REMEDIAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE PROMOTION OF GOOD GOVERNANCE IN A DYSFUNCTIONAL MUNICIPALITY: A CASE OF A SELECTED LOCAL MUNICIPALITY IN NORTH WEST PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract

There are three autonomous spheres of government in South Africa namely National, Provincial and Local. They all derive their status and powers from the Constitution and other pieces of legislation that have been put in place to ensure that they are developmental, interdependent and foster good governance. Local government is the closest to the communities and as such municipalities are constitutionally mandated to render and deliver sustainable basic services. If any municipality is failing in discharging its constitutional responsibility and functions, the law allows provincial government to intervene. Interventions could be in various forms such as support, monitoring, deployment of administrator or in extreme instances, a dissolution of the municipal council. Interventions should be introduced without prejudice or any bias. They must be justifiable and legal. Recent trends points to the fact that national and provincial intervention in the local sphere of government in South have become common. These trends can be seen, within the context of dysfunction. Theoretical body of knowledge related to the phenomenon of municipal dysfunction suggests that issues of poor service delivery and bad governance in municipalities are indicative of abnormal functioning at municipal level. This study explores the process, approach and impact of provincial government when placing a municipality under intervention. Furthermore, it interrogates if there are adequate systems and measures for support and appropriate monitoring systems with early detection, clear service delivery and financial targets and provision of regular reports to municipal council about progress of the intervention. Scholars agree that the local sphere must be promote good governance and accountability and be committed to working with and for citizens. If the opposite is true, the impact of services delivery is negative, governance systems collapses and municipal finances becomes unstable. A qualitative approach was used to conduct this study and a case study was selected as the most direct method to conduct the study and obtain insight. Interviews through purposive sampling were conducted. The study revealed that there is a need to examine provisions of the Constitution and other legislative frameworks in order to establish and outline a process and system for intervention.