Browsing by Author "Mannya, Clement"
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- ItemStakeholder involvement in strategic planning and management at the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Council(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012-12) Mannya, Clement; Botha, Daniel F.; Muller, Hans; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Information Science.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Local government in South Africa has gone through the transitional phase to become developmental with a number of challenges, one of the most prominent of which has been the lack of adequate financial resources to carry out various service delivery obligations. The lack of financial resources was one of the important reasons that led to local authorities being reduced from 843 to 284 municipalities through the process of re-demarcation that resulted in the consolidation of most of the local authorities. Because of these long standing challenges of financial viability, the objective of the study was to investigate stakeholder involvement in strategic planning and management within the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Council. It had become evident that existing financial constraints in municipalities in general and at Ekurhuleni in particular would remain for the foreseeable future, unless ways and means are found to improve the management of existing resources. The contention in this study is that the inclusion of stakeholders in strategic planning and management should be viewed as important to the Metro as it significantly lessens the doubt as to whether there is a common understanding of what is possible given the limited resource capacity to address many competing service delivery needs. The literature study undertaken showed that local government has learnt lessons from the private sector, and has adopted some of its strategic planning and management practices and adapted them to suit public service delivery needs. In South Africa the local government planning framework is called integrated development planning (IDP). The IDP approach entails the formulation of focused plans, based on developmental priorities. This approach assists in avoiding wasteful expenditure and perpetuating past spending patterns. Furthermore, the idea of adopting a more business-based approach does therefore not mean that the council is run like a company but rather that scarce resources are spent effectively and that all citizens have access to at least a minimum level of basic services. The IDP should be undertaken through participatory processes for effective urban management given the fact that private and public investments and municipal services delivery affect the well-being of all urban residents. Observation at the Ekurhuleni Metro revealed that while strategic planning and management does take place, it does not involve various stakeholders in the processes in a manner that is contemplated by the integrated development planning framework. The absence of a public participation strategy at the Metro meant that methods of engagement, consultation and communication with stakeholders are not clearly spelled out. So is the identification of various stakeholders in terms of the needs, the roles that they can play in the planning processes, allocation of resources to facilitate their participation and empowerment in various planning processes. It was the conclusion of the study that there is limited stakeholder involvement in strategic planning and management at the Ekurhuleni Metro.