ABSTRACT Local government is the sphere closest to the people and is described as the most important sphere of government. The end of apartheid in the early 1990s has left South Africa with permanent social and economic legacy which is characterised by racial division and discrimination. Over the last decade all local government institutions in South Africa had been totally restructured and transformed into a single uniformed system of local governance in which all municipalities area given a new status, new powers and functions and a new constitutionally entrenched vision of achieving specific municipal objects and to be generally developmental in nature (Bekink, 2006). Most important shifts in direction for local government are enshrined in Chapter 7 of the Constitution (Act 108 of 1996), which provides the objectives of local government as being to provide a democratic and accountable government for local communities and to encourage the involvement of stakeholders, including the communities in the matters of local government. This marks the difference between the new form of local government and that of the past. The new local government has a dynamic developmental role to ensure maximum impact on poverty alleviation and to address socio-economic inequalities. Local government cannot achieve their new goals on their own. They need the support and assistance of the two higher spheres of government. This is because developmental local government requires a system of intergovernmental planning in the decision-making of local development. This entails mutual understanding with inclusive decision-making between government spheres, private sector and communities. This needs to take place within the framework of Integrated Development Planning. Therefore, stakeholder involvement in the IDP process is relevant. Over the past few years in the democratic South Africa, local government has seemed to reflect a system of government characterised by low levels of service delivery by local authorities, lack of transparency in decision making and inability to participate in municipal affairs. Various efforts have been made to bring about a system of co-operative governance to enhance intergovernmental planning, economic regeneration and social reconciliation in South Africa’s municipalities. In general, the results thus far have been somewhat mixed, but as case-study evidence (chapter 4) suggest, it is clear that some significant improvements have taken place in municipalities, particularly in terms of the implementation of the IDP. This study was undertaken in an effort to assess the extent to which intergovernmental planning plays a role in the IDP implementation of Makhado LM.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the integration of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and Performance Management System (PMS) processes in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. The aim of this study will not be to find solutions to the lack of service delivery, but to evaluate the lDP and PMS process as well as the theory. The need for this study was considered relevant and necessary as municipalities today have become focus points for service delivery as per their constitutional obligations. The IDPs are management and planning instruments and are only effective if they enable municipalities to improve and accelerate the delivery of essential services and development. Central to the constitutional mandate, amongst other things, the Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 (SA, 2000) requires municipalities to establish a Performance Management System that will play a pivotal role in promoting a culture of Performance Management. It is through Performance Management that priorities, objectives and targets are set, as contained in the Integrated Development Plan, are implemented and measured. Along with the implementation of lDPs, the Municipal Structures Act (117 of 1998) also mandates the implementation of performance management systems within the structures of the municipality. It was found during the literature review that the processes of IDP and PMS are linked, the resulting performance is more likely to meet the needs of an institution. There are various legislative acts and policy documents that state and mandates the use of these processes. Along with this are various guidelines that have been formulated to assist municipalities to successfully implement the lDP and a performance management system. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the integration of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and Performance Management System (PMS) processes in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. The aim of this study will not be to find solutions to the lack of service delivery, but to evaluate the lDP and PMS process as well as the theory. The need for this study was considered relevant and necessary as municipalities today have become focus points for service delivery as per their constitutional obligations. The IDPs are management and planning instruments and are only effective if they enable municipalities to improve and accelerate the delivery of essential services and development. Central to the constitutional mandate, amongst other things, the Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 (SA, 2000) requires municipalities to establish a Performance Management System that will play a pivotal role in promoting a culture of Performance Management. It is through Performance Management that priorities, objectives and targets are set, as contained in the Integrated Development Plan, are implemented and measured. Along with the implementation of lDPs, the Municipal Structures Act (117 of 1998) also mandates the implementation of performance management systems within the structures of the municipality. It was found during the literature review that the processes of IDP and PMS are linked, the resulting performance is more likely to meet the needs of an institution. There are various legislative acts and policy documents that state and mandates the use of these processes. Along with this are various guidelines that have been formulated to assist municipalities to successfully implement the lDP and a performance management system. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Historically the practice of conservation planning has occurred in an ad hoc manner in areas that have no economic or agricultural value. When systematic conservation planning has been implemented it has ensured the identification of priority areas that contain species, habitats, and processes essential to achieving conservation targets and goals set out by government. In the recent past a number of authors within the conservation planning fraternity have started questioning the actual impact of conservation plans. Only one third of the conservation plans (globally) published between 1998 and 2000 resulted in actual implementation. Prendengast et al. (1999) described this gap between conservation plans and conservation action as the ‘research–implementation–gap’. The same phenomenon is experienced in local government conservation planning, in South Africa. This has led to a lack of conservation planning and implementation. By using the Gauteng provincial Conservation Plan (C–Plan), that is considered the strategic conservation planning document for the province government, a critical evaluation of the extent to which environmental aspects are considered in strategic level municipal decision making was done. Six local and two district municipalities within the Gauteng Province were selected to ascertain, through a comparative and objective analysis, to what extent their strategic documents (Integrated Development Plan, Spatial Development Framework and Environmental Management Framework) reflect the conservation planning done on a provincial sphere (C–Plan). An analysis was done of the selected documentation and spatial maps to determine whether incorporation occurred either explicitly and/or implicitly. The expectation is that municipalities within the Gauteng Province, should, as part of their Integrated Development Plan process, integrate the Gauteng C–Plan with their Integrated Development Plans. The research found that all the municipalities fully incorporated the C–Plan within their Environmental Management Frameworks indicating that local government conservation planners do consult and incorporate provincial conservation plans when they are generating their own plans. The Spatial Development Frameworks and Integrated Development Plans did not reflect this strong connection with regards to conservation planning. There is a lack of integration between the different documents and an inability to bring a planning aspect(s) to delivery and implementation. There is no problem with the incorporation of the C–Plan into the Environmental Management Frameworks, thus future research or conservation initiatives should focus on the effective incorporation of the Environmental Management Frameworks into other strategic municipal documentation (Spatial Development Frameworks and Integrated Development Plans) and promote the integration that occurs between the municipal documents themselves. / Thesis (M. Environmental Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Historically the practice of conservation planning has occurred in an ad hoc manner in areas that have no economic or agricultural value. When systematic conservation planning has been implemented it has ensured the identification of priority areas that contain species, habitats, and processes essential to achieving conservation targets and goals set out by government. In the recent past a number of authors within the conservation planning fraternity have started questioning the actual impact of conservation plans. Only one third of the conservation plans (globally) published between 1998 and 2000 resulted in actual implementation. Prendengast et al. (1999) described this gap between conservation plans and conservation action as the ‘research–implementation–gap’. The same phenomenon is experienced in local government conservation planning, in South Africa. This has led to a lack of conservation planning and implementation. By using the Gauteng provincial Conservation Plan (C–Plan), that is considered the strategic conservation planning document for the province government, a critical evaluation of the extent to which environmental aspects are considered in strategic level municipal decision making was done. Six local and two district municipalities within the Gauteng Province were selected to ascertain, through a comparative and objective analysis, to what extent their strategic documents (Integrated Development Plan, Spatial Development Framework and Environmental Management Framework) reflect the conservation planning done on a provincial sphere (C–Plan). An analysis was done of the selected documentation and spatial maps to determine whether incorporation occurred either explicitly and/or implicitly. The expectation is that municipalities within the Gauteng Province, should, as part of their Integrated Development Plan process, integrate the Gauteng C–Plan with their Integrated Development Plans. The research found that all the municipalities fully incorporated the C–Plan within their Environmental Management Frameworks indicating that local government conservation planners do consult and incorporate provincial conservation plans when they are generating their own plans. The Spatial Development Frameworks and Integrated Development Plans did not reflect this strong connection with regards to conservation planning. There is a lack of integration between the different documents and an inability to bring a planning aspect(s) to delivery and implementation. There is no problem with the incorporation of the C–Plan into the Environmental Management Frameworks, thus future research or conservation initiatives should focus on the effective incorporation of the Environmental Management Frameworks into other strategic municipal documentation (Spatial Development Frameworks and Integrated Development Plans) and promote the integration that occurs between the municipal documents themselves. / Thesis (M. Environmental Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

A qualitative research approach was utilised with the goal to explore the views and interpretation of community members concerning the participation in the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) of the City of Johannesburg Municipality. The objectives were to conceptualise the legal and policy framework for the implementation of IDP's in South African municipalities (with reference to community/public participation); explore the nature and extent of community participation in the IDP processes (understanding of the IDP process and its meaning to the community); explore community participation in relation to decision-making in the process of IDP consultation, and make suggestions for advocacy on meaningful community participation to optimise the success of IDP in the City of Johannesburg Municipality. Using applied research made it possible for suggestions of meaningful community participation to optimise the success of IDP in the City of Johannesburg Municipality. A sample of 18 participants was drawn from Region E of which only 10 people participated, focusing on Alexandra as the population. The most suitable research design was a qualitative design with a collective case study. A focus group session was held with each of the two groups of participants. The focus group session with community representatives took place at the AlexSankopano multi-purpose main hall in Alexandra, whilst the session with the representatives of the City of Johannesburg municipality, took place at the boardroom of Region E offices in Sandton. Data collected were analysed using Creswell's data analysis spiral. The findings of the research showed that, although participation in the IDP of the Alexandra community which forms part of Region E of the City of Johannesburg Municipality was acknowledged, it was not meaningful and effective to the community and municipal officials. The above finding seems to suggest that the value of community participation for sustainable development in the community, as well as for nation building has not been realised. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Social Work and Criminology / MA / Unrestricted

Much is written on the importance of participatory communication and its role in uplifting indigent communities. As the closest government sphere to communities, local government is charged with directly improving the lives of the poor and is required by legislation to conduct Integrated Development Planning (IDP). This requires that a municipal authority utilise participatory communication aspects such as dialogue, empowerment, and planning. These are most important pillars of community development. However, many studies have warned that elements such as modernisation, dependency and bureaucracy need to be re-assed and observed with caution since they have the potential to impede and limit the extent of participatory communication in community development. These concepts serve as the basic points of departure and theoretical background underpinning this study, which is tasked with exploring the extent of participatory communication in the IDP context of Jouberton Township in the Matlosana LocalMunicipality. In her public address on challenges facing North West Local municipalities (Including Matlosana Municipality) in January 2014, former premier, Thandi Modise, emphasised the need for municipalities to ensure that communities attend IDP meetings, approve earmarked IDP projects and be aware of how a municipality spends its budget earmarked for specific development projects. It is evident from theory and higher echelon of government that participatory communication is seen as the most important pillar and the basis for the existence of a municipal government. It is against this background, that this study was carried out under the assumption that the practice of participatory communication in contemporary local government only exists on paper; while in reality the public does not enjoy active participation in municipal IDP consultative frameworks. This is despite much discourse being available in government and in academia around the importance and role of participatory communication in community development. The study espoused a qualitative research approach to gather data and purposive sampling was used to select respondents linked to two IDP projects in Jouberton Township from the 2012/13 financial year. Its purpose was to explore perceptions among Matlosana municipal representatives and community members in Jouberton Township on the extent of participatory communication in the IDP context. The empirical part of the study comprised of focus group and unstructured interviews, as well as participant observation. By using a typology of participation by Anyaegbunam et al (2004), the study revealed that Jouberton communities are passive participators in municipal IDP consultative frameworks where they participate by just being informed about what is going to happen or has already happened and feedback is minimal. This is opposed to a desired form of empowered participation which is highly recommended by scholars in development communication where stakeholders should be able to and are willing to participate in joint analysis, which leads to joint decision making about what should be achieved and how. It has been discovered that there is a lack of active participation in community development in the IDP context of Matlosana Municipality and the study makes recommendations on how transformative elements of participation can be applied to improve current norms and standards in participatory communication. / MA (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

In general, the improper disposal of waste may hinder the constitutional guarantee of a right to an environment to human health or well-being. This is especially true of domestic solid waste, a particular area of the waste stream frequently disposed of on South Africa's vacant land, rivers and streets amongst other. There is need therefore for municipalities as locally based authorities that are constitutionally bestowed with specific functions and duties in relation to waste, to ensure effective domestic solid waste management. The aim of this study is to investigate the content and design of some legal instruments aimed at domestic solid waste management in two municipalities of South Africa’s Limpopo Province namely the Lephalale and Greater Tzaneen Municipalities. The investigation and critical analysis of the selected instruments are based on the content of South Africa’s national waste law and policy with respect to domestic solid waste management specifically. The study concludes with a number of observations and recommendations with respect to the investigation instrumentation of Lephalale and Greater Tzaneen Municipalities. / LLM (Environmental Law and Governance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Much is written on the importance of participatory communication and its role in uplifting indigent communities. As the closest government sphere to communities, local government is charged with directly improving the lives of the poor and is required by legislation to conduct Integrated Development Planning (IDP). This requires that a municipal authority utilise participatory communication aspects such as dialogue, empowerment, and planning. These are most important pillars of community development. However, many studies have warned that elements such as modernisation, dependency and bureaucracy need to be re-assed and observed with caution since they have the potential to impede and limit the extent of participatory communication in community development. These concepts serve as the basic points of departure and theoretical background underpinning this study, which is tasked with exploring the extent of participatory communication in the IDP context of Jouberton Township in the Matlosana LocalMunicipality. In her public address on challenges facing North West Local municipalities (Including Matlosana Municipality) in January 2014, former premier, Thandi Modise, emphasised the need for municipalities to ensure that communities attend IDP meetings, approve earmarked IDP projects and be aware of how a municipality spends its budget earmarked for specific development projects. It is evident from theory and higher echelon of government that participatory communication is seen as the most important pillar and the basis for the existence of a municipal government. It is against this background, that this study was carried out under the assumption that the practice of participatory communication in contemporary local government only exists on paper; while in reality the public does not enjoy active participation in municipal IDP consultative frameworks. This is despite much discourse being available in government and in academia around the importance and role of participatory communication in community development. The study espoused a qualitative research approach to gather data and purposive sampling was used to select respondents linked to two IDP projects in Jouberton Township from the 2012/13 financial year. Its purpose was to explore perceptions among Matlosana municipal representatives and community members in Jouberton Township on the extent of participatory communication in the IDP context. The empirical part of the study comprised of focus group and unstructured interviews, as well as participant observation. By using a typology of participation by Anyaegbunam et al (2004), the study revealed that Jouberton communities are passive participators in municipal IDP consultative frameworks where they participate by just being informed about what is going to happen or has already happened and feedback is minimal. This is opposed to a desired form of empowered participation which is highly recommended by scholars in development communication where stakeholders should be able to and are willing to participate in joint analysis, which leads to joint decision making about what should be achieved and how. It has been discovered that there is a lack of active participation in community development in the IDP context of Matlosana Municipality and the study makes recommendations on how transformative elements of participation can be applied to improve current norms and standards in participatory communication. / MA (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

In general, the improper disposal of waste may hinder the constitutional guarantee of a right to an environment to human health or well-being. This is especially true of domestic solid waste, a particular area of the waste stream frequently disposed of on South Africa's vacant land, rivers and streets amongst other. There is need therefore for municipalities as locally based authorities that are constitutionally bestowed with specific functions and duties in relation to waste, to ensure effective domestic solid waste management. The aim of this study is to investigate the content and design of some legal instruments aimed at domestic solid waste management in two municipalities of South Africa’s Limpopo Province namely the Lephalale and Greater Tzaneen Municipalities. The investigation and critical analysis of the selected instruments are based on the content of South Africa’s national waste law and policy with respect to domestic solid waste management specifically. The study concludes with a number of observations and recommendations with respect to the investigation instrumentation of Lephalale and Greater Tzaneen Municipalities. / LLM (Environmental Law and Governance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014