Thesis (MPA (School of Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / The uMgungundlovu District Municipality is one of the ten district
municipalities of the KwaZulu-Natal Province which was formed after the
disestablishment of the Indlovu Regional Council in the year 2000. This
Municipality has within it seven local municipalities that have varying
capacity in terms of service provision. The thesis investigates how the
evolution of the uMgungundlovu District Municipality’s organisational
structure has impacted on the Municipality’s service delivery over the past
eight years. The investigated problem is that the Municipality and its
predecessor have never reviewed their organisational structures, while their
functions, leadership and staff complement have changed over the past eight
years. The purpose of the study was to address a practical problem at the
Municipality, with the intention to throw some light on the impact of
organisational structures on service delivery, and possibly suggest some
solutions for the Municipality to implement.
The investigation focuses on the challenges faced by the Technical
Department, as a line-function department, in their efforts to deliver services
to the public. The exploration begins with an analysis of the structure that
populated the erstwhile Indlovu Regional Council, and follows through to
the structure of the current Municipality. The investigation has been done
through the consultation of documentation of the Municipality as well as
interviewing staff and management of the Municipality. The staff who were
interviewed included technical staff who were employed during the reign of
the Regional Council, as well as technical staff who joined the organisation
once it had become the District Municipality. In addition, Human Resources
staff, performance management staff, the staff union representative and general staff were also interviewed. The focus of the study excludes
political influences on the problem of the Municipality due to the sensitivity
of this issue. However, responses from the interviews that relate to the role
of political principals of the Municipality have been discussed to illustrate
the necessary points.
The thesis draws on relevant theories, legislation and policies to form the
basis for the arguments that are put forward. The legislation and policies
used include national, provincial and local government legislation and
policies that guide the functioning of municipalities.
One of the main findings of the investigation is that the staff and
management do not have the same understanding of organisational structures
or of their functions. The management understand that organisational
structures need to be done with all staff of the organisation and that the
structure should be informed by the organisational strategy to ensure that all
plans that are followed thereafter assist with the implementation of the
organisational strategy; the Integrated Development Strategy. The staff, on
the other hand, owing to their exclusion from the relevant organisational
structuring and design processes, believes that their work is separate from
the organisational strategy. Furthermore, the staff argued that the
formulation and implementation of the organisational strategy is the
responsibility of the management and they, as low-level staff, have to focus
on their ‘normal work’.
One of the limitations to the study is that one of the senior managers that
was going to be part of the study group resigned before the interviews were
conducted. It is submitted that this did not substantially alter the conclusions of the thesis because the Municipal Manager, as the manager of the senior
manager and as the Chief Information Officer and Accounting Officer, was
available for the interview and has provided the required information. The
thesis concludes that the Municipality’s service delivery efforts can only
be efficient and sustainable if the organisation ensures that its structure
is informed by its strategy, and that these are both reviewed at regular
intervals to ensure that this is done in an up-to-date manner.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/3001 |
| Date | 03 1900 |
| Creators | Mlotshwa, Sibongile G. |
| Contributors | Muller, J. J., University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Management and Planning. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | University of Stellenbosch |
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