MAdmin / Department of Public and Development Administration / See the attached abstract below

MURP / Department of Urban and Regional Planning / Rural municipalities in South Africa have been grappling with delivering quality services to communities due to shrinking revenue bases over the last ten years. The study explored the relationship between consumer debt recovery and municipal service delivery in three selected municipalities in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province. The implications of revenue collection in rural areas was examined through the computation of the Coefficient Effect Size Model which aimed at proving whether rurality had an effect on payment of rates and taxes. A combination of Goal Achievement Matrix and Correlation Quotient analysis were used to explain the linkage between service delivery and the resource base of rural municipalities. The Rurality Quotient and the Coefficient Effect Size were both developed in the study to link the rurality nature of municipalities to the viability of rural municipalities to provide services. The review of literature incorporated an appraisal of municipal policy documents such as the Integrated Development Plans, Spatial Development Plans, Annual Budget Reports and Service Delivery Budget Implementation Plan. The study findings revealed that consumer debts resulted in rural municipalities failing to generate revenue thus affecting internal revenue pockets. Furthermore it was discovered that rural municipalities were recording a negative effect size as well as a negative Rurality Quotient thus proving that rurality directly affected the level of payment of services. The projection showed a significant probability of a steady increase in consumer debts in rural municipalities in the next ten years if the issues and challenges are not addressed effectively. Therefore a Rural Consumer Debt Recovery Framework tool was proposed to provide clear guidelines on how rural municipalities can deal with non-payment of rates and taxes. In addition to this a review and update of all revenue enhancement policies such as the Credit Control and Debt Collection Policy to match the changes occurring over time in rural municipalities is necessary to change the current status of revenue collection in municipalities. / NRF

PhDRDV / Institute for Rural Development / In other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, Traditional Councils (TCs) have always been central to the governance of rural communities. In South Africa, they were restructured in 2003 in order to promote effective leadership and good governance. According to the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act 41 of 2003, TCs are responsible for land administration, promotion of peace and stability, facilitating service delivery and building sustainable social cohesion in rural communities, among others. In Vhembe District, for example, land disputes, violent protests and xenophobic attacks are experienced. This situation raises the question whether TCs are really functional. Multi stage stratified random sampling was used to select six out of the 43 TCs in the Vhembe District for the purpose of the current study. Age, gender and degree of rurality were considered when selecting respondents. Using the exploratory sequential mixed methods design, a series of studies were conducted to suggest a functionality index for TCs. The first study was conducted to clarify the meaning of rural development as perceived by grassroots communities. Focus group discussions, observation and preference ranking were used to collect data in the six TCs. Using Atlas Ti version 7.5 software, standard of living, service provision, empowerment, agricultural practice, economic development, shopping malls, indigenous culture and traditions, competent human resource and spatial planning were identified as key elements of rural development. The Friedman test of the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 was used to calculate the mean ranks of the identified themes. Most respondents (mean rank 7.57) defined rural development in terms of service delivery with construction of shopping centres (mean rank 3.90) and promotion of culture ( mean rank 3.65) being the least popular views. Wilcoxon signed-rank test (P < 0. 01) confirmed service delivery and standard of life to be the most preferred indicators of rural development. The second study was to explain the roles of TCS in developing rural communities. In addition to reviewing previous literature and legislations, focus group discussions, observations and preference ranking techniques were used to explain the roles of TCs in rural development. Service delivery, land administration, management of resources, social welfare, administration of justice, economic development, records keeping, recruitment of investors, moral regeneration, culture and tradition, and communication were identified as key roles of TC in developing rural communities. The Friedman test was performed to calculate the mean ranks of each of the identified roles. The results indicated that provisioning of service delivery (mean rank 7.34) was the most preferred role TCs are expected to perform in developing rural communities with communication (mean rank 4.75) being the least preferred. Wilcoxon signedrank test (P=0.00) indicated that there was a remarkable significance difference between the most recognised role of TC (service delivery) and the other three (communication, culture and moral regeneration) which were identified as less important in the current study. It was evident in the study that various government policies that defines the roles of TCs did not provide specific duties traditional councillors should perform within the listed fields of functional domains. The third study was carried out to determine the major attributes of functional TCs in the Vhembe District of South Africa. Leadership and governance, resources, organisational structure, development programmes and social cohesion were the main five attributes of functional TCs identified in the study. Friedman test was computed to establish the mean ranks of each of the identified attributes. The study revealed that effective leadership and good governance (mean rank 3.71) was the most attribute contributing to the functionality of TCs in Vhembe rural communities with social cohesion (mean rank 2.03) being the least identified. The results of Wilcoxon signed-rank test (P < 0.01) indicated a significance difference only to those pairs of variables including social cohesion. Therefore, the study concluded that social cohesion was the least preferred attribute of functional TCs. The results of the study were used to develop an index for measuring the functionality of TCs in rural development. The equation is in the form: 􀜻􀯜 􀵌 􀟤 􀵅 􀟚􀬵􀜴 􀵅 􀟚􀬶􀜵 􀵅 􀟚􀬷􀜦􀜲 􀵅 􀟚􀬸􀜵􀜥 􀵅 􀟚􀬹􀜮􀜩 􀵅 􀟳 To become functional, traditional councillors should be equipped with leadership and governance skills for rural development. Based on the findings of the current study, it is further recommended that provisioning of basic services such as water, sanitation and electricity in Vhembe rural communities be prioritized over other programmes for development discussed in the study. Furthermore, the study recommends for establishment of guidelines explaining the roles of TCs and to be translated in local languages. / NRF

MAdmin / Department of Public and Development Administration / The main thrust of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the Public Protector’s office in enhancing ethical conduct: The Case of Vhembe District Municipal Area. After the attainment of democracy in 1994, South Africa established the Public Protector’s office and other institutions to enhance ethical conduct within the public service. Despite the establishment of the Public Protector’s office, ethical challenges remained a big problem to achieve good governance and efficient service delivery to the masses of Vhembe. This study followed a mixed research methods and employed a descriptive case study design with explanatory features characterised by the sequential explanatory model strategy in which the collection and analysis of quantitative data was done, followed by the next phase of collecting and analysing qualitative data. Participants in this study were Public Protector’s officials, Mayors, Municipal Managers, Civic Organizations and the representatives of the private (tendering) companies found in Vhembe. The empirical data were collected through questionnaire and semi-structured interview schedule and analysed using SPSS and thematic (content) analysis. Data collection and analysis followed the objectives of the study as a framework. The major finding of the study is that the Public Protector’s office is not effective enough to enhance ethical conduct due to its inability and lack of constitutional powers to enforce adherence and compliance with its recommendations after conducting investigations. As a result, this renders the Public Protector’s office ineffective and unable to enhance ethical conduct effectively. The study therefore, recommends that the Public Protector’s office needs to be provided with sufficient resources as well as more constitutional powers to enable it to enforce implementation and compliance with its recommendations. / NRF

MAdmin / Department of Public and Development Administration / The study focusses on the challenges militating against community participation on the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) process in Thulamela Local Municipality (TLM) and to find strategies to be used to enhance community participation on Integrated Development Plan. The study is based on matters of community participation and IDP in order to find out how community participation in the municipalities can influence the planning process in an integrated manner. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act No. 108 of 1996) mandates local government to encourage the involvement of communities and community organisations in the matters of local government. IDP is the rightful platform to fulfil the aforementioned mandate in the local government. In this study, the researcher made use of a mixed research method where both qualitative and quantitative research methods are used. The research is qualitative in nature, but the quantitative method is also used in data interpretation, because data collected was based on the views and opinions of a large number of respondents and the analysis of results based on statistical significance. The researcher used the non-probability sampling and its subtype purposive sampling method to select the participants in this study. Questionnaires, interviews as well as literature were used to gather data in this research. Two types of data analysis were used when analysing the data. For data collected through interview, the researcher used thematic analysis (Narrative form) and for data collected through questionnaire, the researcher used International Business Machinery (IBM)- Statistical Product in Service Solutions (SPSS) Statistics V25. The researcher followed research ethics before conducting the study. The major findings of the study are: • The study found out that 38 (76%) of the respondents agreed that community members actively participate in IDP process. This is an indication that community members of Thulamela Local Municipality actively participate in IDP process. • The researcher found out that the majority of the respondents at 45 which constitutes 90% agreed that active community participation in IDP process plays an important role in the improvement of the basic service delivery. • The researcher found out that majority of the respondents at 35 which constitutes 70% of the respondents in the study agreed that community members are well informed about different types of participation in IDP process. • The researcher found out that majority of the respondents at 38 which constitutes 76% of the respondents in the study disagreed that there are enough resources to capacitate community members in order to participate actively in IDP process. v The main recommendations are: • The researcher recommends that community members should take a share of responsibility to actively participate in IDP process. Thus, the community members should consider it necessary that they strive to make community participation on IDP process fashionable. • The researcher recommends that there should be active community participation in IDP process because it plays an important role in the improvement of basic service delivery. Community participation in IDP process needs to be active for the basic service delivery to be improved. • The researcher recommends that community members should be well informed about different types of participation on IDP process. It is the responsibility of the municipality to inform community members about different types of community participation that they can use to participate in IDP process. • The researcher recommends that the municipality should make enough resources to capacitate community members in order to participate actively in IDP process available. The municipality should embark on a journey to raise funds either from other government sectors and/or private sectors. / NRF

MPM / OR Institute for Governance and Policy Studies / The study was carried out at Thulamela Local Municipality within Vhembe District Municipality in Limpopo Province in the Republic of South Africa. The study is about an investigation into the role of traditional leadership in community development: A case of Thulamela Local Municipality. In South Africa, municipalities, especially those which are found in rural areas, are faced with challenges that sometimes hamper development and thus service delivery to clients. These challenges are sometimes as a result of the way traditional leaders execute their role in service delivery in their areas. It is in this context that this study attempts to investigate the role of traditional leadership in community development and how this impacts on service delivery. Only quantitative method was used to collect data. Questionnaires were formulated and conducted to traditional leaders in Thulamela Local Municipality. Questionnaires were designed and administered to traditional leaders in Thulamela Local Municipality. The study seeks to investigate the role that traditional leaders play and how they can be capacitated to improve service delivery. The study seeks to find ways through which traditional leaders can be capacitated to perform their roles effectively in their communities. This study established clearly that traditional leaders play a role in maintaining law and order in their communities. It also became evident with this study that communication between traditional leaders and ward councillors leaves much to be desired. It revealed a trend that traditional leaders are needed, especially when communities embark on protests. / NRF

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / The purpose of local government is to promote the realisation of human rights, socio-economic development, and cultural, civil, and political rights to improve communities (Ojochenemi, 2016). Residents are known to be dissatisfied with the poor quality services provided by the local government, which has resulted in unending protests and apathetic citizens. The research focused on the nature of civic participation and the causes of civic apathy in Mankweng Township, as well as the mechanisms that can be implemented to increase civic participation in Mankweng Township and how citizens‟ awareness can be raised. The study discovered that there is high levels of civic apathy in Mankweng Township, which hinders the operation of the municipality, whether it is the service delivery process or the municipality's responsiveness to the citizen's needs, based on the literature, distributed questionnaires, and conducted interviews. Civic apathy also leads to poor governance, which leads to distrust between the government and the citizens. Recommendations were made to help Mankweng Township overcome the challenges of civic apathy; one of these recommendations included encouraging township participation.

PhD (African Studies) / Centre for African Studies / The Thulamela Local Municipality is currently experiencing a plethora of public service delivery challenges. This often leads to court litigation and disputes with the institution of musanda. These public service delivery challenges, conflicts and court disputes in many cases leave the communities within the municipality deprived of basic services as a result of slow or a complete lack of service delivery. musanda is a Venda word that refers to the place where the thovhele (king), khosikhulu (paramountcies), khosi (chiefs), gota (headman), mukoma (petty headman), vhakoma (queen mother), vhatanuni (wives), vhakololo (princes/princesses), khadzi and makhadzi (royal aunts), ndumi (king/chiefs’ brother) and the rest of this royal structure resides. As such it also refers to the institution of royal governance. The proposed study aims to analyse the place of musanda as an institution within public service delivery and within the whole process of decentralization of services in the Thulamela Municipality. The study focuses mainly on the current public service delivery system of the government and the role of the institution of the musanda in that process. The basic service delivery system that receives direct attention falls under the Government Cluster, which covers Social Protection, and Community and Human Development. These divisions deal with Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Water and Sanitation, Human Settlements, Rural Development and Land Reform, Basic Education and Sports and Recreation. These are the services that are supposed to be rendered by municipalities. The analysis aims to determine musanda’s position in the whole process of providing the public services indicated above.

PhD (Public Adminiistration) / Department of Public and Development Administration / This study examines the notion of public participation as a tool to enhance service delivery in the Capricorn District Municipality. Public participation is a milestone of democracy and local governance. Local government – which is closest to the people – provides an ideal forum for the flourishing of participatory democracy. The centrality of public participation in the development of policies and programmes or action plans has been widely recognised by both government and the private sector. However, involving the public in the development of any policy, programme or action plan is a daunting task. Indeed, if not well-managed, public involvement often leads to protests, litigation, criticisms, and delays in service delivery to the people. Thus, the extent to which public participation can be a tool for the enhancement of service delivery in Limpopo – especially in the Capricorn District Municipality – is the focus of this study. This study is guided by the following questions: What are the key concepts that relate to public participation as a tool to enhance service delivery? What impact does the Constitution of South Africa, Act 08 of 1996, and other government legal frameworks have on public participation as a tool to enhance service delivery in South Africa, particularly in the Capricorn District Municipality? What modes and models of public participation are used to enhance service delivery in the Capricorn District Municipality? What are the main factors that influence public participation as a tool to enhance service delivery in the Capricorn District Municipality? The study adopts both qualitative and quantitative research approaches whereby the use of primary and secondary sources was augmented by interviews with local government actors. Moreover, questionnaires were administered by the researcher and his assistant researchers. A purposive sampling method was used. The researcher ensured that all relevant elements of 5 research ethics were observed. The data generated by the questionnaires and interviews were analysed and interpreted using the latest statistical tools. Both qualitative and quantitative analysis methods were used. Data collected using questionnaires were analysed by means of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The information was presented in the form of tabulations, frequencies, and percentages. Data collected through interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of this study reflect that public participation mainly serves the purpose of meeting the statutory requirements for the development of best value initiatives and gaining information from citizens. The majority of the respondents were of the view that the Ward Committee system is fully functional in their municipalities. All Capricorn District municipalities have officers responsible for public participation; however, not all of them are accessible to the public. It was revealed that the public participation budget in Lepelle-Nkumpi and Mollemole is insufficient. The other main constrains identified are the serious lack of personal and working tools and resources. The study also found that not all documents were translated into the languages spoken in the Capricorn District and that there is a lack of feedback mechanisms on the issues raised by members of public during the IDP and Budget Fora.These findings were discussed in relation to the study’s objectives and research questions.

MA (Political Studies) / Department of Political Studies / The adoption of the constitution in 1996 has opened a new era of establishing a local government system that recommended that municipalities be established for the whole territory of the republic of South Africa. The white paper on “Local Government adopted by Cabinet in March 1998 outlined framework and programmes to guide municipalities to commit to work with citizens and groups within the communities to find sustainable ways to meet their social, economic and material needs to improve the quality of their lives”. Since 2007 epidemic service delivery protests started to be a national problem where 80 percentages of service delivery protests between the periods of 2007-2014 were violent. For instance, Musina Municipality experienced violent service delivery during the period of 2007-2014 where its properties, economy and people’s lives were in stake. Therefore, this study was driven by the need to analyse the implications of service delivery protests on the economy of Musina Municipality. A qualitative method approach to investigate the problem of service delivery protests implications on stability and economy in Musina Municipality will be used. A case study regarding service delivery effectiveness and violence used by people as a response and expression of a plea to be heard by their municipality will be investigated. / NRF