Thesis (MPA. (Public Administration) -University of Limpopo, 2008 / Today, in South Africa, as we grapple with challenges brought by our new democracy, its appropriate to have practical guide that guide that can be used not primarily on issues of labour relations but also on issues of service delivery improvements. This study comes at the most opportune time, when all involved have to help shaping the public service and to come to grips with the implications of Labour Relations Act, 1995 (Act 66 of 1996). The study’s main objective is to find out the major labour related conflicts that are prominent at Mokopane Provincial Hospital and broadly discuss them in order to find out if they are threats to service delivery. After identifying threats to service delivery, it shall be appropriate to recommend through the application of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (Act 66 of 1995), important areas that will enhance service delivery. In brief, this study is intending to close gaps between labour relations issues and service delivery.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2013 / The research study attempts to understand levels of service delivery facing Lenyenye Township falling under the jurisdiction of Greater Tzaneen Local Municipal Council. The main focal point of the study is to ascertain the effectiveness of the provision of basic services such as electricity, water and roads by the Greater Tzaneen Local Municipality. This study takes into account that there are other townships such as Nkowankowa, Khutjwana and Tickeyline that are also under the jurisdiction of Greater Tzaneen Local Municipality, and therefore, the research made no attempts to compare levels of service in these towns as its main focus is Lenyenye Township. The findings of this case study are by no means a representation of the state of service delivery in the entire Greater Tzaneen Local Municipal area. The study is qualitative in nature as it attempts to understand how residents of Lenyenye Township perceive service delivery in their area. To get to the bottom of this investigation, interviews were conducted to supplement the data that is needed to make a case. The central elements of this study are community participation and financial management. According to White Paper on Local Government (1998), the above elements are the cornerstone of democracy, and that democracy should be visible and practical at grassroots. The study argued that provision of municipal services is also influenced by a high number of legislative frameworks some of which are still at a grappling stage by municipalities, for example; the implementation of White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery (1997). The study also discovered that a local sphere of government interacts with other organs of state, private sectors and non-governmental institutions in programmes and projects meant to advance the provision of municipal service. Greater Tzaneen Local Municipality like any other municipality is experiencing its fair share of the challenges such as financial management, community participation, and skills shortage. The study revealed that Lenyenye Township is experiencing poor service delivery from the municipality.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / The focus of the study was on the impacts of undocuments on the provision of housing, job opportunities and health in Limpopo Province: A case study of Polokwane Municipality and the measures taken by the government to deal with illegal immigrants. The study was qualitative in nature and concentrated on illegal Zimbabweans and South Africans residing in Western burg(RDP side),Greenside,Lethuli Park,buite and bok streets, Department of health and Social welfare, Department of Labour and the Department of Housing. The area of study was Polokwane Municipality under the Capricorn district. The research findings confirmed that illegal immigrants have negative impacts on the provision of housing, job opportunities and health facilities in Limpopo Province as many respondents indicated that illegal immigrants were residing in RDP houses, all of them have access to health facilities and most of them were employed but only pay tax through the purchasing of goods and commodities for use and resale in the country and back in Zimbabwe.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2013 / The study has focused on the evaluation of effectiveness of public participation programmes towards service delivery within the Capricorn District Municipality. Public participation is supported by various pieces of legislation, such as the Constitution (1996) and the Municipal Systems Act (2000), which has placed the community at the centre of development in the local government sphere. It also occupies a key position for development within local government, as it is important in assessing successes and failures of programmes. In this study, the researcher used interview schedules as an instrument to assess the effectiveness of public participation programmes towards service delivery within the Capricorn District Municipality. The researcher used this instrument to get the views of the respondents - in this case ward committees - about effectiveness of public participation programmes in the Aganang and Blouberg Local Municipalities as the area of the study. The findings of the research revealed that there is lack of effective participation in municipal programmes by the community due to a lack of confidence in the local authority, in terms of providing regular feedback on commitments made about service delivery. The findings also revealed that a lack of education plays a significant role for the effective participation of communities within the municipal programmes. Based on the findings of the research, recommendations were made that mechanisms should be implemented to monitor the impact of public participation programmes, building community capacity to engage with municipalities as well as strengthening current public participation mechanisms (such as the IDP consultation process, public hearings and outreach programmes).

Thesis (M. Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2012 / Service Delivery in South Africa has been one of the critical concerns of the government lately. The departments have been unable to meet the targets as set in the major policies and strategies such as AsGISA, Millenium Goals of SA and other documents. The provision of basic services such as water, sanitation, housing, health and poverty as a whole were key to those service deliver plans. In spite of many attempts by different spheres of government, to deal with the problem, this proved to be failure. Issues such as poor interpretation of policies, corruption, maladministration of resources, lack of coordination and aligned programmes as well as lack of skills and monitoring by officials were to be dealt with in length in order to curb the problems of service delivery. The department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs came up with measures to speed up the process of delivering quality services to the communities of South Africa. This Turnaround Strategy was introduced in December 2009 and will hopefully deal with such problems. This is testimony to many protests by different residents in South Africa who are frustrated and in need of response by the government promises. This study attempts to outline the problems facing the development of human settlements in South Africa. This reveals that such service delivery problems are not unique and specific to individual settlement but are similar in all respects. Recommendations thereof may be specific and assist in the rapid finalisation of service delivery in Protea South. The contribution to be made by study will ensure that there will be no more protests and that each sector will have a better understanding of the other sectors.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2015 / This study undertook to look into the management of service delivery by the Limpopo Department of Public Works. Over the past four years the researcher, through his interaction and work with departmental officials, identified various weaknesses with management. The study examines various literature relating to management and service delivery issues. A comprehensive review was made by the researcher of the available departmental documentation. The study method used was qualitative. A semi-structured questionnaire was developed and provided to management. This study found that indeed there are issues with management in the Limpopo Department of Public Works. Key findings were that the maturity and experience of management is critical to the functionality of an institution and that institutions need to embrace change, particularly within a technical environment.

M. Tech. Business Administration / A review of the relevant literature shows that the quality of municipal services that are routinely provided to residents of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality depends on the capacity of the City of Tshwane to utilize modern financial management and accounting procedures for performance monitoring and evaluation exercises. Fiscal discipline, good governance and service delivery depend on the degree to which prudent financial, auditing and accounting procedures are implemented by finance employees working for the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. The study aims to explain the relationship between the quality of service delivery and the proper utilization of financial management and accounting at municipal level in the City of Tshwane.

The study revolves around factors influencing the perceptions of service delivery by local municipalities in the Central District Municipality in the North West Province. Service delivery in general, as perceived by communities, has been a serious dilemma for most South African local municipalities. Factors in service delivery, as applicable in service marketing, have been examined through a detailed SERVQUAL research method. The focus areas have been service quality dimensions: • Reliability : the ability to deliver the promised service dependably and accurately; • Responsiveness : willingness to help and provide prompt customer service; • Assurance : knowledge, courtesy and ability of service providers to inspire trust and confidence • Empathy : caring and individualised attention given to clients; and • Tangibles : appearance of physical facilities, equipments, personnel and written materials. All five local municipalities in the Central District were involved in the study, and the main findings indicate that the residents in all the affected municipalities do not have confidence in the local government for service delivery. All five municipalities performed badly on the aspect of reliability and there is negative perception on responsiveness and willingness to provide prompt service by all the municipalities. The municipalities are perceived not to be able to command respect and instil confidence on their residents. The performance on empathy, where individual customised services are expected is poor. It is only on tangibles, where physical facilities are regarded as satisfactory. It is recommended that all municipalities should look inwardly and improve on their capacity on skills, financial management as well as bench-marking with international cities and towns for effective municipal service delivery. Service marketing as a management principle should be implemented immediately to save the current situation of loss of clientele and customer confidence. Other areas of quality improvement to be looked at are Total Quality Management and Work Improvement Team Strategy. / (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2006

The Integrated Development Planning is regarded as a tool for bridging the gap between the current development reality and the vision of equitable, sustainable development and service delivery. This new planning approach is meant to enable municipalities to develop strategic policy capacity, to mobilise resources and to target its own. activities. It is a tool that municipalities can use to become developmentally oriented, as well as to mobilise participation of local communities with the intention of meeting local citizens' social, economic and material needs. It guides and informs all planning, development, management actions and decisions. This study has attempted to analyse the implementation of the Integrated Development Plan using the Bophirima District Municipality as a case study. The critical question that the study attempted to answer was whether there was any progress made in the implementation of the district municipality's plan to uplift the living conditions of local citizens. The study also focused on whether local citizens participated in the planning process of their own development. The primary instrument for data collection used in this study was questionnaires. The findings of the study revealed that municipalities lacked high quality technical skills to manage, administer and source finances to implement sustainable projects. It is therefore recommended that:- a) For development to be sustainable, all municipalities in the district should design and implement a full participation strategy by all municipal stakeholders and mobilise financial resources to implement projects identified to improve the living standards of communities. b) Municipalities should expedite the implementation of local economic development strategy to attract sustainable businesses to the area to create jobs and markets for internal and outside suppliers. / (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2006

The aim of this research was to examine whether and to what extent supply chain management (SCM) officials in the Central District Municipality designed and implemented SCM in a manner that encouraged sound financial management and compliance to SCM legislative requirements in local government. The substantive area of research was the Central District Municipality and its five local municipalities. The researcher used both qualitative and quantitative research designs with semi-structured face-to-face interview questionnaire administered over three months. The sampling population was the Central District Municipality and its local municipalities. The researcher conducted 30 interviews and the research analysis strategy was the grounded theory supported by quantitative presentation of closed ended questions in tables and figures with the use of statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). The findings of the study revealed that Central District Municipality to a certain extent depicted the practice of some of the elements of SCM. SCM implementation is currently at an infancy stage and these municipalities do not fully comply with national treasury circulars and regulations. The municipalities are faced with problems of lack of knowledge, skills and capacity. The study concludes with the development of proposition that need to be tested on SCM implementation and recommendations on how the central district municipality can improve SCM implementation process. / (M.Com.) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2006