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

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

Das Werk ist die leicht überarbeitete Fassung der Dissertation, die 1995 mit dem Titel 'Kommunalverwaltung und Verfassungswandel. Öffentlichkeitsarbeit von Großstadtverwaltungen in der Weimarer Republik' eingereicht wurde. Die Studie beschäftigt sich mit der nach der Revolution von 1918/19 erstmals breit institutionalisierten großstädtischen Öffentlichkeitsarbeit. Sie untersucht Umfang, Medieneinsatz und Kommunikationsstile sowie die zentralen Botschaften der Rathausinitiativen. Der Leser erhält Aufschluß über die politischen Auffassungen und Prinzipien der kommunalen Spitzenbeamten und die Haltung der großen Kommunalverwaltungen zur Weimarer Republik. Als konkrete Beispiele werden in erster Linie Düsseldorf und Mannheim herangezogen.:Vorwort S. 7 I Einleitung S. 9 II Die Aufgaben und Ausgangsbedingungen großstädtischer Öffentlichkeitsarbeit in der Weimarer Republik S. 23 III Zeitgenössische Entwürfe und Erscheinungsformen kommunaler Öffentlichkeitsarbeit S. 41 1 Die Entwicklung der materiellen Voraussetzungen S. 41 1.1 Die Institutionen S. 41 1.1.1 Die städtischen Pressestellen (1906-1933) S. 41 1.1.2 Die 'Arbeitsgemeinschaft städtischer Nachrichten und Presseämter' (1921-1932) S. 50 1.1.3 Das Engagement des Deutschen Städtetages (1928-1933) S. 56 1.2 Das Fachpersonal S. 62 1.3 Die Medien S. 67 1.3.1 Wegbereiter und Widerpart: Die Privatpresse S. 67 1.3.2 Bewährungs- und Schlüsselstunden: Öffentliche Rede S. 71 1.3.3 Wirksame 'Sprachrohre'? Kommunale Zeitschriften S. 77 1.3.4 Die neuen Medien als Königsweg? Filme und Hörfunksendungen S. 87 1.3.5 Multimediale Verdichtungen: Städtische Ausstellungen, Fest- und Gedenktage S. 95 2 Die Bewertung der Aufgaben S. 10 2.1 Der Grundkonflikt: 'reine Information' versus politische Meinungsbildung S. 103 2.2 Die Inhalte der Meinungsbildung S. 111 3 Kennzeichen der Kommunikationswege S. 118 3.1 Sprachliche Kommunikation S. 118 3.2 Politische Symbolik und symbolische Politik S. 127 4 Zusammenfassung S. 138 IV Lokale Gesamtansichten - Kommunale Öffentlichkeitsarbeit in Düsseldorf und Mannheim S. 143 1 Die Städteprofile S. 143 2 Die Oberbürgermeister und ihre Mitarbeiter S. 161 3 Organisation, Stellenwert und Zielkonzepte von Öffentlichkeitsarbeit S. 179 4 Grundsignaturen der praktizierten Öffentlichkeitsarbeit S. 201 4.1 'Arbeiten und nicht verzweifeln!': Durchhalteappelle und politische Verwirrung in der Amtszeit Köttgens 1919-1923 S. 201 4.2 Wer bürgt für die Zukunft? Mutlosigkeit und politischer Stillstand in der Ära Kutzer 1918-1928 S. 206 4.3 „Düsseldorf wieder dem Licht entgegen!': Zivilisatorischer Fortschritt und politischer Rückmarsch bei Robert Lehr 1924-1929 S. 219 4.4 Unterwegs zur 'lebendigen Stadt': Aufbruchsstimmung und politischer Neuansatz bei Hermann Heimerich 1928/29 S. 234 4.5 Bankrott der neuen Zeiten: Heimerich und Lehr in der Wirtschafts- und Staatskrise 1930-1933 S. 245 5 Indikatoren und Elemente von Politischer Kultur S. 267 5.1 Die politischen Sprachen und Symbole S. 267 5.2 Alte und neue Kräfte oder die Spannung zwischen Ordnung und Freiheit S. 272 5.2.1 Elite und 'Masse' S. 274 5.2.2 Stadtverwaltung, Parteien und Parteienparlament S. 280 5.3 Geschichtsdeutungen und Zukunftsvisionen S. 283 5.3.1 Der Weltkrieg S. 283 5.3.2 Die deutsch-französischen Beziehungen S. 288 V Schluss S. 295 Abkürzungsverzeichnis S. 301 Verzeichnis der Tabellen und Abbildungen S. 303 Quellen- und Literaturverzeichnis S. 305 Personen- und Ortsregister S. 327

Thesis (M.Dev.(Planning and Development)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Mpumalanga Province has witnessed service delivery unrest and protests that destroyed the public infrastructure. There is thus an immediate need to conduct the study - to contribute to the body of knowledge, and to assist the concerned city under review. The service delivery challenges in the municipality are just a drop in the ocean, among the major problems in the sphere of the local government. Communities expect service delivery from their municipalities. Mpumalanga Province has witnessed unrest and protests, due to poor service delivery. The City of Mbombela is no exception. This study aims to examine the lack of service delivery to develop the communities in the Mbombela municipality due to shortage of capacity. The study assesses the strategies used in capacity building to improve service delivery. A qualitative research method is used to collect data. A sample of 15 respondents were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The finding shows that the Mbombela Municipality has been playing a vital role in the provision of basic services to the local communities. However, the municipality faces several challenges related to service delivery, especially insufficient funds, corruption and political interference. The finding also highlights that the municipality lacks proper capacity building strategies for enhancing service delivery. The study recommends that mitigation measures could address these capacity-building challenges. These include enhancing recruitment, spending money wisely, avoiding politics and implementing strategies. Key words: Capacity building, service delivery, Mbombela Local Municipality

M. Tech. (Department Management Accounting, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Municipal debt has been steadily rising year after year, jeopardizing the financial stability of many municipalities. There is a commonly overlooked provision within the Municipal Finance Management Act, section 64(2)(a), that states that the municipal manager must ensure that the municipality has a functional credit management and debt collection system. However, it is also the obligation of municipal residents to ensure that they pay rates and taxes for the services supplied to them in order to ensure the sustainability of service supply. Municipalities rely on revenue collection to ensure their survival and viability. Due to the importance of this sphere of government, this study investigates whether residents respond to the credit management policy of the municipality and whether it is implemented effectively. The study does so by looking at the relationship between credit management policy implementation and service delivery in the selected municipality in Sedibeng District. The study followed a quantitative research methodology, using self-administered hard copy questionnaires to collect data from 510 residents of municipality A of Sedibeng District municipality. Seven (7) different locations with the demographic of municipality A of Sedibeng District were selected to participate in the study, with a response rate of 100%. Data were statistically analysed through SPSS and testing included correlation analysis, factor analysis, frequency counting and ANOVA testing. The data collected revealed that there is a lack of credit management policy implementation and enforcement when it comes to non-payment of municipal outstanding accounts. According to the quantitative findings, residents have a negative attitude towards the credit management policy. However, the findings also showed that there are factors that influence responsiveness such as poverty, (un)employment and educational level. The findings also revealed a significant relationship between credit management policy and service delivery. Failure to pay municipal debts results in poor service delivery by municipalities. because they lack the financial stability necessary to provide a sustainable service supply. In turn, poor service delivery results in residents refusing to pay municipal debts because they are unwilling to pay for poor services. Recommendations such as continuous review of critical debt recovery policies, rebates and discount granted to residents, the introduction of advanced technical systems, quality service delivery, employee training and development and the like will assist municipalities to improve the effectiveness of their credit management policy implementation. The limitations to of study entails difficulty in obtaining municipal ethical clearance, because municipal officers are concerned about confidentiality. Furthermore, there were the COVID-19 regulations posed by the South African government to curb the spread of COVID-19 which also had an impact in collecting data from participants. The findings may not be generalised to a larger population of all South African municipalities.

Thesis (MPAM.) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Deepening participatory governance in budgetary monitoring and evaluation in a local municipality is crucial to improve transparency and accountability in the use of public funds. Participatory governance warrants the provision of meaningful, purposeful and empowering opportunities and spaces for the engagement of residents in the affairs of a municipality. Despite being advocated as an effective mechanism for promoting good governance, particularly when implemented in budgetary monitoring and evaluation, participatory governance remains a neglected area of emphasis in local municipalities. This qualitative case study investigated the effectiveness of participatory governance in budgetary monitoring and evaluation in an information age in the case of Fetakgomo-Tubatse local municipality. The objectives were to assess the ward committee members' and municipal officials' understanding of participatory governance and its importance in the context of municipal governance; examine the scope of budgetary monitoring and evaluation as implemented in the municipality, the associated benefits and barriers to implementing participatory governance in budgetary monitoring and evaluation processes, and develop insights into the effectiveness and use of ICTs in information dissemination and accessibility in relation to the outcomes and impact of budgetary monitoring and evaluation. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews and open-ended qualitative questionnaires were used to collect primary data from municipal officials (N=8) and ward committee members (N=10). Non-probability sampling techniques (i.e., purposive and snowball sampling) were used to select the participants. Tesch’s eight-step descriptive data analysis technique was utilised to analyse the textual qualitative data gathered. This research report provides the main findings and conclusions based on the objectives that the study aimed to achieve. Recommendations are made to strengthen the effectiveness of participatory governance in budgetary monitoring and evaluation in an information age in the case of the Fetakgomo-Tubatse local municipality and opportunities for future research.

Thesis (M. Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2008 / Refer to the document

Thesis (MPAM.) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / The study presents findings that examined the nature and extent of community participation in the Integrated Development Planning (IDP) processes as a means of improving local governance at the Polokwane Local Municipality. The study argues for a need to empower communities with knowledge on the available mechanism as a way of fulfilling the dream of a culture of participation. This is to increase unified perception about the value of community participation in improving local governance. However, local governance accountability can be gauged by the extent to which they practise community participation in decision-making in facing up to the challenges of the day. This is done by putting or encouraging community participation in the processes that would help face up to the challenges of the day, including the IDP processes. The study applied a mixed-methods design and a combination of thematic data analysis and Microsoft Excel (spreadsheet) to analyse data gathered. Structured questionnaires were distributed to respective community members in the selected communities: two villages of Potse and Mahlohlokwe; two townships Mankweng Unit D and Mankweng Zone 1; two suburbs - Flora Park and Ivy Park. Furthermore, faceto- face interviews were conducted with the Polokwane municipal officials responsible for IDP, municipal manager, IDP manager and councillors of selected communities. Findings of the study showed that community participation in the IDP processes was viewed as one of the ways of enabling interaction between local government and citizens. However, citizens faced challenges in the process of community participation and that impacted on the level of community participation. It should, therefore, be borne in mind that to improve local governance, it is necessary to look at the extent to which communities are engaged in the processes of improving local governance. Participation of communities in the development planning of their communities can thus help improve local governance. Therefore, community participation should be widely applied in the local government field to enable good governance and sustainable development.

This dissertation investigates the effects of natural disasters and political institutions on municipalities' climate change policies. Although most theoretical frameworks on policy adoption highlight the roles of extreme events as exogenous factors influencing policy change, most studies tend to focus on the effects of extreme events on policy change at the national level. Additionally, the existing theoretical frameworks explaining local policy adoption and public service provision do not pay attention to the roles of extreme events in local governments' policy choices. To fill those gaps, this dissertation explores the roles of natural disasters and political institutions on municipal governments' climate change policies. It does this by applying the theory of focusing events to local climate mitigation and adaptation actions. Based on the policy change framework, the political market model, and the institutional collective action frameworks, this dissertation develops and tests hypotheses to examine the effects of natural disasters and political institutions on municipalities' climate mitigation and adaptation policies. The dissertation uses 2010 National League of Cities (NLC) sustainability surveys and the 2010 International City/County Management Association (ICMA) sustainability survey to test the hypotheses. Analytical results show that floods and droughts influence local climate change policies and suggest that local governments can take advantage of extreme events when initiating a policy change. The results also suggest that political institutions can shape the effects of natural disasters on municipalities' climate mitigation and adaptation actions.