THE INFLUENCE OF POLITICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INTERACTION ON MUNICIPAL SERVICE DELIVERY IN SELECTED MUNICIPALITIES IN THE FREE STATE PROVINCE

Abstract

The Constitution of South Africa, 1996, (the Constitution) is the supreme law of the country and its ultimate goal is to improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person. In striving to achieve this goal, the Constitution established (among others) the local sphere of government with the objectives of providing democratic and accountable government and sustainable service delivery to local communities. The reality, however, indicates that residents are dissatisfied with poor service provision by municipalities which has led to frequent service delivery protests throughout South Africa. The local government sphere experiences challenges in governance, such as tension between the political- and administrative interface, the poor ability of many councillors to deal with the demands of local communities, the insufficient separation of powers between political parties and municipal councils and inadequate accountability measures. Against the background of these comprehensive challenges, the research focused on the role that the political (municipal councils) and administrative institutions fulfil in municipal service provision. The nature and extent of political- and administrative relationships at selected municipalities in the Free State Province were investigated and the extent to which the misconception of roles influences effective and efficient local government and –administration in the Free State Province were established. Possible reasons for the poorly harmonised interaction between the political- and administrative institutions in the Free State Province and their inability to provide the required services to the community were identified. Based on the literature study and the interviews conducted at selected municipalities in the Free State Province, the study resolved that poor interaction between the political and administrative institutions directly and indirectly influences the quality of service provision at municipalities which, in many cases, lead to service delivery protests. A lack of political and administrative interaction furthermore leads to bad governance. Therefore, a set of recommendations is provided that proposes how the current challenges can be unravelled, and how to rectify and restore the appropriate roles and relations of political institutions (municipal councils) and administrative institutions in the Free State Province local government milieu. Some of these recommendations included improved and/or reinforced accountability in local governance, a clearer separation between the roles of the political principles and the administrative heads, lifelong training, and skills development.