AGENTS welcome the
moves by major
municipalities to
implement greater cost
reductions and control
within their travel policies,
saying the change will make
municipal accounts easier to
manage and comply with.
Mayor of Johannesburg,
Herman Mashaba, recently
wrote to City Manager, Trevor
Fowler, requesting that
immediate steps be taken to
curb abuse of public money
on travel. He says over the
past financial year alone,
R73m was spent on travel.
Mashaba says international
travel by any representative
of the City must now be
approved directly by him and
will be considered on a cost/
benefit analysis to residents
of the City.
The Mayor also plans to
drastically reduce the cost
of travel by focusing on the
size of delegations travelling
overseas; class of travel;
length of stay relative to the
duration of the commitment;
and travel allowances.
Similarly, Mayor of Nelson
Mandela Bay, Athol Trollip,
recently issued an instruction
to prohibit all business- and
first-class domestic air
travel for Nelson Mandela
Bay officials and public
representatives.
Sailesh Parbhu, md of
XL Nexus Travel, believes
it would be a good thing
to have National Treasury
and municipalities working
together. “The intention of
both is to manage costs and
save the country money. With
a drive like that, we could
see more like-minded travel
agencies wanting to partner
with municipalities – if the
right structures are in place.”
He says, in the past some
agencies have steered clear
of servicing municipalities
because of the lack of proper
structures in place, including
budgets not accounted for.
Rachael Penaluna,
business manager of Sure
Maritime Travel, agrees that
more structure and control
within travel policies would be
a good thing and ultimately
easier for agents to police.
However, in terms of the
Mayor’s proposal to approve
all international travel
personally, Rachael warns
this could create logistical
challenges.
“All anybody wants is good
compliance, governance and
proper policies that everyone
understands and with which
they can comply,” says Otto
De Vries, ceo of Asata.
He says the possibility of
less international travel might
impact the revenue of travel
agents but says: “If the City
of Joburg believes this is an
appropriate policy, then the
role of the TMC is to support
this and help deliver those
results.”
