdirect and keep one on a string. As in other cases, the people mentioned here made promises they'd no intention of keeping.

Ward councillors' represent and act as a conduit between citizens and council and as an oversight of the administration. While they may perform the first two, its with the latter they're deficient. They seldom, if ever, fulfill their oversight function when citizens bring to their attention problems with how the city is performing its duties. 

Like Van der Ross and Badroodien accepting what was clearly a false reason for the trees being cut away, they're willing to ignore the evidence of their own eyes. Oversight means examining and interrogating, not merely accepting whatever "experts" and managers, who're covering up their delinquency that created the problems in the first place say.

They're incapable of understanding small problems fester and lead to big ones. They're incapable of understanding their responsibility to question the executive rather than acquiesce to whatever they're told. In this DA politicians are like the ANC's where preserving the status quo must be maintained at all costs. 

The only times they do act is when the damage is so severe and failure to do so results in significant reputational damage to the council. But by then it's too late.

Footnote: 

The reason they gave to severely cut the trees is irrational. The likely explanation is the request came from one residents in particular. Also, the Cleansing Department may have grown tired of irregularly sweeping up leaves. Roadworks was the figleaf to explain it all away.

Former Cape Town DA mayco Malusi Booi is on trial for fraud and corruption. Solid waste executive director Luzuko Mdunyelwa was fired for mismanagement. In 2022 Badroodien was suspended and investigated for allegedly tampering with an electricity meter at one of his houses but was exonerated and reinstated,