Thesis (M.B.A. (Investec Business School))--Rhodes University, 2006. / A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Masters of Business Administration, Rhodes Investec Business School.

Local Government in South Africa has undergone much transformation since 2000. Although much of the change has been to correct imbalances, inequities and disparities within our local communities as a result of Apartheid, change has also been motivated by National Government’s realisation that, as with governments throughout the world, there is a need to modernise all spheres of Government. Part of this transformation process at a local government level in South Africa has been to ensure that municipalities become more responsive to the communities’ needs. The guiding principles for this transformation are contained in the White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service (1995) and the Batho Pele White Paper (1997). This has informed the Municipal Systems Act: Act 32 of 2000 of which Chapter 6 determines that municipalities will have a performance management system to promote a culture of performance management amongst the political structures, political office bearers, councillors and administration. The performance management system must ensure that the municipality administers its affairs in an economical, effective, efficient and accountable manner. A literature review contained in this research, indicates that internationally, implementing performance management systems at a local government level is impact upon by a number of factors such as the organizational culture of an institution. This research, which has been grounded within a constructivist paradigm, describes the impact organizational culture has had on the implementation process of the performance management system at Buffalo City Municipality. Interviews were conducted amongst the Section 57 employees (i.e. the Directors) and those employees directly responsible for implementing performance management. The four Directors, two General Managers and the portfolio councilor were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the interviewees and this culminated in a total of 10 hours of interviewing. The protocols were analyzed using the guidelines suggested by Boyatzis (1998) and the findings are detailed in two chapters. The findings of the research were that the implementation of the performance management system at Buffalo City Municipality has been impacted on by the dichotomy between the political and administrative leadership, resulting in non-implementation of council resolutions, the lack of an organizational strategy, poor institutional arrangements and inadequate resource allocation, are reported. However, the most important finding was the impact that a culture of fear has had on the implementation process. This culture of fear and its impact on the implementation of performance management system is described as the most pervasive and insidious of all the findings to have negatively impacted on the implementation process. This research ends with recommendations for further research and it is argued that each organization has its own unique organizational culture. The conclusion is that no single typology, as contained in the literature, which can account for the specific impact organizational culture will have on the implementation process of a performance management system at local government level in South Africa. Consequently, implementers of performance management systems must assess the unique characteristics of each organization’s culture prior to implementation, in order to evaluate its impact that the organizational culture can have on the process.

This study investigated the role of selected ward committees 29 and 32 of Nompumelelo and Tsholomnqa respectively in the Buffalo City Municipality (BCM) in enhancing basic service delivery. In terms of the White Paper on Local Government (1998:4), developmental local government promotes a system that centres on working with local communities to find sustainable ways to meet their needs and improve the quality of their lives. The study on that basis examines the nature and extent to which wards 29 and 32 committees enhanced basic service delivery within BCM. The study is premised on the assumptions that: The involvement of party-elected Councillors in ward committees inhibits members of ward committees from playing an active role in their communities; Ward committees are not clearly communicating municipality programmes to their communities; BCM is biased in favour of urban wards in service delivery; If the committees of wards 29 and 32 were given more powers to play a much wider role in providing leadership and make decisions in their communities (being elevated from an advisory role to ward management structures), they would make an impact in enhancing basic service delivery; and, With additional decision-making powers ward committees could play a more effective role in local government matters. The perceived slow pace of service delivery by municipalities has resulted in growing impatience and dissatisfaction, in particular among poor communities. This has been demonstrated by the spontaneous protests and unrests directed at municipalities that have been taking place nationally since 2003. The uprisings explain two aspects, namely local government is considered by communities to be the delivery arm of government in South Africa and poor communities feel betrayed because their active participation in government-provided spaces for participation such as municipal elections, ward committees and IDPs did not yield the result of promised development (Theron, 2008:36). iv The study employed the qualitative research design using an interview survey as a method of data collection and the reviewing of existing study material and documents to test the validity of the afore-mentioned assumptions. Lastly, with the aim of assisting BCM in nurturing the potential of ward committees operating in its area of jurisdiction, the following recommendations based on the findings of the study are made: BCM considers subjecting ward committees to structured formal and accredited training; BCM delivers services in a legally compliant manner; BCM delegates sufficient powers to ward committees; Ward committees be trained together with officials that drive the CBP process when BCM starts implementing the process; and, BCM provides support to ward committees.

This research paper is a qualitative evaluation of rural resident’s views in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality regarding the municipalities (BCM) performance in sanitation in rural areas. The study was conducted using interviews and some participant observation as a strategy for data collection. The data collected was analyzed using the basic needs theoretical framework. The study found that sanitation is the least talked about subject because of the stigma attached to it. The study found that Buffalo City Municipality initiatives in sanitation have little impact or has not yet transformed the lives of rural people. It has been found that the municipality is responding slowly in sanitation, and this situation impacts negatively on the lives of rural people as they are exposed to health hazards and diseases. The study questions the sustainability of toilets built in rural areas as many toilets have no roofs and door. It has been found that sanitation is still a challenge in the Buffalo City Municipality as some people still relieve themselves in the bushes. Some people even defecate into plastic bags and then throw the bags as far as they can. The study found that the environment is deeply affected by the lack of sanitation as both air and water are contaminated by waste disposal caused by poor sanitation. The general feeling of the residents of Buffalo City Municipality with regard to sanitation service delivery is that they were not happy at all. The residents are not happy with the state of sanitation services rendered by the municipality. The study calls upon the municipality to speedily address rural sanitation to avoid service delivery protest. The research calls upon organizations and companies to get sanitation issues as part of their function. The research made a number of recommendations in an effort to help municipalities accelerate the delivery of sanitation in rural areas. It is hoped that the recommendations would help the Buffalo City Municipality in ensuring that communities are equipped and empowered to meaningfully participate in making policies, regarding their development. The recommendations will contribute towards encouraging community participation in the decision making within their municipalities. It is the aim of the study for other municipalities to use Buffalo City Municipality example as a benchmark for best practices. In conclusion, the rural areas of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality need more serious commitment from the municipality regarding sanitation and other basic services.

This thesis examines the political implications of the integrated development planning process embarked upon by South African municipalities in the period 1998-2004. Through the use of case study methodology that focuses on the Eastern Cape municipalities of Buffalo City and Ngqushwa, the conventions of municipal planning are examined. This inquiry into municipal planning draws upon official government documents and reports and publications from the nongovernment sector. The thesis is particularly focused on the claims made in policy documents and related secondary sources and compares these to more critical reports and publication as well as the author's personal experience of the integrated development planning process. Of key interest is the possibility that planning serves political interests and the material needs of an emerging municipal elite and that this is seldom acknowledged in official planning documentation or government sanctioned publications on the topic. The primary findings of the thesis are as follows: • That the 'reason' of expert policy formulations that accompanied integrated development planning has weakened political economy as a prism of understanding and separated itself from the institutional reality of municipal government • That the dominant critique of planning and other post-apartheid municipal policy is concerned with the triumph of neoliberalism but this critique, while valid, does not fully explain successive policy failures especially in the setting of Eastern Cape local government • That function of policy and its relationship to both the state and civil society is usually understood only in the most obvious sense and not as an instrument for wielding political power • That planning still derives much of its influence from its claim to technical rationality and that this underpinned the 'authority' of the integrated development planning project in South Africa and reinforced its power to make communities governable.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Public Management in the Faculty of Business at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2013 / This study investigated the role of the informal business sector in local economic development with reference to Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) as one of the possible solutions to deal with socio-economic challenges in the region. This study described the state of the informal business sector, the contributions thereof in local economic development, and the level of responsiveness from local authorities in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. A survey questionnaire was administered to informal business actors in BCMM and semi-structured interviews were conducted with BCMM managers in the Business Development and Local Economic Development Directorates who were purposively selected because of the positions that they hold in the municipality. This study found that the informal business sector is underdeveloped in BCMM, and is imbued with development challenges, namely; support services such as infrastructure (designated municipal trading stalls) and access to financial support and the lack of strategy/policy dedicated to the prioritisation of the needs of the informal business sector. The informal business sector in BCMM is dominated by small and micro businesses. The municipality acknowledges the contributions of the informal business sector in local economic development from a job creation (selfemployment) and poverty alleviation perspective. However, the business environment of the informal business actors requires urgent development and support to stimulate and encourage the gains of this sector and the role that it plays on local economic development.

This study looked at the opportunities and challenges faced in promoting smallholder farming as an element in rural economic development. The main objective is to highlight the key factors affecting smallholder production; and how those factors affect smallholder farmers in rural areas of Buffalo City Municipality, and hence identify the ones likely to predict success for future use in intervention programs. The content and scope of this study is limited to the socio-economic constraints (economic activities, household assets e.g. natural assets, physical assets, financial assets etc.) faced by rural households and therefore prescribe the necessary interventions to enhance rural livelihoods. Data was collected through review of secondary sources, direct observation through field visits and interviews with households. Questionnaires were used as the main tool of inquiry to gather data from households in selected villages within Buffalo City Municipality. The collected survey data was coded and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 19.0. The study used Descriptive, Gini Coefficient and Binary Logistics model to analyze the collected survey data. For the descriptive model, the main pointers that were employed for this study were frequencies and mean values. The Gini Coefficient model was used to measure the contribution of different sources of income to overall inequality. The binary logistic regression model was used to uncover the correlates of the household income for different rural groups (famers and non-farmers). The results reveal that farm income has a strong association to overall household income per capita. Unearned income sources also have a substantial contribution to household income. Remittances and child grants were significant to non-farming household income per capita. Given the diminishing farm size of smallholder-led agriculture; these results suggest that a diversified household income portfolio is vital in addressing poverty in rural areas. Based on the results this study concluded that agricultural activities cannot solely enhance food security.

The research explored the causal relationship between the communal land tenure and the stagnant agricultural productivity in rural villages. It is assumed that there is covariance between the communal land tenure and the stagnant agricultural productivity. The communal land tenure deprived the villagers of the land ownership rights to mortgage their landholdings to secure agricultural credit from financial institutions, or to advance them as own contributions to obtain Government-provided grants under the ILRAD. Under such circumstances, the villagers could not raise the level of agricultural productivity. The Permit to Occupy (PTO) certificates, issued to the landholders, provided for usufruct rights only i.e. right to occupy and use an allotment. The related research was conducted at Nonkcampa village. The metatheory, “Positivism” and the quantitative paradigm were applied to collate and analyse the data. The research findings confirmed the correlation between the land tenure and the agricultural productivity, as the respondents claimed not to have had any access to agricultural inputs. Hence, the agricultural productivity on the arable land had stagnated.

This study investigated the planning, implementation and monitoring of sustainability principles in Buffalo City Municipality (BCM), in the Eastern Cape Province. It also analysed how reporting on sustainability principles was done at this municipality. The research was conducted as a qualitative case study that used analyses of documents, questionnaires and interviews to gather data. All respondents were involved with BCM, some as municipal officials in key positions in the different directorates and others as councillors. The study was contextualised within the area of sustainable development at local government level. The focus was on how the mandate of sustainable local development at local government level was met in BCM. The focus was on the planning, implementation and monitoring of stipulations of Local Agenda 21 and sustainability principles. The study focused on the provision of basic services; inter-generational equity; integration of economic, social and environmental aspects; community involvement; institutional capacity building; partnerships, and global links. The study established that Buffalo City Municipality incorporated sustainability in its vision. There was a lack of common understanding of the meaning of sustainability. Sustainability principles featured prominently at the integrated development planning phase but were less explicitly mentioned in the implementation, monitoring and reporting phases. Sustainability principles were subsumed in the developmental goals of the municipality. The study also highlighted the need for a strategy to have an institution-wide implementation of sustainability principles which would incorporate raising awareness about sustainability and its value.

In terms of the South African Government Structure, Local Government is entrusted with the service delivery mandate. Furthermore, Local Government, being the closest sphere of government to the people, is expected to enhance service delivery to the communities within its jurisdiction. Local Government has for the past four years, undergone numerous transformation processes, ranging from Local Authorities, to Transitional Local Councils and to Municipalities. Having mentioned that, Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, in particular, has recently acquired metropolitan status, which requires another transformation protocol. At the same time this automatically raises the bar on the service delivery expectations by the communities. In general, Local Government has been extensively supported by the National and Provincial Governments to deliver superior services to communities. This has happened through numerous pieces of legislations such as the Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998, the Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000, the Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003 and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, act 108 of 1996. In 1997, the South African Government introduced a White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service. This was to re-emphasis on the performance enhancing role of both the political and administrative leadership in the implementation of service delivery mandates. The need was identified that communities require an assurance that their needs are taken care of by the leadership of the municipalities. It is therefore the role of leadership to ensure effective implementation of service delivery initiatives and to promote a culture of performance among the administrative officials of the municipality. The aim of this study is to critically investigate the role of leadership: A case study of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM), with the view that BCMM is considered one of the high capacity municipalities within the Eastern Cape Province. During the literature review, it became evident that different people and scholars, dating back in the early 90’s, view leadership in different forms. In sourcing the information for this research, structured interviews were conducted with five Directors, five Executive Mayoral Councillors and five Ward Councillors. The interviews were an extensive consultation process which resulted in over 30 hours of engagement with research participants, with an average of 2 hours per structured interview. A four week period was allocated and effectively utilised for this exercise. The research provides recommendations for further research on other related components of the subject such as the intended role as compared to the current role fulfilled by both administrative and political leadership, and suggested solutions to the current problems in Municipalities, in order to ensure their sustainability within Local Government. The research findings identified the need for the leadership to take the leading role in service delivery initiatives in order to address the service delivery challenges in local government. Political leadership need to enhance the public participation process to ensure the community is on board regarding the progress of their respective projects and planning processes.