Creating a framework for sustainable service delivery: an analysis of municipalities in the North-West Province, South Africa

Abstract

In South Africa, the entire system of municipal governance was overhauled as the country transformed from apartheid to democracy post-1994. Prior to that, South Africa had a poor history of municipal governance. Municipal institutions were established and operated along racial lines so designed to serve apartheid ends. The municipal institutions were by and large unsuccessful in that they did not serve the majority of South Africans with basic essential services. Post-1994, municipal authorities were mandated by law to begin the arduous task of transformation from apartheid to democracy. Legal impetus was provided to transform the municipalities. This legal dispensation was further reinforced with other legal measures. Municipal institutions were given constitutional status and recognized as an essential component of the new democratic order in the Republic, as opposed to being a distant agent of the old order Provincial Governments Dramatic changes in municipal governments and their systems of operations were experienced. Major urban areas in the country were given metropolitan status with various options for structuring. Two major purposes were rigorously pursued by municipalities. The first was to abandon race-based municipalities toward institutions that were representative of all citizens residing and, or working in a municipal area. The second was to take municipal services to the majority of citizens once deprived of such fundamental services during apartheid. There was no reprieve, however, for municipalities since they had to deal with their own transformation on the one hand, and simultaneously provide municipal services on the other, only this time stretching the same limited resources into both old and new areas under their jurisdiction. However, albeit so, problems have continued to escalate such as maintenance programmes being perpetually put on hold due to scarce funding. Backlogs for basic services in the newly incorporated areas are daunting. Further challenges include; abject poverty, skills shortages, a low economic growth climate, high prevalence of the HIV and AIDS pandemic, crime and financial mismanagement. The study set out to explore ways of creating a framework for sustainable services delivery in local municipalities in North West. The study’s objectives focused on governance mechanisms, and impact of a skills base in effective municipal service delivery in the North West Province. A mixed approach paradigm was used for data collection, namely exploratory and descriptive. The major advantage was that the weaknesses of another paradigm would be offset by the other. Observations, in-depth interviews and questionnaires were used in the study. A sample size of 340 participants was studied. Numerous measuring instruments such as Cronbach’s Alpha (reliability test), Kaiser-Meyer Olkin (measure of sampling adequacy), Exploratory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Pearson’s correlation coefficients were used to gain a more profound and in-depth analysis of collected data. During the course of the study, it was established that municipalities were grossly under resourced and their numerous challenges daunting. From the literature surveyed, and studies of other District Municipalities, locally and abroad, it was further established that municipalities in the province have several serious shortcomings in terms of size, form and economic growth. Notwithstanding the fact that their establishment encompasses a large geographical area of 140 642 square kilometers and a population of well over 2 600 000 people, coupled with high levels of poverty and illiteracy. The size of an entity is a vital ingredient which can have an impact on sustainable service delivery to clients. The study established that though governance mechanisms existed, these were not effectively utilized as officials lacked skills and in some cases were not aware of their professional mandates. Oversight functions, transparency, accountability and stakeholder engagement were not observed by municipal officials. Other challenges established by the study which compromised municipal service delivery were political arrogance, hypersensitivity and political divisiveness. Several recommendations, all in the cause of enhancing a framework for sustainable services delivery were proposed. Numerous models on municipal governance were also incorporated as part of this study. It is requisite that when an organization is established, its ‘‘architects” should take into account prevailing circumstances and design the organization accordingly. Critical factors for most organizations to survive are; skills, management capacity, sufficient economic activity, manpower and leadership among several others. Adopting the research’s findings and utilizing the recommendations proposed can hopefully produce municipal organizations that are empirically sound, able to “touch” their citizens’ basic needs from an open systems perspective and capable to deliver municipal services in a sustainable way. Moreover, the visions and goals of the municipalities will be more pointed, distinct and achievable.