Research at South Africa’s local sphere of government.
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Authors
Malefane, S.R.
Issue Date
2008
Type
Article
Language
en
Keywords
Local Government , Municipal Sphere of Government
Alternative Title
Abstract
Local government, pre – 1994 in South Africa was characterised by a strong
top-down approach. There was little perceived need for gathering information
or for directly involving the community in the process of governance.
Information about the living conditions or opinions of the majority of the citizens
was not required to inform policy directions. The official statistics produced were
often of unknown representation and made it difficult to draw broader conclusions
from their findings. The findings were often manipulated to reinforce and persuade
international onlookers to a particular view of the country rather than to inform
or provide feedback about the living conditions of the majority of the country’s
citizens. The state invested in information as a propaganda tool and as a result, the
regime has left no legacy of monitoring the effectiveness of local government.
Municipalities have undergone rigorous change following the democratic
elections of 1994 (MAC, 2001: 7; Ntshulana-Bhengu, 2004: 1). Not only has this
been expressed by structural changes in the organisation of municipalities, but
the roles they have to play have increased over time. Through all the programmes
that are implemented in the municipal sphere of government in South Africa, the
views of local players on major key performance areas that a municipality delivers
on, are important. Municipalities, as open systems, operate in an ever-changing
environment, and therefore, need to conduct research in their municipal areas of
jurisdiction in order to inform their future strategies. The components incorporated
as part of the research in municipal sphere of government need to be of interest to
the target group. This would not only assist municipalities in identifying challenges
to which they will able to proactively respond to, but will assist in sourcing new
facts and opportunities.
Description
Citation
Malefane, SR. 2008. Research at South Africa’s local sphere of government. Journal of Public Administration, Volume 43 (4.2), December.
Publisher
South African Association of Public Administration and Management
License
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
0036-0767