“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” John F. Kennedy

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates.

It is often said that “the more things change the more they stay the same”. What is your experience of change? Do things change for the better, or does the status quo often just remain, and the same old ways just continue, but with a different face to it? People will only buy into any promise of things going to change if it is accompanied by a change in the manner and in the way things are done.

Change comes in many forms. Recently we have seen major political changes in the makeup of the municipalities around the country, and a new order voted in to run these municipalities. The question then must be asked – but will they really bring about a change for the better? Will that change produce tangible results that will see an improvement and a lasting impact on our everyday lives.

Time will tell if in the municipalities where these changes have been made, there is a dramatic change for the better and an improvement in the delivery of services that we pay for monthly with our rates and service charges. The promises made of change need to be seen to be believed. Will the potholes that litter our roads be repaired? Will the sidewalks, pavements and verges alongside the roads be cut and maintained? Will the stormwater and sewer system be improved? And will the endless water pipe leaks and power supply failures come to an end?

In the community schemes where we live, every year at the AGM the owners can bring about change in the makeup of the scheme executive who are elected to run the schemes. The objective of owners should be to put aside personal agendas and politicking, and rather work to ensuring the voting in of an executive that offers strong leadership in the scheme where often hard decisions must be made. This should hopefully result in community cohesion by residents, and hopefully harmonious living conditions. Sometimes this may only be achieved through the necessary enforcement of scheme rules when owners and residents don’t comply with such rules, and the implementation of sound fiscal and financial management of the scheme’s finances.

It remains a worrying trend that debt levels in the finances of community schemes continue to rise, as more and more owners fall behind with their levy payments and payments for services provided to the property by the scheme. Households face increasing pressures to find the necessary income to pay for the services that they receive in the community scheme where they live, especially as wage increases fall behind the cost of living and job losses continue to grow. This is a challenge for all community scheme executives as they draw up budgets to determine levy contribution increases for the financial year to come but who are cognizant and sensitive to the economic realities around them. This is a daunting and often unenviable task, but one where a solution must be found for the greater good of the community scheme as whole.

We can only hope that things here in South Africa will change for the better so that people’s quality of life can get better.

At Whitfields we endeavour to listen, care, and deliver, through serving the members of the community schemes we manage. We undertake that we will by our best endeavours and best practise, provide relevant and updated information to the scheme executives on the applicable governing scheme legislation and how such impacts the scheme where they are appointed, and to give them the necessary direction and advice as to how they can best manage their schemes.

We hope we will always be able to meet your expectations as we endeavour to do every day! At times we may fail, but we will always try our very best to do better and to improve in the service we provide. We have done so for the past 25 plus years and look forward to doing so into the future!