The impact of the local government turnaround strategy on public participation and good governance with regard to the integrated development planning process : The case of Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality

Abstract

During 2009 the State of Local Government in South Africa 2009 Report, (2009:71-75) showed that much of local government is in distress and it also showed that much of the local government municipalities faced serious challenges such as the lack of service delivery, poor financial management and weak integration between the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and the Local Economic Development (LED). To improve the performance of the municipalities, the national government approved a comprehensive Local Government Turnaround Strategy (LGTAS) that serves as a country-wide intervention with the aim to address the communities‟ increasing dissatisfaction with poor municipal services, as well as to improve the administrative and financial performance of all municipalities.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of the Local Government Turnaround Strategy (LGTAS) on public participation and good governance with respect to the Integrated Development Planning (IDP) process in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. It was found during the literature review that although the Local Government Turnaround Strategy (LGTAS) was successfully incorporated in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality Integrated Development Plan Review of 2013/2014, more needs to be done to ensure that the medium-term priorities are effectively implemented to promote good governance, and effective service delivery of Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. The study found that although the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality has a well-planned and well-structured community engagement strategy to promote effective public participation, more needs to be done to ensure that the communities are effectively represented during the various public participation consultation activities to ensure that the needs of the majority of the communities are addressed. The study also found that the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality has well-defined strategies to promote good governance in its Integrated Development Plan (IDP), the effective implementation remains a challenge.