The purpose of this mini-dissertation is to investigate the applicability of the King III in local government sphere, as well as to evaluate the impact it is likely to have if its principles and recommendations were to be fully implemented. Local government has been plagued by very serious challenges of poor service delivery and this has been attributed, in the main, to a lack of adequate resources to address backlogs and maintain existing infrastructure. it is therefore very important that all resources are harnessed and channelled to where they are most need, in service delivery. The investigation of the systems and procedures that are in place to ensure prudent financial management and accountability is a worthwhile study. the BMC, is one of two economic hubs of the Eastern Cape. The mini dissertation commences with assessment of governance arrangements that are in place at the BMC against the minimum standards proposed by the King III. It explores the full range of principles proposed in the codes and compares that to practices and procedures at BMC. To avoid a long winded discussion because the principles are close to ten in number; these have been combined and formulated into four broad themes. A consolidated discussion on manifestations on bad governance or poor adherence to good governance in the public sector is discussed in detail. Finally, the impact of various initiatives currently being pursued to promote good governance will be examined, key lessons will be drawn and recommendations for further studies will be made.

The research seeks to evaluate the housing service rendering in the Intsika Yethu Local Municipality with special reference to the Joe Slovo informal settlement at Chris Hani District Municipality. The introduction provides the general overview of the study and provides a background to the intention of the research to evaluate the housing services provision in the municipality. The problem statements briefly describe the problem identified in the study and the objectives of the study are set. The theoretical framework is provided and the theories used to evaluate the housing service are discussed which are institutional theory and the system theory. The importance of conducting the research is discussed and the limitations of the study are discussed in the research. Importantly, the study plan directs the researcher in the direction towards the goals of the research. Also the terms used in this study that are not clear were defined to avoid misinterpretation; misunderstanding and confusion of words and terms. The review of the current literature on the theoretical framework and the nature and place of public administration was discussed. The policy process and the nature and place of policy making as well as steps in policymaking were discussed. The nature and place of policy implementation which includes all the functions was discussed in the study. The policy analysis and evaluation as the final step in the policy process including the stages in policy analysis and evaluation i.e. input phase; processing and conversion phase; output phase, impact/effect phase were discussed The legislative framework for rendering of housing services in South Africa was discussed as it influence and affects the housing service rendering in Intsika Yethu Local Municipality. The role of municipal authorities in the rendering of housing services was discussed. The permission to conduct research was received from Intsika Yethu local municipality on the 13 October 2009 from the Municipal Manager. The research design was explained together with research approaches and strategy as qualitative and quantitative. The research methodology with a clear population and sampling for the study as well as the data collection instruments and procedures as questionnaires; literature study and interviews were explained. The ethical considerations are discussed. The data analysis and interpretation was conducted to enable the researcher to identify patterns which are consistent within the data. The theory and techniques for data analysis was discussed to link the theory and data analysis. The demographics of chief officials and political office bearers as respondents include their age; year of service, home language, gender, the academic qualification as well as the different stakeholders were analysed. The housing as essential services in the initiation of policy which the input phase of the Systems theory analysis was conducted and the data on the nature of housing services as output phase were analysed and discussed. The data on the structural problems were analysed and discussed. Also the analysis was conducted on the legislative framework for housing x services. The problems with the rendering of housing services especially administrative enabling problems as a processing phase in the policy process were analysed and discussed. And lastly, the possible solutions to the solving of housing problems were discussed and analysed. The findings of the study were provided and discussed and the concluding remarks were provided to whether the problem is real and whether the hypothesis is true and valid. The recommendations of the study were provided to enable Intsika Yethu Local Municipality to improve the housing service provisioning and ultimately to provide better service delivery.

The study emanates from the constitutional imperatives with regard to the role of local government in community development. The notion of cooperative governance is envisaged in the South African Constitution which stipulates that all spheres of government must adhere to the principles of cooperative government and must conduct their activities within the parameters prescribed by the Constitution. The purpose is to support and strengthen the capacity of the local governments to manage their own affairs and to perform their functions. The basic values and principles governing public administration entail that: it must be broadly representative of the people of South Africa in order to redress the imbalances. The existing gaps in the legislation on decision making power at the local level of the municipality, be it in a ward committee or sub council, have not been adequately addressed in the post 1994 democratic dispensation. It is in this context that this study seeks to address these gaps and obstacles, and contribute to the design and development of a decentralized cooperative governance model, specifically to the six metropolitan municipalities and also provide a basis for further research. The findings of the research could be adapted as a national policy in the empowering of municipalities through the dispersal of democratic power which is an essential ingredient of inclusive governance. Based on a case study of six metropolitan municipalities, the research is intended to contribute to the development of empirically grounded; praxis and practical guideline in decentralized cooperative governance which can be adopted and institutionalized in public administration. It is believed that a study of decentralized cooperative governance adds value in that it seeks to link decentralized power and local development. Rather than civil society organisations being seen as adversarial, a creative partnership with the state in local development is crucial. This political assimilation is critical in the construction of democracy through fusing the substantive values of a political culture with the procedural requisites of democratic accountability. This serves to fragment and disperse political power and maintain a system of checks and balances with regard to the exercise of governmental power. The capacity for innovation, flexibility and change can be enhanced at the local level, and it is a cliché that local decision making is viewed as more democratic in contrast to central, top-down decision-making processes. A syncretistic model for local government based on the political adaptation of political and inclusive decentralisation is outlined.

This study investigated the relationship between conscientiousness, extraversion, and leadership effectiveness among the local government managers in Bisho and East London. Conscientiousness and extraversion were used as independent variables in the study while leadership effectiveness was used as the dependent variable. The data was collected from a sample of 222 local government managers using a self-designed biographical and occupational questionnaire. To measure conscientiousness and extraversion, a 24-item 5-point rating scale adopted from Finchan & Rhodes (2005) was used. To measure leadership effectiveness, a 6-item 5-point derailment rating scale adopted from Lombardo & McCauley (1994) was used. Data analysis was done using various statistical techniques, including t-tests, Pearson Product Moment Correlation Technique and Multiple Regression Analysis. The results indicated that both conscientiousness and extraversion are strongly associated with leadership effectiveness. Conscientiousness was also strongly associated with the individual components of leadership effectiveness, interpersonal relationships; molding a staff; making strategic transitions; follow-through and ability to work independently. Extraversion was also strongly associated with the individual components of leadership effectiveness, molding a staff; making strategic transitions; strategic similarities with management; follow-through and ability to work independently. Although conscientiousness and extraversion combined were found to have an additive effect on leadership effectiveness, conscientiousness accounts for a higher proportion of variance in leadership effectiveness than extraversion. Finally, the results also indicated that age was strongly associated with leadership effectiveness. The study therefore recommends that organisations should use conscientiousness and extraversion when selecting individuals for leadership positions.

The Eastern Cape Department of Housing has a constitutional and legislative mandate to provide houses to the poor and disadvantaged citizens living within the province. Parliament must also, according to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, as amended, take reasonable legislative and other measures within its available resources to achieve the progressive realisation of the right of citizens to have access to adequate housing (section 26 (1) and (2)). The commitment to improve the existing housing situation, namely the serious lack of adequate housing and basic services in urban townships and rural settlements, is thus in the first instance a policy matter and secondly a financial matter. However, despite the existing policy measures, such as the Housing Act, 1997 (Act 107 of 1997), the rendering of housing services resulted in uncompleted and defective houses due to inexperienced contractors providing poor workmanship and also corruption in the housing programmes. The rendering of housing services as a functional area has constitutionally been given to the national and provincial legislatures in South Africa. The Constitution allocated this function to the local sphere of government. Municipal authorities are the facilitators of sustainable housing services to (xiv) citizens on behalf of the national and provincial spheres of government. The study was thus conducted within the Nxuba local municipality which is one of eight local municipalities in the Amathole district municipality. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the implementation of the provincial housing policy and to determine the impact of the existing policy on the housing needs of the citizens of the Nxuba local municipality. For this purpose the fundamental and overall study problem was found to be that the rendering of housing services at the Nxuba local municipality is hampered by the implementation of an inadequate provincial housing policy and by incompetent municipal personnel and that these actions do not satisfy the growing demand for sustainable and suitable housing. The hypothesis was furthermore based on the fact that the existing provincial housing policy is inadequate to satisfy human needs and impacts negatively if not harmfully on human well-being. The study revealed that besides the implementation of an inadequate housing policy by incompetent municipal personnel, there are economic, social, political, physical and environmental effects on the citizens. As far as the environmental is concerned, the staging of protest marches resulting in the burning of tyres, rubbish cardboards and road barricades had caused serious air pollution which might lead to the spread of diseases such as TB, cancer and bronchitis when people inhale the poisonous gas evolving from smoke such as carbon monoxide (CO) and sulphur dioxide gases. Secondly, there is an economic impact on the citizens. Houses have been built away from town and people are compelled to commute between the town and their place of residence on a daily basis. With a continuous increase in the petrol price and its associated increase in transportation costs people pay large amounts to get to town. Furthermore the building of the RDP houses frequently comes to a standstill, builders, plumbers and carpenters lose their jobs. People’s income levels fall, impacting negatively on economic activity.

The Republic of South Africa embarked on devolution of specific powers to municipal authorities due to the fact that municipalities are a sphere of government which is at the door step of the citizens. Among the powers that were devolved was the authority to regulate on the rendering of water and services to communities. From now henceforth in this study, water and sanitation services will be referred to as water services. The rural villages that had no access to water services during the previous dispensation were rapidly rendered with these services when the transformed Department of Water Affairs and Forestry took a decision to provide the services on its own in order to give space for the transformation of the local sphere of government such that these municipal X authorities are able to manage the load of the allocation of such functions mainly and to close the vacuum so that there is no gap as to who should be responsible for water provision in rural villages whilst the restructuring of municipalities to include the rural villages as part of the transformation process takes place. A decline in the pace rendering water services to the previously disadvantaged rural communities was noticed after the devolution of water services to municipal authorities and by implication once hands were changed. This left those rural communities that had no access to water services still without the desired water services and those that had water services provided left midway with dry water schemes and dysfunctional infrastructure. This study therefore seeks to uproot the cause for the deceleration of water services once it was devolved to municipal authorities. This decline was noticed by the researcher hence the study seeks to attempt providing alternatives and lasting solutions primarily because water services are essential services and water is life. The main objective of the study is to investigate factors that cause the deceleration of water supply and the slow movement in the acceleration of sanitation services in order to provide alternatives that may yield results. Given the above broad objective this study further aims at examining the following factors: The correlation in funding made available by the central government and the financial resources available to municipalities to perform the function in order to render this service properly. Technical support available to municipalities. Relevant legislation, its policies and its impact on the implementation of the service XI. The correlation between accountability, democratization and community participation on standards and quality of the service to actual outputs. Improvement of service delivery and its relationship with transparency and efficiency. Relatedness of poverty to non provision of water services. The relatedness of poverty, lack of basic services to influx in the cities. Relatedness of the quality of the water services to the outbreak of diseases

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.

Dissertation submitted in full compliance with the requirements for the Master’s Degree in Technology: Business Administration, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2012 / The dissertation focuses on the implementation of strategies and programmes that are aimed at boosting local economic development at Sobonakhona Makhanya Traditional Area by the EThekwini Municipality. Sobonakhona Makhanya Traditional Area is one of the three main traditional/rural areas making up the Greater Umbumbulu Area, which is situated some 20 kilometres south-west of the Durban Central District. Each of these traditional/rural areas is ruled by its own Traditional Leader. The Sobonakhona Area is made up of areas that can be described as deep rural and peri-urban. For the purpose of this study a municipality and a local government are treated as the same entity. The implementation of these strategies in the deep rural Sobonakhona Area has, however, so far proven to be more challenging than it was initially conceived. This can be partly attributed to the following factors, firstly; before 1994, all matters related to rural economic development initiatives in South Africa fell under the jurisdiction of either the provincial governments or national line ministries or homeland governments – not municipalities. Secondly, between 1994 and 2002, all strategies/programmes that were aimed at boosting economic development were, through the national government’s previous SMME strategy, carried out at national level by the Department of Trade and Industry and its affiliated agencies. Thirdly, the 2000 demarcation of municipal boundaries saw a number of rural areas being incorporated under some municipalities that had jurisdiction over urban areas only, and this created an additional service delivery challenge for these municipalities. Whilst these municipalities were still baffled by how to accommodate/incorporate the rural areas under their programmes, the national government, in 2002, introduced a new SMME strategy (replacing the previous SMME strategy) that required municipalities to effect economic development at local government level. This also presented its own challenge as very few of these municipalities had experience and/or knowledge in the formulation and implementation of local economic development programmes/strategies. This dissertation therefore seeks to uncover the challenges that the EThekwini Municipality faces as it attempts to implement its economic development strategies and programmes for its rural areas in particular, with Sobonakhona Area being the area of focus. The EThekwini Municipality is one of those municipalities that previously had no rural areas under its control. Chapter One of the dissertation introduces the topic of the study together with the relevant background to the study. Chapter Two discusses the research methodology used in an attempt to unravel the study’s research problem. Chapter Three discusses literature review on implementation of strategies and programmes aimed at boosting economic development in rural areas. Chapter Four outlines both the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government and the EThekwini Municipality’s strategies and programmes that are thought would promote economic development in the province and in the EThekwini region respectively. Results uncovered by this study are discussed in Chapter Five. Chapter Six concludes the study by presenting recommendations on how to improve implementation efforts. / M

Thesis (M. Dev. (Planning and Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / The new democratic government has introduced integrated development planning as a strategy to enhance service delivery at the municipal level. This study intends to investigate the efficacy of IDP in enhancing service delivery in Lepelle-Nkumpi local municipality. This study adopted a normative and evaluative research design. Data was collected using households survey, interviews, observation and literature review. A total of 80 households and 6 key informants participated in the study. The finding revealed that Lepelle-Nkumpi local municipality has been implementing the IDP. The integrated development planning has several importance’s for the municipality in particular to addressing service delivery backlogs, promoting community participation towards determining the needs and priorities as well as improving integration and coordination. However, the implementation of the IDP encountered certain challenges including amongst other poor shortage of resources, incomplete projects poor community participation and political meddling. another finding shows that the municipality has increased the level of services to beneficiary households more especially the delivery of electricity while the provision of water, sanitation and refuse removal are still inadequate. However, due to water and electricity cut-off the households developed some coping strategies. Most households reported their dissatisfaction with the provision of water, sanitation and refuse removal. Regarding involvement of communities in service provision respondents highlighted that municipalities held consultation sessions, IDP forums and ward councillor meetings. However, communities are still dissatisfied about their level of involvement. Despite the overall achievements by the municipality in rendering basic services, there is still a service delivery backlog caused by corrupt practices, shortage of resources, lack of capacity and improper targeting. The finding further shows that the implementation of the IDP has contributed significantly to enhance service delivery in the municipality. It is evident that all the development planning and programmes of the municipality start with the IDP hence the municipality is able to plan and deliver in accordance with the intended needs of the people. The services viii and infrastructural projects implemented through has assisted the municipality to provide basic service such as water, electricity and sanitation. In addition, the municipality has also implemented infrastructure including roads to benefit the community. However, the municipality has not fully achieved the provision of basic services due to poor implementation of the IDP which was caused by lack of capacity, poor community participation and shortage of resources. As a remedy, the study recommend that the municipality should give priority to improve the provision of water, electricity particularly for new settlements, sanitation and refuse removal. It is further recommended that the municipality should pay attention to improve community participation, efficient use of MIG and building its capacity to strengthen the planning and implementation of the IDP. / National Research Foundation (NRF)

Thesis (M. Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / This study focuses on a critical analysis of sustainability of Local Economic Development (LED) projects in Mutale Municipality in Limpopo Province of South Africa. It furthermore investigates the extent to which the projects sustain project members. Based on an extensive review of the literature, the study explains an understanding of the emerging trends and challenges in sustainability of LED projects nationally and internationally. A mix of quantitative and qualitative research methods is used. The data were collected by means of unstructured interviews and questionnaires from purposively sampled project members and local economic development officers who came from randomly selected projects. The study demonstrates that while there are some benefits derived by LED project members, to a large extent, the projects are not sustainable. LED is not prioritized in terms of resource allocation by the Municipality. In addition, inadequacies of members‘ capacity in leadership and management also retard sustainability. It is therefore recommended that the Municipality has to prioritise LED in terms of resource allocation and building capacity of beneficiaries in management and other business-related competencies.