Monitoring and evaluation: the missing link in South African municipalities

Abstract

The Auditor-General of South Africa reports for the financial years 2012–2013, 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 paint a gloomy picture of local government performance in some provinces. Many municipalities in South Africa are not performing as expected because of a host of problems that include weaknesses in monitoring and evaluation systems. The study preceding this article was qualitative in nature and focused on the Auditor-General’s reports for the 2012–2013, 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 financial years. Main findings of the study are that municipalities that get clean audits have strong oversight systems and leadership. A further inference is that qualifications of councillors, training, time and remuneration are contributing factors to poor oversight by councillors and political structures. The main recommendations were directed at improving civic education in the nomination and election of councillors, pairing underperforming municipalities with best performing municipalities, improving continuing education for councillors and improving the monitoring of interventions and the transitions after interventions.