New Manager ready to realise his destiny

New Manager ready to realise his destiny

Drakenstein Municipality’s new Executive Manager: Community Services, Gary BE Boshoff, describes his appointment as realising his destiny.  He stated that he has always yearned to get closer to the socio-economic imperatives that face South African society and believes that his appointment comes at the right time in his career.

Mr. Boshoff has extensive experience at senior management level.  He completed his Master’s Degree in Development Studies at the Institute for Social Development (ISD), at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in 1988. After this he went on to complete his international study tours in International Politics and Development at Worcester State University (United States of America) and Sport and Society at Leicester University (United Kingdom) in 1991 and 1996 respectively.

He served as Director of Sport at (UWC) from 1997-1999, as Chief Executive Officer of the Blue Bulls Rugby Union (1999-2005) and CEO of the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) from 2006 to 2013.  While most of his managerial experience has been in the sphere of sport, his academic qualifications (Development Studies) speak directly to the challenges faced by communities at local government level.

Mr. Boshoff emphasized that his Masters Research thesis addressed the “Basic Needs-Imperatives” that must first be addressed in small communities as part of a community-based development plan.

“I am really passionate about taking on the multiple social challenges (housing; sanitation; community safety; skills development; infrastructure development; etc.) faced by our communities through the development of sustainable systems and processes in consultation with all relevant stakeholders,” said Mr. Boshoff.

He made his mark as a national sportsman, whereby he represented the non-racial Boland Rugby Union (SARU) from 1986-1987 and the National SARU Rugby side (1984-1989).

Recently Mr. Boshoff was elected onto the Board of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) while he was CEO of the Comrades Marathon.  Prior to his election he was instrumental in securing Durban as the host city for the 2014 AIMS World Congress that will see delegates from over three hundred of the world’s top marathons and road races come to South Africa from 28-31 May 2014.

He talks passionately about his childhood in the small Boland town of Caledon where he grew up and where he experienced many of the social challenges that still constrain our communities today.

His immediate focus will be on building confidence in the management and operational systems of the respective units in the Community Services Directorate, while at the same time strengthening the trust relationship between staff, councillors and the community at large.  This, he believes, is a prerequisite for fast and seamless execution and delivery to those who need it the most in our communities.