Effectiveness of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature Through the Lens of Gauteng Citizens

Abstract

This article investigates how and why the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) and the people of Gauteng differ in defining and measuring GPL performance, also referred to as effectiveness. The article recommends measures to bridge the gap between how the GPL and Gauteng citizens define and measure GPL performance. The findings of the qualitative research revealed that from an internal perspective, the GPL defines and measures performance using the performance model which focuses on inputs, activities, and outputs. However, the citizens assess the performance of the GPL using the expectation disconfirmation model, which emphasises outcomes. This means the GPL and the citizens define and assess GPL effectiveness using different lenses causing a disjuncture in the results. On the one hand, the internal perspective lens showed that the GPL has been relatively effective. On the other hand, the external perspective lens revealed that the GPL has been performing sub-optimally. Consequently, the article recommends that the GPL should embrace, and correctly balance the use of the performance, and the expectation disconfirmation models. This would bridge the gap between results of the internal and external effectiveness of the GPL. The article makes a seminal contribution in two ways. First, by making it clear that the practitioners need to focus on the expectations of citizens to improve perceived performance. This is a shift from a predominantly performance model to the expectation disconfirmation model. Second, by contributing to meeting the academic knowledge needs in the field of Public Administration through closing a knowledge gap about how and why the GPL’s performance, from an internal and external perspective, differ.