Many functions currently carried out by all five administrations need to be integrated and cohesively operated in a single unit. A prime example of the fragmentation problem is to be found in a function such as planning. The fragmentation is quite evident in the five units promoting local economic development in what is clearly a single economic zone. We may have sufficient capacity to run one well organized planning application or land-use enforcement unit but these are currently thinly spread across five administrations. Fragmentation in policies, approaches, programmes, financial and human resources collectively have contributed to exacerbating many of the problems Johannesburg faces today.
Duplication means five similar teams carrying out the same functions.
In the case of Johannesburg, duplication leads not only to higher costs but also leads to fragmentation. The example of the planning function is symptomatic of all the other Council's activities. Across the five administrations there is a uniform approach in that the division into clusters and sub clusters follows similar structures, grades, procedures and systems irrespective of the nature of the function. Likewise sanitation is divided into five sub clusters. Meter reading, billing and revenue is done by finance.