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 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.

Thesis (MPAM.) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / The purpose of this study was to investigate municipal-citizen communication channels of the Thulamela Local Municipality, and their implications on service delivery. The study adopted a mixed method, qualitative-quantitative sequential approach. Qualitative data was sourced from key-informants comprised of community leaders, Ward Committee members, and a Community Development Workers. Quantitative data was sourced from ordinary community members of Dumasi village. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires were used as data collection tools for both the qualitative and quantitative phases. Thematic Content Analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. Data analysis for the quantitative data was conducted using Cronbach’s Alpha, t-test and ANOVA test. The findings from both studies revealed that respondents perceived Thulamela Municipality’s communication channels to be ineffective. Community members’ reluctance to attend community meetings and lack of proper feedback were identified as the main causes. The findings further revealed that ineffectiveness of the communication channels leads to an increase in the number of community service delivery protests. Several suggestions are made resulting from the findings of this study. These include the designing and implementation of context-specific, municipal-citizen communication channels, in consultation with local communities.

The Constitution, 1996 requires that the public participate in policy making and planning in local government. To ensure compliance, legislation prescribes that local government needs to establish mechanisms, processes and procedures for public participation. However, neither the Constitution, 1996 nor legislation describes what public participation is, and how it should be implemented. Moreover, different people view public participation differently. There is thus a lack of definition and implementation of public participation in the policy making and planning processes of local government. To understand what public participation means, a conceptual analysis was conducted, resulting in the delivery of a working definition of public participation. The definition conveyed indicators of public participation, namely, the public, the levels of participation, the mechanisms for participation, the scope of participation and public influence in decision-making in participation. These indicators were studied qualitatively for description in a metropolitan municipality in South Africa in a single case study using multiple methods. The methods used were a survey questionnaire, a document study and analysis and an interview questionnaire. The findings indicate that the public who participated in the policy making and planning processes in the metropolitan municipality were mainly advantaged instead of disadvantaged people. They participated at the levels of informing, consulting, implementing, and reviewing. Public participation was not attained at the levels of educating, deciding and reporting back. The study established that the municipality employed various public participation mechanisms for informing and consulting the public. The scope of public participation was found to be reasonably broad. Though evidence suggests that the public participated in decisions pertaining to budget ward allocations, no evidence could be found that the public had an influence in decision-making in participation on the whole. It was found that public officials had the influence over public participation decision-making while politicians had the final say. / Public Administration and Management / M. Admin. (Public Administration)

The focus of this research is to understand the relevance of the Human Resource Development Strategy for the functioning of South African Public Service and its implications for the Emerging Management Development Programme (EMDP). One of the main challenges of the Human Resource Development Strategy (HRDS) is its translation into well designed training programmes that are aligned with the goals and objectives of the strategy. The Emerging Management Development Programme (EMDP) is meant to be the translation and interpretation of the HRDS for public sector training and development on emerging management level. The intention of this study is to evaluate, analyse and understand the alignment of the EMDP with the Human Resource Development Strategy for the South African pubic service and subsequently suggest proposals for the possible improvement of emerging middle management development. The objectives of the research will be stated in the form of two critical questions:  What are the main directives in the Human Resource Development Strategy for the Public Service regarding management development in general, and the gaps in the design and development of the Emerging Management Development Programme (EMDP) in particular?  How does the design and development of the current EMDP meet the strategic vision for management development as envisioned in the Human Resource Development Strategy for the Public Service? The research methodology applied in this study, is a qualitative research approach. This approach focuses on phenomena that occur in natural settings, i.e. in the real world and involve studying those phenomena in all of their complexity which is used to gather data. This data is preserved in descriptive narratives. A qualitative research approach also uses mainly the constructivist-interpretive perspective. The key finding is that as much as the EMDP is comprehensive, it is however not yet aligned with the Human Resource Development Strategy of the South African Public Service. The recommendation is that the conversion of the objectives of HRDS-SA into the learning outcomes of the EMDP in order to provide a framework for a comprehensive base of competencies that inform the curriculation of the EMDP is important. This will ensure that the learners are able to benefit from a multitude of skills development activities in the programme and, in so doing, render them more purposeful to improve their impact on the skills challenges of the country. / Public Administration and Management / M. Tech. (Public management)

The aim of this quantitative study was to develop and validate a model to measure the organisational effectiveness of a metropolitan municipality in South Africa. The literature review phase explored the concept of organisational effectiveness and the assessment thereof in both the Public and Private Sectors. The literature review indicated that there is a clear distinction between business performance (operational and financial performance) and the larger concept of organisational effectiveness, and also that the measurement of organisational effectiveness in the Public Sector differed from the measurement thereof in the Private Sector. The literature review also indicated that measures of Public Sector effectiveness could not be directly applied to measure the effectiveness of Private Sector organisations. From the literature review a proposed theoretical model for measuring the organisational effectiveness of a metropolitan municipality in South Africa was proposed. This proposed model included organisational and behavioural variables contained in traditional approaches to organisational effectiveness, variables that were identified in previous organisational effectiveness studies, as well as variables contained in existing assessment models of organisational effectiveness. This model was then validated during the empirical phase by conducting a survey of an existing metropolitan municipality in South Africa (n = 6514) and exposing the results of the survey to Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The confirmatory factor analysis conducted as part of SEM subsequently identified three main and 10 secondary statistically significant organisational and behavioural variables that could be used to measure the effectiveness of a metropolitan municipality in South Africa. The three main variables identified were (1) Healthy Systems, (2) Goal Achievement and (3) Service Delivery, while the 10 secondary variables identified were (1) Diversity, (2) Training & Development, (3) Rewards & Recognition, (4) Management Practices, (5) Internal Functioning, (6) Work Environment, (7) Interpersonal Relations, (8) Workforce Equity, (9) Customer Satisfaction and (10) Vision & Mission. It was thus recommended that metropolitan municipalities in South Africa could use this validated model as an assessment framework to measure their current organisational effectiveness, to identify aspects which need to be rectified to improve effectiveness, and to compare and benchmark their municipality in order to learn from other metropolitan municipalities to improve their effectiveness. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / D. Admin. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This assignment deals with the relevance of Public-Private Partnerships in the South African context and particularly the role it can play in realising the developmental goals of the economic policy. The value of the unique relationship that is possible between the public and the private partner goes beyond the formalised legal agreement as the mix of cultures and different managerial approaches hold benefits for both parties. There are many aspects of the PPP, especially as a management tool, which grow beyond the boundaries of a work of this length and which will hopefully entice the reader to further reading. However, in this work the main thrust of the argument is that the PPP offers an alternative, or maybe rather a supplementary vehicle to address a number of managerial problems experienced in the public sector. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie werkstuk handel met die relevansie van die sogenaamde “Public-Private Partnership” in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks en meer spesifiek die rol wat dit kan speel om die ontwikkelingsdoelwitte van die ekonomie te bereik. Die waarde van die unieke verhouding wat moontlik is tussen die publieke en die private party venoot verder as die formele regsverhouding aangesien die vermenging van die kulture en verskillende bestuurstyle voordele vir beide partye inhou. Daar is vele aspekte van die PPP, veral as ‘n bestuursmeganisme, wat buite die grense van ‘n werk van hierdie lengte gaan en hopelik word die leser gestimuleer om verder oor die onderwerp op te lees. Die vertrekpunt van hierdie werk egter is dat die PPP ‘n alternatiewe, of selfs ‘n bykomende meganisme om verskeie bestuursprobleme wat in die publieke sektor ervaar word, aan te spreek.

Thesis (MPA (School of Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / South Africa has a shortage of skilled labour, which prevents the country from economically competing in the global village. Unfortunately little money was spent on the training and development of workers during the apartheid era. The new government has implemented legislation and various programmes to rectify the situation. Organisations in South Africa are beginning to recognise that a skilled workforce has the potential to provide them with the competitive edge. Instead of viewing training and development as an expense, as they often did in the past, many organisations are now beginning to view expenditure on training as an investment. Training and development is one of the many functions performed by human resources (HR) departments. Today HR is also required to play a larger strategic role within an organisation. Daily administrative duties, however, often prevent human resources managers from playing a more important strategic role. However, modern technology can simplify the way in which human resources departments perform their daily tasks. There are various computerised information systems and programs that can be used for this purpose. The high unemployment rate and the poor economic situation have also affected local government. Many municipalities have a limited budget with which they must provide their communities with basic services such as electricity and water, sanitation and refuse removal, municipal health services and fire fighting services. Municipalities also play a role in the development of their communities. The quality of services provided by the municipalities will depend on the employees of the municipalities. It is therefore important to improve the skills and competencies of the workers to ensure better service delivery to communities. Technology is increasingly being used to address challenges faced by municipalities, to enhance service delivery as well as to improve internal efficiency. Raw data can be converted to useful information that can help key decision makers make a more informed decision about projects. In this study, the Breede Valley Municipality was used as a case study to learn more about the problem under study. The objectives of the study was to identify: a) the advantages web-based technologies can hold for HR employees in their daily work; (b) how training and development is implemented within the municipality; and (c) the challenges, constraints and recommended steps for improvement. A thorough literature study formed the basis of the research and was supplemented with individual interviews with relevant employees at Breede Valley Municipality. This municipality, like most in South Africa, is tasked to deliver services to their communities with limited financial resources at their disposal. Optimal use of technology can assist the HR department to play a more strategic role within the municipality, in freeing them from their administrative tasks.

Thesis (MPA (School of Public Management and Planning))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Since its establishment in the 19th century, the City of Johannesburg has metamorphosed from a gold mining dormitory, a segregated town to a modern metropolitan municipality that is one of the flagships of South African municipalities. The formerly apartheid city had the legacy of fragmentation along racial lines based on the disintegrated economic logic that systematically developed areas disproportionately with black urban and peri-urban areas at the mercy of the white urban areas1. The advent of democracy in 1994 necessitated the city’s transformation into a democratic, non-racial, developmental and mega municipality encompassing the townships that were previously on its periphery. This required the national government, as the superior government to formulate a regulatory framework for local government to foster a developmental orientation, democracy, good governance and accountability to the constituent inhabitants, provincial and national government. Similar to all other municipalities country wide, it became paramount to improve the provision of public services to cover the backlogs that were created by the previous separate development policies of apartheid, but specific to Johannesburg, to maintain its position as the biggest city by population, gross domestic expenditure and economic growth. In this study the researcher maintains the seven assumptions advanced by Caiden (1982:14-6) about public administration i.e. that it is unavoidable, expects obedience, has priority, has exceptional size, has political top management, poses difficulties in performance measurement and that more is expected from it. Although public management is not entirely unique in the above ways due to the phenomenon of new public management (NPM), it is easy in the South African context to identify public administration through the schedules in the Constitution (1996), the Public Finance Management Act, 2002 (PFMA)2 and the formation structures of service providing municipal entities. Public policy analysis literature documents the paradigm shift in public management from traditional bureaucratic structure to decentralisation, NPM and policy networks amid the complexity theory in the public service endeavour to provide services. The local legislature i.e. the municipal council is granted the authority over the sphere of work of the municipality and therefore has the final say in the running of the municipality to meet the expectations of the electorate. In this study the researcher focuses on the analysis of the council’s choices of the above public management structures or policies options in exercising its authority. The council has to decide on functional activities i.e. municipal services from what the Constitution (1996) allows and decide on the executive institutions that are tasked to execute the functions within the budgetary allocations. Regarding research methodology, annual reports, departmental reports, AG performance reports, community complaints, council meeting minutes, provincial government reports, national treasury reports and primary data from questionnaires and expert interviews were consulted to answer the questions on the levels effectiveness and efficiency. It was found that the provision of services has substantially improved as from the beginning of the 21st century and the reason for this improvement is the public service reforms that include NPM. The semi permanency of entities and utilities could inhibit the provision of services in future. It was also found that the weaknesses with the utilities and entities can well be covered by the implementation of policy networks and the municipality finds it difficult to cope under exogenous complexity challenges.

Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Local government is a sphere of government which consists of municipalities and its executive and legislative authority is vested in the respective municipal councils. The council is responsible for exercising its powers and functions on behalf of the community it represents and it makes decisions in that regard. A municipality as an organisation which is comprised of two main components: on the one hand, the council as a body of elected representatives and, on the other, officials who have been employed by the council. Whilst it is generally accepted that it is the function of the council to determine policy and of the officials to execute the determined policy, it is accepted that in .practice there is a degree of interfacing between these two functions. It is further accepted that, although there is a clear distinction between the roles of councillor and official, it is possible that there may be a degree of misconception about their respective roles. The purpose of this study was to determine whether councillors and officials have misconceptions about their roles in the decision-making processes of the municipality and whether such misconceptions have a negative impact on service delivery. The research was initiated by a study of decision making in general, followed by a study of decision making in local government in order to establish a basis for the field of study. Oostenberg Municipality was then analysed, with specific reference to its decision-making systems as well as its macro-organisational structure. A questionnaire was sent to the top structure of the council as well as the top management structure of the municipality; the views of these respondents were used to determine whether there were any misconceptions about their roles. The study found that the councillor study group presented a 30.56% degree of misconception about their role as councillors in the decision-making process of the municipality, and in the case of the top management structure there was a 29.86% degree of misconception. The study further established that this degree of misconception impacted negatively on service delivery. In VIew of the above, it is recommended that councillors be subjected to appropriate training, that the political party caucuses be accommodated in the formal decision-making process of the municipality, and that members of the top management structure be subjected to dedicated training on their role in the decision-making processes of the municipality. It is also recommended that the top management structure of the municipality should be in possession of appropriate academic qualifications. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Plaaslike Regering is 'n sfeer van regering wat uit munisipaliteite bestaan en ten opsigte waarvan sy uitvoerende en wetgewende gesag in sy munisipale raad gesetel is. Die raad is namens die gemeenskap wat hy verteenwoordig vir die uitoefening van sy magte en funksies verantwoordelik en neem hy besluite in daardie verband. 'n Munisipaliteit as 'n organisasie bestaan uit twee komponente, te wete die raad as 'n liggaam van verkose verteenwoordigers aan die een kant, en aan die ander kant, amptenare wat deur die raad in diens geneem is. Terwyl dit algemeen aanvaar word dat dit die raad se funksie is om beleid te bepaal en dit die amptenare se funksie is om die uitvoering aan die gestelde beleid te gee, word daar ook aanvaar dat daar in die praktyk, 'n mate van interfase tussen hierdie twee funksies bestaan. Dit word voorts aanvaar dat terwyl daar 'n duidelike onderskeid tussen die onderskeie rolle van raadslid en amptenaar is, dit moontlik is dat daar 'n mate van wanbegrip van hul onderskeie rolle bestaan. Die doel van hierdie studie was om te bepaal of raadslede en amptenare wanbegrip van hul onderskeie rolle in die besluitnemingsproses van die munisipaliteit ervaar en of sodanige wanbegrip 'n negatiewe impak op dienslewering het. Om as basis vir die studieveld te dien is algemene besluitneming eerstens bestudeer, gevolg deur 'n studie van besluitneming in plaaslike regering. 'n Ontleding van Oostenberg munisipaliteit met spesifieke verwysing na sy besluitnemingsprosesse en makro-organisatoriese struktuur is daarna uitgevoer. 'n Vraelys met as respondente die topstruktuur van die raad sowel as die top bestuurstruktuur van die munisipaliteit was aangewend om te bepaal of daar 'n mate van wanbegrip van onderskeie rolle bestaan. Die studie het bevind dat die raadslid studiegroep 'n graad van wanbegrip van 30.56% ten opsigte van sy rol as raadslid in die besluitnemingsproses van die munisipaliteit toon, en in die geval van die top bestuurstruktuur, is 'n graad van wanbegrip van 29.86% aangetoon. Die studie het verder bevind dat die bepaalde graad van wanbegrip, negatief op dienslewering impakteer. Met inagneming van die voorafgaande is daar aanbeveel dat raadslede aan toepaslike opleiding blootgestel word, die akkommodering van die politieke party koukusse in die formele besluitnemingsprosesse van die munisipaliteit, sowel as die toepaslike opleiding van die lede van die top bestuurstruktuur van die munisipaliteit ten opsigte van hul rol in die besluitnemingsprosesse van die munisipaliteit. Daar is ook aanbeveel dat die lede van die top bestuurstruktuur van die munisipaliteit oor toepaslike akademiese kwalifikasies behoort te beskik.