South Africa's Municipalities Race to Fix Broken Revenue Systems; 25-Project Push Tests Wh

REBUILDING SOUTH AFRICA’S PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS: THE UNSEXY WORK THAT DETERMINES WHETHER GOVERNMENT ACTUALLY WORKS

Twenty-five projects. That was the scope of the revenue management and enhancement programme Miyelani Holeni led at Ekurhuleni Metro early in his career, each one designed to generate new income streams for a municipality that, like so many others, was struggling to sustain itself. The experience left a mark. Holeni, now Group Chief Advisor at Ntiyiso Consulting Group, has spent more than two decades focused on something far less visible than political headlines and far more consequential: whether the systems, spreadsheets and institutional machinery of South Africa’s public sector can actually function.

His work sits at the intersection of finance, operations and organisational capability. His career spans corporate and management consulting with deep exposure to local government, financial services, technology, real estate and FMCG sectors. The central question driving it all is one most South Africans never think about: how public institutions generate and manage money.

The Ekurhuleni experience crystallised a conviction that now shapes his consulting philosophy. Improving public services cannot simply mean finding more money. Municipalities need stronger financial systems, better revenue collection, capable leadership and a clearer understanding of how economic development can expand their revenue base. More cash, without the systems to manage it, changes little.

At Ntiyiso Consulting Group, the mandate is fundamentally about transformation. The company works across revenue management, financial sustainability, local government, business transformation and economic development, with the goal of turning underperforming institutions into organisations capable of sustaining themselves and creating opportunities. Speaking to Stephen Grootes on The Money Show, Holeni framed the work as improving accountability, strengthening leadership and ensuring institutions function in ways that benefit people.

The operational approach is methodical. Holeni describes looking at leakages in systems, examining how to increase service coverage and revenue collection, and analysing the different operational variables that affect institutional performance. “The knowledge that we have, we’ve institutionalised it,” he said, indicating that the firm has embedded its methodology into repeatable processes rather than relying on ad hoc diagnosis.

Identifying problems, though, is only part of the work. Holeni places equal weight on persistence and on reframing how data is presented to decision-makers. “We tell the story, whether through the data that we use. The same data that they look at every day, and we find the nuggets. We find the problems, and we position it differently,” he explained. The approach assumes that institutional leaders often have access to the same information but are not interpreting or acting on it effectively. The bottleneck, in other words, is rarely a shortage of data.

What changes when advice goes unheeded is stark. Holeni acknowledged that some clients who did not take recommendations seriously have since faced significant difficulties. “I’m afraid, some who have not listened to us, are nowhere to be found or seen today. They’re experiencing problems, but we can’t say we told you so. But we’re happy to go back and work with them so that we change, the difficulties that they’re facing,” he said. The offer to return, rather than walk away, reflects a particular view of what consulting in the public sector actually requires.

This reflects a broader reality about institutional reform in South Africa: the technical solutions often exist, but implementation demands sustained commitment, capable leadership and a willingness to address systemic problems rather than reach for quick fixes. The quiet work of rebuilding public institutions happens in financial audits, revenue collection systems, organisational restructuring and leadership development. It is unglamorous, rarely makes headlines and often goes unnoticed when it succeeds.

The open question is whether enough institutions are willing to do it before the difficulties Holeni warns about arrive at their door.