The alignment of the integrated development plan, organizational performance management system and budget: a case study of the Kopanong local municipality in the Free State province, South Africa.

Abstract

Governments often design employment, skills and economic development policies by using people who are specialists in different areas, but they expect these policies to talk to each other. The different policies are necessary because they address diverse objectives to ensure effective service delivery to communities and accountability from local government officials, particularly in the South African context. However, the design of policies by different professionals often creates a lack of alignment and coherence, which creates challenges for effective implementation of policies. For example, the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) will have a number of projects, proposed by the community as well as stakeholders. On the other hand, the budget does not include some of the projects, as proposed by the community. During performance assessment and/or audits, the expected performance to be evaluated is found lacking as these projects were not budgeted for, and even if they were budgeted for, alignment could not be achieved because of various inconsistencies. This has been noted at different local levels in South African municipalities where there is a high demand for the delivery of services. Examples of policies, which lack alignment and coherence, are the following: a) The IDP – the projects in this document are proposed by the community and stakeholders, and must indicate the budget as a sign of alignment. b) The budget – when a budget is prepared within a municipality, all directorates must participate in order to ensure that their budgeted projects within the IDP are allocated sufficient funds to complete the projects. c) The Organisational Performance Management System (OPMS) – the audit of performance must be able to make a connection between the IDP and the budget, which means that if there is no budget of projects, as proposed within the IDP, then there is no performance; hence, there is no alignment and the IDP, the budget and the OPMS are not coherent. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of the alignment and coherence of the strategic policy apparatus within the South African local government framework; specifically focusing on the IDP, the OPMS, and the budget. The Kopanong Local Municipality in the Free State served as a case study to interrogate the alignment of these policy frameworks. The study was necessitated by the fact that municipalities battle to be consistent in the alignment of these substantial and essential planning documents and the provision of clear implementation of the legislation that guides municipalities, including the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996). Utilising qualitative research design, specifically questionnaires, the study established what led to the lack of alignment and coherence between the IDP, the OPMS and the budget in the Kopanong Local Municipality. From the study population, comprising all the employees of the Kopanong Local Municipality, a sample of 27 managers and directors were selected, as they were involved in the implementation of these policies. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with the managers and directors of the Kopanong Local Municipality, and their answers were recorded and transcribed for analysis. Thematic analysis was utilised to answer the study’s research questions. The participants demonstrated an understanding of each of the three policies, as they were implemented. Based on the data analysis, the study showed that the participants were aware of the various challenges facing the effective alignment and coherence of the IDP, the OPMS and the budget. The participants further noted the impact of the lack of alignment and coherence between the three municipal policies. Moreover, the study indicated that skilled staff were needed to design the IDP, based on the budget, as this would contribute to effective alignment and coherence. The participants also referred to the OPMS as a policy that provided the key responsibilities for the implementation and monitoring of the budget and the IDP. The study further presented a model, which was developed as a summary from the analysis of the data on the alignment and coherence between the IDP, the OPMS and the budget. The model suggested two levels of alignment and coherence of policies within the Kopanong Local Municipality, as part of policy implementation. This incorporates alignment and coherence within the policy documents, as well as practical implementation.