Project governance through monitoring and evaluation in the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs.

Abstract

In recent years, the role of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in the public sector has been accelerated to become an important performance management tool for departments. Implementing projects are the main service delivery ‘vehicle’ that departments use to achieve the goals and objectives. If the M&E of projects is undertaken adequately, the transparency, accountability and performance of the public sector will be enhanced. Project governance provides a platform for informed project decisions to be reached. Under the project governance framework, M&E may be applied throughout the cycle. This qualitative study examines the relationship between M&E and project governance as a value-added tool in the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs. Data was collected by means of semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The findings highlighted the following issues: there was no alignment of the M&E and project management methodologies; little collaboration between project managers and M&E; lack of communication; silo mentality; no M&E mentorship; lack of reporting and an under-staffed M&E unit. The key recommendations for the study highlighted in the research include the M&E framework must be communicated to all levels of staff; M&E has to be included in the strategic and planning stages of the project management lifecycle; on-going M&E mentoring and coaching, and the M&E unit needs to be capacitated to meet the demands of the department.