Khanyangale, MacDonald.Mngwengwe, Sarah Sibongile.2025-11-122025-11-1220242024https://hdl.handle.net/10413/24058Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.While the reconfiguration of Umgeni Water and uMhlathuze Water Boards in KwaZulu-Natal is a crucial step towards effective water provision, there is a lack of research on how the change was actually managed, channels of communication used, and nature of employee resistance experienced in the change process. The main research objective of this exploratory qualitative study is to examine change management methods, communication, and employee resistance during the reconfiguration of the water board into a regional water utility in KwaZulu-Natal. This exploratory qualitative study design involved twenty participants selected to achieve data saturation. The participant pool consisted of executive members, senior management, middle management, representatives from organised labour, and employees who directly experienced the reconfiguration of a Regional Water Utility in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The purposive sampling technique was used to select participants from the uMngeniuThukela Regional Water Utility. Data were gathered using semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic approaches to get dominant themes depicting change management methods, communication, and employees’ resistance during the reconfiguration of a water board into a regional water utility in KZN. The results revealed a variety of six themes related to change management methods used to ensure the successful reconfiguration of a water board into a regional water utility in KwaZulu-Natal, which include (1) top-down approach (2) visible leadership to drive change agenda (3) less structured change pathway (4) communicating the change process (5) consultant-driven change and (6) change agents-driven approach. Eight different formal and informal communication channels were used for clarity of messaging to reach employees during the reconfiguration: (1) face-to-face executive announcements, (2) Executive led internal workshops; (3) executive and board meetings; (4) excessive dependence on mass emails; (5) grapevine communication; (6) communication circulars; (7) brown bag sessions; and (8) executive-led staff information sessions. However, employee resistance emerged as a significant challenge, stemming from the top-down change process, concerns about job loss, psychological safety, and board instability were the root causes of employees’ resistance during the reconfiguration of the water board into a regional water utility in KwaZulu-Natal. To mitigate employee resistance the study recommends the importance of clear and effective communication channels for conveying consistent and transparent messages across various levels of the organisation, which is key for effective change processes and management. Establishing diverse communication channels tailored to different employees is very important for nurturing an informed workforce. Employees’ resistance to change may be diminished if the top-down approach change is replaced with a consultative approach, and addressing the lack of leadership visibility is paramount for ensuring that change management is smooth, engaging, and not intimidating for employees.enCC0 1.0 Universalhttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/Change management method.Communication channels.Employee resistance to change.Thesis