1,721,006 research outputs found
Municipal governance and environmental crises: threats and thoughts
Get PDFLocal government in South Africa (SA) has come a long way from the period when there were over 1200 racially segregated municipalities. From more than 800 municipalities after 1996, they have been merged to currently 284 municipalities which now cover every ‘millimetre’ of the country, and are focused on growing local economies and maintaining the provision of a lot more diverse and complex basic municipal services to all their citizens and especially to geographical areas and citizens that were previously neglected. This transformed local government environment has brought about many changes in the nature and extent of basic public services delivered at the grass- roots level of this developing country with its limited resources and unlimited needs – especially in the areas of potable water supply and sanitation services.
This article will firstly highlight the changed environmental context of public service delivery in the local government sphere of the country before the transformation in relevant legislation will be reported on. Subsequently the nature and extent of current realities of local governance, dynamics and challenges regarding the diverse and complex public services by a typical Category B Local municipality will be identified in the real SA out there. The use of the Politics – Administration System Model by Easton for environmental management analysis will also be illustrated. Lastly, for easy classification of typical characteristics and challenging issues in the dynamic municipal government sphere of SA, the SWOT-analysis format will be used
Municipal governance and environmental crises: threats and thoughts
Get PDFLocal government in South Africa (SA) has come a long way from the period
when there were over 1200 racially segregated municipalities. From more than 800
municipalities after 1996, they have been merged to currently 284 municipalities which
now cover every ‘millimetre’ of the country, and are focused on growing local economies
and maintaining the provision of a lot more diverse and complex basic municipal
services to all their citizens and especially to geographical areas and citizens that were
previously neglected. This transformed local government environment has brought about
many changes in the nature and extent of basic public services delivered at the grassroots
level of this developing country with its limited resources and unlimited needs –
especially in the areas of potable water supply and sanitation services.
This article will firstly highlight the changed environmental context of public service
delivery in the local government sphere of the country before the transformation in
relevant legislation will be reported on. Subsequently the nature and extent of current
realities of local governance, dynamics and challenges regarding the diverse and complex
public services by a typical Category B Local municipality will be identified in the real
SA out there. The use of the Politics – Administration System Model by Easton for
environmental management analysis will also be illustrated. Lastly, for easy classification
of typical characteristics and challenging issues in the dynamic municipal government
sphere of SA, the SWOT-analysis format will be used.https://doi.org/10.4102/td.v5i1.14
The role of ward committees in influencing community participation: A case study of motherwell, Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality
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Book review: Linking relationships between scientists, policy-makers and stakeholders in water management
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Towards more effective academic liaison between academics, students and practitioners in the field of public administration and management in the North West Province
Get PDFIn the light of the changing tertiary education arena in South Africa, the Department of Public Management and Governance in the School for Social and Government Studies of the Arts Faculty, North-West University (NWU) had to revisit its policy on macro organisational aspects. Issues such as more effective communication mediums, the merging and alignment of the University’s three campuses, the nature of the ever-increasing competition in the tertiary residential and distance teaching environment, the range, variety and quality of its products and the facilitation and rendering of an improved tertiary teaching service were identified. In this article the typical nature of the intra, inter and extra academic liaison regarding the Department at NWU are highlighted and some recommendations on more effective communication and work procedures as a result of academic liaison are presented. Examples being that academics and practitioners need to meet more frequently, upgrade effective communication media among them and undertake joint research in a more cooperative manner
Integrated co-operative governance in the context of sustainable development.
Get PDFThe rapid global development is mostly economically driven and made up of complex
country-specific problems. Although sustainable development (SD) is a well established
concept and an urgent global challenge, differing levels of progress had been made in
organisations, communities and countries. To facilitate consistency of understanding, the
authors accept the definition of ‘sustainable development’ as including the economic,
social and environmental dimensions. Furthermore, they argue that these dimensions are
not functioning as separate silos but are interdependent and grounded in legislated
governance frameworks from where co-operative governance (COG) realizes as an
option to facilitate an integrated approach. The article discusses the challenges in the
facilitation of COG and suggests practical guidelines for implementation to facilitate
improved integration.https://doi.org/10.4102/td.v7i1.25
Knowledge about the origin of a municipality's potable water: a prerequisite for consolidation of more effective local governance
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A physical environmental management perspective on municipal water supply: proposals for Tlokwe City Council
Get PDFAll South Africans, especially, those involved with the development and management of
its water resources should be aware that South Africa is generally an arid to semi-arid
region, with an average rainfall of approximately 500 mm per annum, compared to a
world average of 860mm. Consequently, potable water is a very scarce resource, and is
often the biggest prohibiting factor for development of, for example, new residential
areas in a town or city.
Hence a public service rendering municipality like the Tlokwe (Potchefstroom) City
Council will have to, in its quest to manage its potable water supply more effectively,
efficiently and economically, take cognisance of aspects such as:
· The origin of its potable water;
· The nature and extent of the storage and treatment of the potable water;
· The manner in which the potable water is distributed to the users and consumers;
and
· The manner in which the wastewater is collected, treated and managed.
The authors of this article are of the opinion that the aforementioned can only be taken
care of effectively by incorporating a physical environmental management perspective
in its municipal governance
Municipal management and geo-hydrological aspects of importance in the potable water supply of Lindley
Get PDFWhen the South African Government in 1998 re-demarcated its 283 municipalities so
that they completely cover the country in a “wall-to-wall” manner, their main focus was
on growing local economies and maintaining the provision of an increased number of
diverse and more complex basic municipal services to new geographical areas consisting
of millions of citizens who might previously had been neglected.
In most of the instances the newly established and merged municipalities were
demarcated according to geographical aspects inherited from the previous political
dispensation, historical municipal areas and magisterial district farm names. The fact that
these municipal government jurisdictions for the purpose of improving co-operative
municipal- and integrated water resources management (IWRM), in most instances do
not correspond with environmental and physical land features such as the demarcated
surface water (rivers) drainage regions’ boundaries, could lead to the ineffective,
inefficient and non-economic municipal management of water, sanitation and
environmental services.
The aforementioned is a case with reference to water services management in the Free
State Province town of Lindley located in the Vals River catchment and the Nketoana
Local Municipality’s area of jurisdiction.
An extensive literature review, the use and study of geographic tools such as maps, orthophotos
and information data bases, as well as two field visits to the area, enabled the
researchers to identify the essential geographical, geo-hydrological and municipal
management aspects of importance for the potable water service providers and managers
in the Lindley municipal area.
The researchers argue that effective trans-boundary municipal management through
simunye-type co-operative governance and IWRM must be facilitated in the Vals River
surface water catchment between the respective local- and district municipalities for the
benefit of the Lindley, Arlington, Steynsrus and Kroonstad communities.https://doi.org/10.4102/td.v10i1.2
Municipal demarcation process in the establishment of the Collins Chabane Local Municipality and reasons for the eruption of Vuwani, South Africa
Get PDFThe demarcation of municipal boundaries in post-apartheid South Africa is characterised by objections from affected communities. Beyond polarising-affected communities, proposed redeterminations regularly elicit destruction of public infrastructure and even loss of life. Hostilities over municipal boundaries which were drawn in the rural areas for the first time. This article is drawn from the highly publicised demarcation unrests experienced in the Vuwani area as a result of the newly established Collins Chabane Local Municipality in the Limpopo province. Findings reflected in this article emanated from data collected through the questionnaire, interviews and secondary data sources. Empirical evidence uncovers low levels of public participation in demarcation process by the residents. Actually, more people in Vuwani participated in the anti-demarcation protests in objection to the new municipality. The fact that violent protests regularly accompany municipal demarcation objections in South Africa could reflect an urgent need to improve the facilitation of meaningful public participation in the municipal demarcation process
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