Fire and water : a transdisciplinary investigation of water governance in the lower Sundays River Valley, South Africa
- Authors: Clifford-Holmes, Jai Kumar
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Lower Sundays River Valley Municipality (Eastern Cape, South Africa) , Water -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Water-supply -- Management , Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Fire extinction -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Integrated water development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Water quality management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Water resources development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:6047 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017870
- Description: The implementation of water policy and the integrated management of water face multiple challenges in South Africa (SA), despite the successes of post-apartheid government programmes in which some significant equity, sustainability and efficiency milestones have been met. This study uses a series of intervention processes into municipal water service delivery to explore the context, constraints, and real-world messiness in which local water authorities operate. The equitable provision of drinking water by local government and the collaborative management of untreated water by ‘water user associations’ are two sites of institutional conflict that have been subjected to broad ‘turnaround’ and ‘transformation’ attempts at the national level. This thesis seeks to explore and understand the use of transdisciplinary research in engaging local water authorities in a process of institutional change that increases the likelihood of equitable water supply in the Lower Sundays River Valley (LSRV). Fieldwork was conducted as part of a broader action research process involving the attempted ‘turnaround’ of the Sundays River Valley Municipality (SRVM) between 2011 and 2014. A multi-method research approach was employed, which drew on institutional, ethnographic, and systems analyses within an evolving, transdisciplinary methodology. In the single case study research design, qualitative and quantitative data were collected via participant observation, interviews and documentary sources. Analytical methods included system dynamics modelling and an adapted form of the ethnographic tool of ‘thick description’, which were linked in a governance analysis. Government interventions into the SRVM failed to take account of the systemic complexity of the municipal operating environment, the interactions of which are described in this study as the ‘modes of failure’ of local government. These modes included the perpetual ‘firefighting’ responses of municipal officials to crises, and the simultaneous underinvestment in, and over-extension of, water supply infrastructure, which is a rational approach to addressing current water shortages when funds are unavailable for maintenance, refurbishment, or the construction of new infrastructure. The over-burdening of municipalities with technocratic requirements, the presence of gaps in the institutional arrangements governing water supply in the LSRV, and the lack of coordination in government interventions are analysed in this study, with policy recommendations resulting. The primary contribution of this study is in providing a substantively-contextualised case study that illustrates the value of systemic, engaged, extended, and embedded transdisciplinary research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Clifford-Holmes, Jai Kumar
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Lower Sundays River Valley Municipality (Eastern Cape, South Africa) , Water -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Water-supply -- Management , Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Fire extinction -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Integrated water development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Water quality management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Water resources development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:6047 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017870
- Description: The implementation of water policy and the integrated management of water face multiple challenges in South Africa (SA), despite the successes of post-apartheid government programmes in which some significant equity, sustainability and efficiency milestones have been met. This study uses a series of intervention processes into municipal water service delivery to explore the context, constraints, and real-world messiness in which local water authorities operate. The equitable provision of drinking water by local government and the collaborative management of untreated water by ‘water user associations’ are two sites of institutional conflict that have been subjected to broad ‘turnaround’ and ‘transformation’ attempts at the national level. This thesis seeks to explore and understand the use of transdisciplinary research in engaging local water authorities in a process of institutional change that increases the likelihood of equitable water supply in the Lower Sundays River Valley (LSRV). Fieldwork was conducted as part of a broader action research process involving the attempted ‘turnaround’ of the Sundays River Valley Municipality (SRVM) between 2011 and 2014. A multi-method research approach was employed, which drew on institutional, ethnographic, and systems analyses within an evolving, transdisciplinary methodology. In the single case study research design, qualitative and quantitative data were collected via participant observation, interviews and documentary sources. Analytical methods included system dynamics modelling and an adapted form of the ethnographic tool of ‘thick description’, which were linked in a governance analysis. Government interventions into the SRVM failed to take account of the systemic complexity of the municipal operating environment, the interactions of which are described in this study as the ‘modes of failure’ of local government. These modes included the perpetual ‘firefighting’ responses of municipal officials to crises, and the simultaneous underinvestment in, and over-extension of, water supply infrastructure, which is a rational approach to addressing current water shortages when funds are unavailable for maintenance, refurbishment, or the construction of new infrastructure. The over-burdening of municipalities with technocratic requirements, the presence of gaps in the institutional arrangements governing water supply in the LSRV, and the lack of coordination in government interventions are analysed in this study, with policy recommendations resulting. The primary contribution of this study is in providing a substantively-contextualised case study that illustrates the value of systemic, engaged, extended, and embedded transdisciplinary research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Assessing financial viability of selected urban and rural municipalities in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Maclean, Sindisile
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Finance, Public -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Human services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Economic policy , South Africa -- Economic conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (in Public Administration)
- Identifier: vital:11661 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1007093 , Finance, Public -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Human services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Economic policy , South Africa -- Economic conditions
- Description: The purpose of the research is to assess the financial viability of selected urban and rural municipalities in the Eastern Cape. Municipalities that are not financially viable and sustainable will always struggle to deliver basic services to communities. Without sound financial management systems, municipalities will be forced to discontinue their operations. Municipalities, particularly small and rural ones, are not self-sufficient and often rely on grants and transfers to satisfy their immediate short-term goal of providing basic services to satisfy the needs of their communities. Therefore, finance is regarded as an overriding and decisive factor for determining the viability of municipalities. The study seeks to investigate the financial viability of selected urban and rural municipalities in the Eastern Cape. Its key research questions are: Are municipalities able to provide sufficient funds to provide a range of services at an acceptable service level? To what extent do municipalities rely on external funding? Do municipalities have revenue collection capacity and revenue policies? The study asserts that most municipalities lack the required financial resources. They depend mainly on transfers from Provincial Government and equitable share and conditional grants from National Government. Section 152 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 8 of 1996, states, amongst other things, that Local Government should ensure the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner. The constitution further states that a municipality must strive, within its financial and administrative capacity, to achieve its objectives. The Municipal Finance Management Act, Act 56 of 2003, creates a framework for municipalities to borrow money and determine the conditions for short- and long-term borrowing. The Act assigns clear roles and responsibilities to the various role players involved in local government financial management. According to the Act, an annual budget for a municipality may only be funded from realistically anticipated revenues to be collected. As revenue projections in the budget must be realistic, the Municipal Property Rates Act, Act 6 of 2004, facilitates the collection of revenue in municipalities and establishes a uniform property rating system across South Africa. Property tax is the biggest element of local government tax revenue and is central to municipal finance. The Municipal Systems Act, Act 32 of 2000, amongst its objectives, provides for the manner in which municipal powers and functions are exercised as well as establishes a simple framework for the core processes of planning, performance management and resource mobilisation. The Act also provides a framework for public administration and human resource development. Finally, it also empowers the poor and ensures that municipalities put in place service tariffs and credit control policies that take their needs into account. The research contends that, whilst there is legislation and structures to assist and direct municipalities, it has been established that municipalities do not properly collect rates and taxes due to them to augment their revenue. The study has shown nevertheless that metropolitan municipalities have the capacity to collect revenue for municipal services. This is confirmed by their collection rate which ranges between 94 % and 97 %. There is also the culture of non-payment by communities for services rendered by the municipalities. Rural municipalities are exempted from property tax, while other rural municipalities who have an urban component, have to collect. There is also the question of unemployment and poverty. Consequently, municipalities are not self-sufficient and rely on grants and equitable share to survive. As a result of this lack of self-sufficiency, it is difficult to implement service delivery and also difficult to attract skilled personnel. The study has investigated why some municipalities fail to collect revenue and depend on national grants. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings of the quantitative paradigm have been presented in the form of graphs and charts. The major findings include: All municipalities have limited borrowing capacity; have not exceeded their budgets in terms of their spending; small municipalities have households as their main contributor of revenue collected; metropolitan municipalities get the big slice of their revenue from business; small and rural municipalities rely on grants and transfers and are therefore not financially viable; metropolitan municipalities are, to a great extent, financially viable but lack skills and capacity to utilize their resources for effective service delivery; and all municipalities under-spend their budgets. The study, after elaborating on the findings, makes recommendations on how municipalities should become financially viable.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Maclean, Sindisile
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Finance, Public -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Human services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Economic policy , South Africa -- Economic conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (in Public Administration)
- Identifier: vital:11661 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1007093 , Finance, Public -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Human services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Economic policy , South Africa -- Economic conditions
- Description: The purpose of the research is to assess the financial viability of selected urban and rural municipalities in the Eastern Cape. Municipalities that are not financially viable and sustainable will always struggle to deliver basic services to communities. Without sound financial management systems, municipalities will be forced to discontinue their operations. Municipalities, particularly small and rural ones, are not self-sufficient and often rely on grants and transfers to satisfy their immediate short-term goal of providing basic services to satisfy the needs of their communities. Therefore, finance is regarded as an overriding and decisive factor for determining the viability of municipalities. The study seeks to investigate the financial viability of selected urban and rural municipalities in the Eastern Cape. Its key research questions are: Are municipalities able to provide sufficient funds to provide a range of services at an acceptable service level? To what extent do municipalities rely on external funding? Do municipalities have revenue collection capacity and revenue policies? The study asserts that most municipalities lack the required financial resources. They depend mainly on transfers from Provincial Government and equitable share and conditional grants from National Government. Section 152 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 8 of 1996, states, amongst other things, that Local Government should ensure the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner. The constitution further states that a municipality must strive, within its financial and administrative capacity, to achieve its objectives. The Municipal Finance Management Act, Act 56 of 2003, creates a framework for municipalities to borrow money and determine the conditions for short- and long-term borrowing. The Act assigns clear roles and responsibilities to the various role players involved in local government financial management. According to the Act, an annual budget for a municipality may only be funded from realistically anticipated revenues to be collected. As revenue projections in the budget must be realistic, the Municipal Property Rates Act, Act 6 of 2004, facilitates the collection of revenue in municipalities and establishes a uniform property rating system across South Africa. Property tax is the biggest element of local government tax revenue and is central to municipal finance. The Municipal Systems Act, Act 32 of 2000, amongst its objectives, provides for the manner in which municipal powers and functions are exercised as well as establishes a simple framework for the core processes of planning, performance management and resource mobilisation. The Act also provides a framework for public administration and human resource development. Finally, it also empowers the poor and ensures that municipalities put in place service tariffs and credit control policies that take their needs into account. The research contends that, whilst there is legislation and structures to assist and direct municipalities, it has been established that municipalities do not properly collect rates and taxes due to them to augment their revenue. The study has shown nevertheless that metropolitan municipalities have the capacity to collect revenue for municipal services. This is confirmed by their collection rate which ranges between 94 % and 97 %. There is also the culture of non-payment by communities for services rendered by the municipalities. Rural municipalities are exempted from property tax, while other rural municipalities who have an urban component, have to collect. There is also the question of unemployment and poverty. Consequently, municipalities are not self-sufficient and rely on grants and equitable share to survive. As a result of this lack of self-sufficiency, it is difficult to implement service delivery and also difficult to attract skilled personnel. The study has investigated why some municipalities fail to collect revenue and depend on national grants. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings of the quantitative paradigm have been presented in the form of graphs and charts. The major findings include: All municipalities have limited borrowing capacity; have not exceeded their budgets in terms of their spending; small municipalities have households as their main contributor of revenue collected; metropolitan municipalities get the big slice of their revenue from business; small and rural municipalities rely on grants and transfers and are therefore not financially viable; metropolitan municipalities are, to a great extent, financially viable but lack skills and capacity to utilize their resources for effective service delivery; and all municipalities under-spend their budgets. The study, after elaborating on the findings, makes recommendations on how municipalities should become financially viable.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
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