Investigating the impact of political-administrative interface on service delivery in Ndwedwe Local Municipality.
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Date
2018
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Abstract
This study focused on the relationship between politics and administration at a local
government level. It used Ndwedwe local municipality in KwaZulu-Natal as a case
study. The researcher developed interest in this municipality because it has been
experiencing certain political instability with the changes of political leadership in every
term of office and exodus of senior management leaving the municipality. The main
issue being explored in this study was the impact of the political-administrative
interface in the municipality, whether it exist or not. The study sought to explore if all
role players, mainly political leadership and administrators understand their roles. For
the purposes of the study, the researcher used quantitative research methodology,
which has helped in diagnosing the complexity of the political-administrative interface.
In chapter one, the researcher dealt with introduction and overview of the study.
Chapter two focused on literature review, which entailed examining the existing
knowledge and information in relation to the political-administrative interface in local
government. Chapter three dealt with research methodology and design. Chapter four
mainly focused on data collection and analysis. Chapter five discussed the findings,
conclusions and recommendations.
The researcher used snowball sampling and developed questionnaire with few key
questions. The study involved 20 respondents, who includes politicians and
administrators. Among the key findings is that while there is evidence of conflict
between politicians and administrators in the municipality, there is however no
structured interface in the municipality. Secondly, the issue of education level, mainly
among councillors, who are the political leadership in the municipality is pointing to an
urgent need to conduct in-going training to ensure that new councillors understand the
complex regulations governing the local government sphere in South Africa. This
understanding is critical in understanding the separation of roles between politicians
and administration.
Keywords: political-administration dichotomy
interface in local government
Ndwedwe Local Municipality
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.