Thesis (MPAM.) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The study examined the role of the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) towards effective financial management in a case study of City of Mbombela Municipality in the Mpumalanga Province. The MPAC is established in terms of sections 33 and 79 of the Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act 32 of 2000), to provide an oversight role and functions on behalf of council. Literature attest to the role of MPAC as to scrutinize the spending of the municipal budget at the end of the financial year, which mirrors the work done by the finance committee before the beginning of the financial year. The qualitative research method using semi-structured interviews was conducted with specific role-players as part of the identified population who were the most important participants and have contributed to the research outcome. The respondents were selected in a purposive manner by targeting MPAC members and Senior Managers of the municipality, on account of their positions and experience, have more information than ordinary potential respondents. The study found that members of the MPAC do possess the required skills, knowledge and experience to perform their roles. Therefore, the study also reveals that most members of the MPAC do have financial management and accounting capacity hence they are capable in doing the oversight role in the municipality. Therefore, it is recommended that the municipality should develop and adopt a comprehensive MPAC policy. The adopted comprehensive policy should be used as a strategic tool to inform council on the effective performance of the MPAC or lack thereof. The study concludes by recommended that further researches should be undertaken on the oversight role of the MPAC with comparative approach to other municipalities within the province could give more depth and the municipalities can learn from each other.

This dissertation examines the factors influencing a state’s decision to adopt a local government investment pool (LGIP), the institutional arrangements used in managing them, and the effect of the institutional types on LGIP performance. The dissertation extends the policy adoption theory with insights from investment theory to demonstrate that management credibility influences the likelihood of a state’s LGIP adoption. The study finds that the quality of financial management, the quality of professional leadership, proximate state neighbors who have previously adopted an LGIP, and economic factors determine a state’s proclivity to policy adoption. The dissertation also describes the institutional arrangements used in managing LGIPs and develops typologies based on their institutional arrangements. The dissertation compares LGIPs depending on the risk aversion of their institutional arrangements. The research extends the risk-return tradeoff in investment theory to LGIP institutional arrangements. The empirical findings show that LGIP institutional arrangement that has greater risk report higher performance. The dissertation also finds that competition in the LGIP market due to multiple vendors, and periods of economic recession account for higher performance because of higher risk-taking behaviors associated with them. This dissertation promotes public funds investment laws that emphasize prudent management of government finances and guides managers of the public purse on the types of institutional choices that optimize returns with minimal risk.

Thesis (MComm (Education))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / In enquiring after the best means of financing basic local services in South Africa, the thesis begins by reviewing the arguments for fiscal decentralisation and the efficiency criteria for expenditure and revenue assignment. The role of local government within South Africa’s system of intergovernmental fiscal relations is then evaluated. A chapter is devoted to the efficient pricing of infrastructure for household services. However, it is emphasised that such pricing is unlikely to meet equity criteria for access and affordability. The equity aspect of providing basic local services is explored further from the perspective of South African Constitutional obligations and the current basic services policy framework. A concluding chapter discusses issues arising out of the work and provides some recommendations.

La décentralisation est l'innovation institutionnelle majeure que connaissent les pays africains depuis les années 1990. Si elle est irréversible, il n'en demeure pas moins que la capacité des collectivités territoriales à fournir des services publics locaux aux populations locales et à impulser le développement économique et social est contrainte par l'étroitesse des moyens juridique, financier, humain et matériel. Cette thèse de droit public porte sur le financement des collectivités territoriales en Côte d'Ivoire. L'objectif général de cette étude est de démontrer d'une part, les différentes politiques publiques locales financées par les institutions locales, et d'autre part, les moyens mis en œuvre pour les financer. Au bout d'une enquête qui aura utilisé plusieurs types de données (documents, entretiens, observations directes, etc.) il apparaît que les atouts de financement des collectivités territoriales en Côte d'Ivoire sont avérés, et peuvent faire état d'une réussite en matière de réalisation d'investissement local. Toutefois, les outils et dispositifs législatifs existants consacrés au développement local durable soulèvent des difficultés qui incitent à s'interroger sur l'efficacité même du système de financement de ces entités décentralisées. C'est dire que des dysfonctionnements existent à ce sujet, et entravent les initiatives des élus locaux. En s'appuyant sur une série d'études de cas africains et sur un grand nombre d'exemples dans d'autres parties du monde, cette thèse propose des pistes concrètes pour moderniser le système de financement des collectivités territoriales ivoiriennes. L'évolution du développement économique et social à l'échelle de la Côte d'Ivoire dépend largement de cette réforme juridique, institutionnelle et sociologique. / Decentralization is the major institutional innovation that African countries since the 1990s. If it is irreversible, the fact remains that the ability of local authorities to provide local public services to local people and to boost development economic and social development is constrained by the narrow legal means, financial, human and material. This thesis public law concerns the financing of local authorities in Côte d'Ivoire. The overall objective of this study is to demonstrate one band, the different local public policies financed by local institutions, and secondly, the means used to finance them. After an investigation that has used many types of data (documents, interviews, direct observations, etc.) it appears that the local authorities financing assets in Côte d'Ivoire have proven and can point to a success material for making local investment. However, the existing legislative tools and devices on sustainable local development raise difficulties raise questions about the very effectiveness of the financial system in these decentralized entities. This means that malfunctions exist on this subject and impede the initiatives of local elected officials. Based on a series of African case studies and numerous examples in other parts of the world, this thesis proposes concrete ways to modernize the Ivorian local government finance system. The evolution of the economic and social development across Côte d'Ivoire depends largely 011 this legal reform, institutional and sociological.

Cette recherche porte sur l'évolution de l'administration locale en Roumanie et en France depuis ledébut des années 1990. L'étude de la situation de départ différente dans les deux pays a étépoursuivie par l'analyse des grandes étapes du développement du cadre juridique relatif auxcollectivités territoriales : l'avènement (en Roumanie) ou le renforcement (en France) du statutconstitutionnel des collectivités et l'évolution du cadre législatif opérant les transferts decompétences et de moyens en faveur des collectivités. Cette analyse a mis en évidence uneconception des réformes qui présente bien des similitudes, mais aussi une mise en oeuvre parfoisdifférente. Une évaluation du niveau de décentralisation atteint dans les deux pays a été entrepriseau regard des critères de la Charte européenne de l'autonomie locale. Elle a permis de relever lesavancées enregistrées par chaque pays et d'identifier les marges de progrès possibles. Au final, on apu constater qu'au-delà d'un contexte initial différent et des particularités de la carte administrative,au-delà d'une application différente des réformes, la Roumanie et la France montrent aujourd'hui undegré de décentralisation très comparable, globalement en cohérence avec les prescriptions de laCharte. / This research focuses on the evolution of the local government in Romania and France since thebeginning of the 1990s. The study of different initial conditions in both countries has been followedby the analysis of the major developmental stages of the legal framework concerning localauthorities : the relatively recent accession to (for Romania) or reinforcement of (in France) theconstitutional status of the communities and the evolution of the law corpus operating the transferof competencies and resources for local communities. This analysis revealed a conception ofreforms that has many similarities, but also some different implementation. An evaluation of thelevel of decentralization achieved in the two countries has been undertaken in the light of thecriteria of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. It identified the progress made by eachcountry, but also the opportunities for improvement. In the end, it was found that beyond an initialcontext and particularities of the administrative map, beyond the different application of reforms,Romania and France show today a very similar degree of decentralization, broadly consistent withthe requirements of the Charter.

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies / The aim of the study investigates the significance of Auditor General in the control of public funds in local government with specific reference to Mopani District Municipality in order to make recommendations that can assist in improving the control of public funds. The research identifies and assesses weaknesses in how Mopani District Municipality has been controlling its public funds by analyzing the Auditor General reports for the past three financial years and its implications to service delivery. The research further assesses the role played by Auditor General in influencing the internal financial control of the municipality and in auditing the performance of the municipality since in other municipalities money is paid to contractors for services not rendered. The study provides academic input into public administration, specifically in the area of improving service delivery performance, control and financial performance management in municipalities. The study could contribute to the establishment of effective ways of monitoring the control of public funds by municipalities. / NRF