Explore publications.

Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) Strategic Plan 2020 – 2025 redefined the 1st priority of the 6th administration, namely the achievement of a capable, ethical and developmental state. This strategic plan envisioned innovation as an enabler and a catalyst for the public sector to execute and deliver on the developmental agenda in South Africa. Similarly, emphasis is placed on the potential of District Development Model (DDM) to tackle the triple challenges of poverty, inequality, and unemployment to ensure that the needs of communities are met. However, much is yet to be known about their potential to build a capable developmental state in South Africa. Using Inclusive Development approach as its theoretical framework, this paper strived to determine the nexus between public sector innovation and DDM as a critique for a state that is developmental in South Africa. This paper demonstrates how the integration of public sector innovation and DDM in South Africa represents a plausible pathway towards a capable developmental state. The paper argued for an inclusive development approach that is more human-centered. The paper adopted qualitative research methodology to evaluate secondary data and used thematic discourse analysis to analyse the gathered data set.

This study aimed to analyze the challenge of consultocracy in the administration of local government in South Africa, and to further identify its triggering factors and related consequences. Data collection was guided by qualitative research approach whereby 20 officials responsible for the management of different municipal internal units were interviewed. The data were thematically analysed. Among other things, the study identified skills deficit, corruption and absolute or geographical impossibility as key triggering factors behind consultocracy in municipal governments. Firstly, the study raises alarm to the emerging practices of consultocratic managerialism in the administration of local government. Secondly, it adds to the body of literature ways in which consultocracy manifests and the municipal vulnerabilities, as well as practical ways to overcome this problem.   

The purpose of this paper is to call for an intensified research practices and institutionalisation within municipal governments in South Africa, and the contextual focus includes typical municipalities in the Ngaka-Moridi Molema district of the North-West province. Research as a public management tool has been largely negated in municipal governance decision-making processes and this is linkable to the general deterioration of municipal governance systems in the local sphere. This paper found that the majority of municipalities in South Africa, including the ones in NMMD do not have a full appreciation of research in that very few to none have established research components to support municipal decision-making processes.  Insights were further drawn from certain theories of governance to complement the suggestions made in the paper pertaining to ways in which municipalities can inculcate not only the spirit of research but its embedding with the governance [council] system.

Recent trends on local government points to a growing public discontent concerning the performance and the capability of municipalities as the service delivery agents and contact points between citizens and government. Greater-Taung Municipality, which is contextual setting in the current study, is one municipality in the North West province that has a demonstrable record of service delivery failures. Despite record service provision falures, Greater-Taung Municipality has previously returned grants allocations, reasons to which remain unknown. To find out, this study employed qualitative methods to investigate the impediments to effective service provision, with the purpose being to suggest workable and practical solutions to improve service provision. Data collection was chieved through key informants purposively selected from the municipality and documentary analysis. Although the study confirmed some of the findings from literature, especially on skills shortages and political inference in administrative work, other key findings pointed to the constant misalignments between service delivery plans and budget allocations. This problem is affecting organisational performance and service provision. Meanwhile political interference ought to be discouraged, a strong performance management system is needed as this will give effect to service provision and improved accountability culture in the municipality. More recommendations are provided towards the end of the article.

The aim of this article was to explore the role of Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) in promoting good governance, with the contextual setting being Blouberg Local Municipality. There is general consensus among academics, practitioners and policy makers alike in South Africa that the allocation of functions and responsibilities of municipal council and that of executives are often not clear, thus creating confusion in the officialdom and weakening oversight structures including MPAC. Hence the qualified audit reports in four consecutive years in Blouberg Municipality (see Auditor General, 2016-2021), signals internal failure not only to improve the municipal financial health status but to promote good governance generally. Methodologically, the study adopted qualitative designs and used interviews as instrument to collect data from key members of the committee. Consequently, the study revealed many underlying weaknesses, but the critical one was the demonstrable poor capacity within the committee which is twofold; (1) lack of expertise to facilitate oversight and (2) insufficient budget to enable performance of the Committee. Essentially, these challenges affect the proper functioning of MPAC which is constitutionally bestowed the responsibility of holding the executive accountable and guard against any misappropriation of municipal funds. The study recommended a number of solutions to improve the state of MPAC in the municipality, amongst them were that, council should develop an integrated reporting mechanism framework to conduct an oversight role which can be done with the assistance from experts in governance. The committee’s programme of action must also be funded, sufficiently. 

This study performed an analysis of the outcomes of the audit of predetermined objectives for municipalities in the North-West province of South Africa. A qualitative research approach with an inductive approach was used. Data collected from twenty-two municipalities in the North-West province over a period of five years was thematically analysed. Three themes were identified for this study, and the results revealed that, at an overall level, the performance information reported by the municipalities was neither useful nor reliable and, at times, had material instances of non-compliance. Some findings were prevalent for all three themes identified, which were raised by over half of the municipalities, which is concerning, and all pointed to not having a fully functioning performance management system as the main root cause. The results also revealed common repeat findings in each of the three themes, which indicate that there were insufficient action plans implemented to address the findings raised in the prior year(s). The study recommended that management and those charged with governance should put appropriate measures in place and strengthen their internal control environment to ensure that election promises are appropriately accounted for and repeat findings such as those indicated above do not reoccur in the future. Furthermore, management should work closely with the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA), internal audit, and other relevant stakeholders, such as the South African Local Government Association, to ensure that repeat findings do not reoccur in the future by developing appropriate audit action plans that will be continuously monitored and reviewed.

The Office of the Auditor-General in South Africa conducts audits of local government institutions, among other public-sector entities, to assess the current financial condition of municipalities and provide audit opinions for a certain fiscal year. Municipalities are obligated to maintain clean audits to avoid financial fines. However, the significance of clean audit outcomes lies in their ability to ensure successful service provision to the citizens. The Auditor-General's municipal audit findings reveal that several municipalities obtain clean audits, notwithstanding their inadequate performance in terms of service delivery. South Africa has a few municipalities that have successfully achieved desirable audit outcomes, with Midvaal Local Municipality being a notable example of consecutive clean audits. This study aims to evaluate whether the clean audit outcomes of Midvaal Local Municipality may serve as reliable indicators of effective service delivery within the municipality. The article utilizes a literature review and an online qualitative questionnaire survey with open-ended questions as approaches for collecting data. The article's findings highlight that the municipality has implemented effective management processes, also known as internal controls, which enable Midvaal to deliver services to its citizens in an effective and efficient manner. This management techniques may effectively determine the quality of service delivery within the municipality. They have a favorable impact on the municipality's financial viability, which directly results in clean audit conclusions.

In African Public Administration, this article considers the subject of rethinking identity for indigenous public administration. It seeks to determine whether the lack of indigenous traditions as a foundation for current Public Administration will actually fulfil the essential knowledge demands of government by solving challenges that cannot be answered by public officials. This epistemic discrimination of indigenous public administration in Public Administration has been widely disseminated without taking into account the value systems of African societies that have established their own distinct administrative structures within their respective cultural settings. This has resulted in a plethora of misunderstandings and contradictions in contemporary public administration practices. This is due to P[p]ublic A[a]dministration modulating the influence of Africans, their processes and institutions in the development of the discipline. In light of this realization, this paper discusses how rethinking the issue of identity for indigenous public administration can and should serve as a foundational tool for promoting Africa's Public Administration. This paper employs Afrocentricity as an avant-garde to untangle this discourse based on the above-mentioned breakdown. The paper is conceptual in nature and is based on a review of literature from a variety of sources, including policies, popular media statements, and academic publications.

This study explored the challenges faced by municipalities in South Africa in the implementation of the Municipal Standard Chart of Accounts (mSCOA). The study adopted a qualitative approach, following an interpretive ontology, and a purposive sampling technique was used. The City of Tshwane in Gauteng Province was used as a unit of analysis; primary data was collected using virtual interviews as well as open-ended questionnaires, and secondary data was obtained in various documents on mSCOA implementation. The study revealed that there is a low mSCOA implementation level in the City of Tshwane. Furthermore, the study found that numerous challenges influenced the low implementation level. These challenges include resistance to change, a lack of adequate training on mSCOA implementation, a lack of personnel, a lack of pre-consultations, and poor system vendor skills transfer. The study recommends involving implementers in the concept and inception phases of any new reform.

Extant literature has addressed some components of community engagement with little or no connection with the dynamics of policymaking. Hence, the current paper explains the matrix of policy-making using the practice of community engagement with insights from Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa. It discusses the theories of community engagement in policy formulation at the local level. An empirical nature of community engagement and policy formulation is subject to analysis with particular reference to the Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa. Secondary data were sourced from the existing literature. The paper relies on the data suitability of extant studies. It reveals the policy-making matrix within the community engagement sphere. It therefore concludes that the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality should view community engagement in public policy formulation as a tool to increase the legitimacy, transparency, accountability, support, and responsiveness of a particular policy.