Good governance in the provision of municipal services: a case of Vhembe District Municipality

Abstract

The study focuses on good governance in the provision of municipal services at the Vhembe District Municipality. The local communities judge their municipalities’ performance through the provision of services and the treatment that they get from its officials. The challenge of governance adversely affects the delivery of municipal services. People always expect good governance and service from their respective municipalities. However, it seems as though the municipalities are failing greatly. It is therefore; important for the municipality to adhere to good governance provisions which ultimately manifests through effective municipal service delivery. The study used both quantitative and qualitative research method which is a mixed method underpinned by the pragmatic paradigm as it advocates for the use of mixed methods. Data was collected through questionnaire and interview. The questionnaires were distributed to IDP officials, LED officials, PMS officials as well as other administrative officials and managers, whiles interviews were conducted telephonically with PR councillors of the Vhembe District Municipality in order to gather information related to adherence of good governance in the provision of municipal services. For data analysis, the study adopted statistical and thematic analysis. Information gathered through questionnaires was analysed using Micro-Soft Excel and thematic analysis is used for information collected through interviews. The following research ethics were considered in this study: permission to conduct the research study, informed consent, confidentiality and anonymity, no harm to respondents and voluntary participation. The study will enhance the knowledge of relevant political office bearers and administrative officials regarding the understanding of good governance in the Vhembe District Municipality. The study found that the status of good governance in the Vhembe District Municipality is not at a desired state and as such; it needs requisite improvements. It is also found that there is a relationship between good governance and provision of municipal services and revealed that sufficient municipal service delivery to the local communities is more likely if the provisions of good governance are correctly implemented. The study found that lack of resources makes it difficult for the municipality to resolve municipal service delivery challenges of the local communities in its jurisdiction. Prolonged waiting time for municipal services to be delivered to local communities is one of the major challenges faced by the municipality. The study found that raising awareness on the importance of good governance, community participation and training officials on how they can implement good governance principles can be used as improvement mechanism. The study recommends for the municipal officials to follow good governance provisions because it positively contributes to the effective and efficient provision of high quality municipal services. It is further recommended that the municipality should set time frames to adequately address prolonged waiting time regarding the delivery of municipal services to the local communities. To address limited understanding of good governance by officials, the study recommends that greater awareness and through training about good governance be instilled with a purpose of enhancing the provision of municipal service delivery. The establishment of monitoring and evaluation mechanism may contribute positively to the provision of municipal services, and as such it is one of the recommended measures.