scholarly journals Potential Benefits of Monitoring and Evaluation as a Tool in the South African Local Government Spheres

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. R. Mle
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Performance Monitoring ◽  
High Standard ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Provision Of Services ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government

Public institutions exist for the public good and employ public officials to perform duties aimed at providing a better life for all. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 requires that the public service maintains a high standard of professional ethics, use resources efficiently and effectively, and provide services equitably.  When the new political dispensation came into being in 1994 in South Africa, the newly-elected government committed itself to ensuring a better life for all through the provision of services, for example water and electricity supply, sanitation, and houses, etc. To this end, policies and programmes were put in place. However, the challenge that faces the government is the implementation of these policies and programmes which largely remains unsatisfactory. Systems of reporting and performance are, in the main, weak. To address this short-coming, therefore, government came up with the concept of monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of policies and programmes to the extent of creating a new department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency.  Key to the effective implementation of government policies and programmes is the introduction of a tool to ensure that such policies and programmes do not gather dust. This paper therefore, posits how such a tool can have potential benefits in the local government sphere and be a panacea to the ills of this sphere which is characterized by violent service delivery protests through which communities express their dissatisfaction at the non-delivery of essential services.  <br /><br />

scholarly journals Fostering public accountability in South Africa: A reflection on challenges and successes

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pandelani H. Munzhedzi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Public Accountability ◽  
The Public ◽  
Current State ◽  
Public Service Provision ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government

Accountability and oversight are constitutional requirements in all the spheres of government in the Republic of South Africa and their foundation is in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996. All spheres of government are charged with the constitutional mandate of providing public services. The level of responsibility and public services provision also goes with the level of capacity of a particular sphere. However, most of the direct and visible services that the public receives are at the local sphere of government. As such, enormous resources are channelled towards this sphere of government so that the said public services could be provided. It is imperative that the three spheres of government account for the huge expenditures during the public service provision processes. The parliaments of national and provincial governments exercise oversight and accountability over their executives and administrations through the Public Accounts Committees, while the local sphere of government relies on the Municipal Public Accounts Committees. This article is theoretical in nature, and it seeks to explore the current state of public accountability in South Africa and to evaluate possible measures so as to enhance public accountability. The article argues that the current public accountability mechanisms are not efficient and effective. It is recommended that these mechanisms ought to be enhanced by inter alia capacitating the legislative bodies at national, provincial and local spheres of the government.

scholarly journals Monitoring Customer-focused Quality Service Delivery in Local Government: Conceptual Issues and Perspectives for Consideration

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Modeni Mudzamba Micheal Sibanda
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
Quality Service ◽  
The Public ◽  
Provision Of Services ◽  
Important Means ◽  
Monitoring Service

Local government in South Africa is no longer exclusively a function of national or provincial government; it is now regarded as a sphere rather than a tier of government. Section 152 of the Constitution of South Africa, 1996 stipulates the objectives of the local sphere of government, among which is ensuring the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner. Poor or lack of service delivery by local authorities has received much media attention of late. Monitoring customer-focused service delivery could therefore be a critically important means to effect quality service delivery in local government. At its core this approach emphasises the treatment of municipal service users and the citizenry as customers. This article contends that conceptually customer-focused quality service delivery may potentially lever local government authorities out of the poor service delivery rut that has come to render some municipal authorities ineffective and inefficient and hence dysfunctional. At a conceptual level the article grapples with the elusive concept of service quality and the often contested concept of customer and proxy measures for monitoring service quality in the public sector. Citing British and South African customer-focused quality service delivery tools and initiatives, the article interrogates the efficacy of such initiatives and perspectives for monitoring customer-focused quality service delivery in the local sphere of government.

scholarly journals Forest Moratorium Policy, Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Papua Province

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
R Aditya Yudhanegara
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Degradation Rate ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Average Rate ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Steady Rate ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government

On May 20, 2011, the government of the Republic of Indonesia enacted Presidential Instruction (Inpres) number 10 of 2011 as the start of the forest moratorium policy. This policy aimed to reduce the rate of deforestation and forest degradation through a moratorium on the issuance of new permits. However, the effectiveness of this policy in achieving these goals is still being debated. This study shows that the forest moratorium policy has successfully reduced the extent of the concession area, as well as the average deforestation and forest degradation rate in Papua Province. However, the concession extent was not directly proportional to the rate of deforestation and forest degradation in the concession area, and the decline of the average rate of deforestation and forest degradation was not accompanied by a steady rate during the enactment of the policy. This study also reveals that policy implementation at the provincial level was hampered by the communication factor, the resources factor, and the disposition factor. We recommend that, besides limiting the concession area, the government should improve the licensing governance by strengthening the monitoring and evaluation, as well as the mechanism of business-work-plan approval. Also, the central government should improve coordination with the local government to overcome factors hampering the implementation of the moratorium policy.

Cadre Deployment Policy and its Effects on Performance Management in South African Local Government: A Critical Review

Politeia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elvin Shava ◽  
Shingirayi Florence Chamisa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Patronage ◽  
The Republic

The change from a politically-sanctioned racial segregation opened support of another popularity based administration which was an overwhelming procedure at all levels. In South Africa, the positive policies to turnaround the economy of the country came along with cadre deployment policy which advocates for ANC party loyalists to occupy a prominent position in the public sector. This political patronage via state jobs leads to poor institutional quality or performance of the nation as a whole. Focusing on the significant association between the demands of economic growth and expansion, this paper assesses the effects of the cadre deployment policy against performance management in the public sector. It presents a proposed framework based on the control theories illustrating how cadre deployment and performance management can contribute to the current knowledge of the African academic and administrative environment. The article adopted an extensive review of literature which was premised on various document sources that inform cadre deployment, Auditor General Reports, Annual Reports and relevant literature on the subject. Results of this study showed that cadre deployment exacerbated corruption, poor procurement systems and wasteful expenditure and the deteriorating State of Local Government.  The article calls for the review and the changes of the authoritative structure governing local municipalities in order to supplement Section (152) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The article further directs the ANC led government to revise the cadre deployment policy to combat the challenges of severe skills shortage and poor service delivery in various municipalities across the country as a result of nepotism, politicization and hiring unqualified labour.

scholarly journals Developing South Africa’s national evaluation policy and system: First lessons learned

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Goldman ◽  
Jabulani E. Mathe ◽  
Christel Jacob ◽  
Antonio Hercules ◽  
Matodzi Amisi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
Performance Monitoring ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Government Expenditure ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Evaluation Policy ◽  
The Government

This article describes the development of the national evaluation system in South Africa, which has been implemented since 2012, led by the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME, previously the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation) in the Presidency. It suggests emerging results but an evaluation of the evaluation being carried out in 2015 will address this formally. Responding to dissatisfaction with government services, in 2009 the government placed a major emphasis on monitoring and evaluation (M&E). A ministry and department were created, initially focusing on monitoring but in 2011 developing a national evaluation policy framework, which has been rolled out from 2012. The system has focused on improving performance, as well as improved accountability. Evaluations are proposed by national government departments and selected for a national evaluation plan. The relevant department implements the evaluations with the DPME and findings go to Cabinet and are made public. So far 39 evaluations have been completed or are underway, covering around R50 billion (approximately $5 billion) of government expenditure over a three-year expenditure framework. There is evidence that the first evaluations to be completed are having significant influence on the programmes concerned. The big challenge facing South Africa is to increase capacity of service providers and government staff so as to be able to have more and better quality evaluations taking place outside of as well as through the DPME.

Chieftainship in Transkeian Political Development

1964 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 513-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hammond-Tooke
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Administrative Structure ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government ◽  
Legislative Assembly

In November 1963 the inhabitants of the Transkeian Territories, the largest block of Bantu reserve in the Republic of South Africa, went to the polls to elect representatives for a Legislative Assembly, upon whom the responsibility for the government of this, the first so-called ‘Bantustan’ to achieve a limited form of self-government, is to be laid. The election was the culminating point in a series of changes in the administrative structure of the area which have been characterised by an emphasis on the institution of chieftainship as the basis of local government. After approximately 60 years of rule through magistrates (later supplemented by a system of district councils) the Bantu Authorities Act of 1955 was introduced, giving greatly enhanced powers to the Chiefs, who now became the heads of the tribally-structured Bantu Authorities.

International Court of Justice

1962 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 865-871 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Eastern Region ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
The Public ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
South West Africa ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government

South West Africa Cases (Ethiopia v. South Africa and Liberia v. South Africa): On October 2, 1962, the International Court of Justice held the first of the public hearings on the preliminary objections to the jurisdiction of the Court, raised by the government of the Republic of South Africa in these cases. After opening the sitting and briefly recalling the stages in the written proceedings covered since the institution of the cases on November 4, 1960, the President of the Court proceeded to the installation of the two judges ad hoc designated by the parties in accordance with Article 31, paragraphs 3 and 5, of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. The two judges ad hoc were Sir Louis Mbanefo, Chief Justice of the High Court, Eastern Region of Nigeria, designated by Ethiopia and Liberia acting in concert, and the Honorable Jacques Theodore van Wyk, Judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa, designated by the government of the Republic of South Africa. The President announced that Judge Córdova was prevented by his health from sitting in the present proceedings.

scholarly journals State of South African Public Service in the Context of Macro Socio-Economic Environment

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Professor Modimowabarwa H. Kanyane ◽  
Dr Gregory F. Houston ◽  
Mr Kombi Sausi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Institutional Capacity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
The People ◽  
Provision Of Services ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Democratic Principles

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 requires the public service to embody certain enshrined democratic principles and values and be able to perform effectively and efficiently. The Constitution stipulates that the public service has to be professional, efficient in the use of resources, development-oriented, impartial in the provision of services, and responsive to the needs of the people. It should be accountable and transparent, perform effectively and efficiently in meeting all the tasks of government, and have the institutional capacity and organisational ethos to perform the tasks of government effectively. In each of these areas the Public Service faces a number of challenges, determined by, among others, the macro-socio environment. It is on this bases that the authors provides an analyses of the macro-socio environment in which the public service operates and propose a professional single public service, subject to merit-based selection and promotion processes.

A Call for Public Participation in the Treaty-making Process in South Africa: What can South Africa Learn from the Kingdom of Thailand?

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Retselisitsoe Phooko
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
International Treaty ◽  
Legal Implications ◽  
Future Situation ◽  
Rules Of Procedure ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government ◽  
Personal Jurisdiction

On 2 August 2002 South Africa signed the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Tribunal and the Rules of Procedure Thereof, thus effectively recognising and accepting the jurisdiction of the SADC Tribunal. Among the cases received by the SADC Tribunal was a complaint involving allegations of human rights violations by the government of Zimbabwe. It ruled that the government of Zimbabwe had violated human rights. Consequently, Zimbabwe mounted a politico-legal challenge against the existence of the Tribunal. This resulted in the review of the role and functions of the Tribunal in 2011 which resulted in the Tribunal being barred from receiving new cases or proceeding with the cases that were already before it. Furthermore, on 18 August 2014, the SADC Summit adopted and signed the 2014 Protocol on the Tribunal in the SADC which disturbingly limits personal jurisdiction by denying individual access to the envisaged Tribunal, thus reducing it to an inter-state judicial forum. This article critically looks at the decision of 18 August 2014, specifically the legal implications of the Republic of South Africa’s signing of the 2014 Protocol outside the permissible procedure contained in article 37 of the SADC Protocol on the Tribunal. It proposes that South Africa should correct this democratic deficit by introducing public participation in treaty-making processes in order to prevent a future situation where the executive unilaterally withdraws from an international treaty that is meant to protect human rights at a regional level. To achieve this, this article makes a comparative study between South Africa and the Kingdom of Thailand to learn of any best practices from the latter.

The Legal Status of Local Government in South Africa under the New Constitutional Dispensation

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mbuzeni Mathenjwa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Case Law ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic ◽  
First Time

The history of local government in South Africa dates back to a time during the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. With regard to the status of local government, the Union of South Africa Act placed local government under the jurisdiction of the provinces. The status of local government was not changed by the formation of the Republic of South Africa in 1961 because local government was placed under the further jurisdiction of the provinces. Local government was enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa arguably for the first time in 1993. Under the interim Constitution local government was rendered autonomous and empowered to regulate its affairs. Local government was further enshrined in the final Constitution of 1996, which commenced on 4 February 1997. The Constitution refers to local government together with the national and provincial governments as spheres of government which are distinctive, interdependent and interrelated. This article discusses the autonomy of local government under the 1996 Constitution. This it does by analysing case law on the evolution of the status of local government. The discussion on the powers and functions of local government explains the scheme by which government powers are allocated, where the 1996 Constitution distributes powers to the different spheres of government. Finally, a conclusion is drawn on the legal status of local government within the new constitutional dispensation.

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