Research Articles (School of Public Leadership)

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Browsing Research Articles (School of Public Leadership) by browse.metadata.type "Thesis"

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    Assessing the extent to which performance management systems enhance performance in fulfilling objectives in an Integrated Development Plan : the case of Drakenstein Municipality, Western Cape
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) Prins, Whitney; Burger, Werner, (Public administration specialist); Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY: Performance management is a crucial aspect of human resource management, which aims to enhance organisational effectiveness and efficiency by aligning administrative activities with organisational objectives. However, a recent study by the South African Cities Network (SACN) suggests that spatial planning outcomes at the local government level may diverge from the intended transformational goals within society. The research, in conjunction with input from municipal practitioners in SACN's Built Environment Integration Task Team (BEITT), suggests the presence of a ‘compliance culture’ that emphasises conformity to institutional norms rather than promoting transformative development. The complexities that are associated with performance management systems in urban settings are of utmost importance in shaping the implementation of tasks and the exclusion of others. The primary aim of performance management is to ensure the efficient implementation of stated strategies and the attainment of desired developmental results. As per the guidelines that were provided by the Department of Provincial and Local Government, the Performance Management System requires municipalities to define goals and objectives as well as develop performance indicators, targets and development plans. Performance management is an instrumental tool that is used by local governments to assist in the continuous monitoring and assessment of performance; thus, augmenting effectiveness. This research aims to evaluate the degree to which performance management systems contribute to the achievement of objectives within an Integrated Development Plan, specifically focusing on the instance of Drakenstein Municipality. The Drakenstein Municipality has been awarded its eighth clean audit by the Auditor General of South Africa, indicating the absence of noteworthy financial irregularities, successful attainment of set targets and adherence to all applicable laws, rules and directives. The current occurrence marks the fifteenth straight occurrence in which the audit opinion has remained unqualified, which indicates that the financial statements have been fairly presented and adhere to the relevant accounting rules. Despite several breakthroughs in recent years, there persists a substantial and pressing need for improved service delivery throughout all regions inside South Africa. Municipalities have shown inadequate performance in the efficient implementation of approved policies, Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and programmes. The Cabinet granted approval to the Local Government Turn-Around Strategy (LGTAS) in December 2009, with the objective of officially incorporating it into the budget and Integrated Development Plan (IDP) of all 283 municipalities in South Africa by March 2010. However, a substantial percentage (95%) of municipalities failed to offer any indication about the execution and integration of the turn-around efforts into the 2010/11 budgets and Integrated Development Plans (IDPs). The lack of a reliable Performance Management System (PMS) among South African municipalities poses a noteworthy concern that necessitates attention in order to effectively execute the Integrated Development Plan (IDP). By acknowledging the absence of a reliable PMS, local governments may enhance the alignment between their prescribed responsibilities and their strategic goals, which ultimately leads to improved service provision. The public sector in South Africa has been under scrutiny due to inadequate service provision within local entities, which prompted the introduction of a nationwide development framework. The evaluation of performance in local government demonstrates discrepancies, and there are several obstacles that hinder the process across different organisational cultures. Local governments should expand their efforts beyond the mere implementation of review systems and procedures to provide sufficient evaluation capacity. Moreover, the assimilation of information and competencies is strongly embedded into the organisational ethos; hence requiring comprehensive training for government workers. The current issue under investigation pertains to the limited comprehension of the extent to which performance management systems contribute to the advancement of municipalities in attaining their Integrated Development Plan (IDP) goals. The Drakenstein Municipality case study is an exemplary example due to its notable history of continuously achieving clean audit results.
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    A comparative analysis of the local economic development practices in South Africa and Namibia
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002-12) Mutrifa, Browny Nceba; Koopman, C.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Local governments in both developing and developed countries are faced with many developmental challenges. This requires the development of strategies and mechanisms to address socio economic development and to promote partnerships between the communities and municipalities. The development strategy of local economic development has been advanced as a tool to stimulate the economy and to create new job opportunities at local level, in partnership with central government and other stakeholders. It is in this light that the study first presents a description of the concept, and the principles and the processes that underlie local economic development. Followed by this, is an analysis of local economic development in the global context, by briefly mapping what international development agencies are undertaking. Furthermore the study is narrowed down to South Africa and Namibia in assessing the evolving local economic development policies and practices as found currently. The findings indicate that the local economic development strategy is an accepted application in the world. In Namibia and South Africa the practical evolvement is a relatively recent phenomenon of middle 90s, with the latter progressed far in implementing a more advanced policy framework to support the practice. The former is still, very much in the initial phases of launching, with few instruments in place to promote local economic development. In Namibia local economic development is presently evolving under the auspices of the Association of Local Authorities for Namibia, with the National Government giving verbal support and promises to commit it to formulating a national policy in the near future. This practice of LED is faced with constraints such as a lack of funds, inadequate policy frameworks and poor capacity of human resources. This is hampering a nationwide rollout, as to date only two comprehensive cases exist, an indication of the limited evolvement of policy and practice in Namibia. In contrast to this, South Africa is a long way ahead in terms of practical cases and policy making, as it is at the stage of giving comments on the draft policy paper on local economic development. The South African government, amongst other, has already committed financial support to local authorities to help them practically realise the concept of local economic development by means of a National LED fund. Despite the limited evolvement of local economic development in Namibia, the concept is set to gain momentum with the promised envisaged national LED policy, and the current project of the Urban Trust of Namibia coming into full force. This is more so in the capital city, for Windhoek committed itself to the process of implementing its local economic development strategy as from 2003. However local economic development is no panacea for all the problems, for prior experiences show there is a thin line between success and failure in practice. Henceforth, local economic development as a development approach has the potential to contribute to improving the lives of the poor, as long as it is sufficiently linked to broader frameworks and strategies in all spheres of government and even on a global level. Therefore local economic development efforts must be seen as complementing national policy frameworks in achieving sustainable development.