PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND EVALUATION FOR SUSTAINABLE LOW-COST
HOUSING DELIVERY: THE CASE OF LUKHANJI AND MALAHLENI
LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES IN THE EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE
SOUTH AFRICA
By
MZWAKHE GUGU GOMOMO
Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
Doctor of Administration
In the faculty of Management and Commerce
UNIVERSITY OF FORT HARE
Promoter: Professor EOC Ijeoma
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To my Heavenly father Jesus Christ, who gave me courage, patience, perseverance and
wisdom to complete this task. I adore Him so much.
To my promoter, educator, and mentor, Professor Edwin Ejeoma who believed in me
that I have all what it takes to complete this project. Your professional guidance,
wisdom, and unconditional support are treasured.
To my supervisor, friend and comrade Thabo Mdukiswa from work. Your selfless
emotional support and appreciation you gave during the time of this project is dearly
appreciated.
To my Brothers and sister, Monde, Anele, Madoda, Thembinkosi, Thobile, Mabhuti,
Odwa Linda and Vuyiswa. Thank you very much for the emotional support you gave
since the beginning of this project.
To my children Zikhona, Gcobisa, Yolanda, Sihle, Kuhle, Thamsanqa, Immaculate and
Aya. Thank you for supporting me during this time.
Lastly I want to thank my mother Nongxaki (Noansara) Elizabeth Gomomo for making
me to believe in me. Thank you mom for your unwavering support that you have given
since I was born and the appreciation you have shown in everything I do.
iii
DEDICATION
This thesis is dedicated to my late father Aleck, Tyozi and my late elder brother
Nicholas for their excellent work in making me the man I am today and everything they
both have done for me.
Mzwakhe Gugu Gomomo
Bhisho: South Africa
2013
iv
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the research report submitted for the Doctor of Administration to
the University of Fort Hare apart from the work recognised is my own work and has
never been submitted to the other University for any Degree.
Mzwakhe Gugu. Gomomo
Fort Hare: South Africa
2013
v
ABSTRACT
One of the serious problems facing South Africa is that of the provision of adequate
low-cost housing for the poorest of poor. Only about 56% lived in fully-owned formal
dwellings in 2009. (Stats SA: 2009). The problem is not only about the inability of the
government to decrease backlogs in the provision of adequate low-cost houses. These
contributory factors include the standard of construction, land as well as continuous
urbanisation. International commitments such as the UN’s Millennium Goals put
further pressure on government to permanently resolve the issue. Adequate housing is
recognised globally as a basic human right. This includes access to running water and
sanitation and electricity.
The aim of the study is not to investigate construction techniques or methods, specific
choices of location or any other planning-related issues, but to find an approach that is
more appealing to the challenge of the provision of housing as per the afore-mentioned
challenges combined with, amongst others, the provision of the necessary resources and
relevant political processes as well as monitoring and evaluation. The provision of low-
cost housing is unique in nature as it can never be fully resolved. To assist the process
because of its nature, future studies suggest systems theory as a best recognised and
more successful way to address wicked problems. By investigating low-cost housing
programmes in Chile and Australia, identifying the elements of systems theory used, it
was possible to find pointers to help formulate a set of steps (or actions) to use to
address South Africa’s low-cost housing challenge. This research report proposes that,
while the challenge of housing provision in a country like South Africa will most
probably always be present, it can be alleviated by applying systems thinking to the
problem.
The study therefore puts forth Participatory Housing Delivery Monitoring Model
(PHDMM). The model will assist in providing the beneficiaries of low-cost houses
space to participate in the housing process and projects. It will also necessitate
accountability by various participants in housing development. Capacity building will
also be part of the package.
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1
GENERAL OVERVIEW 1
1.1 LOW COST HOUSES IN INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT 1
1.2 AFRICAN CONTEXT 2
1.3 SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEXT 3
1.3.1 Historical overview of the South Africa Republic 3
1.3.2 Overview of South Africa structure and functioning of government 8
1.3.2.1 National government 8
1.3.2.2 Provincial government 9
1.3.2.3 Local government 10
1.3.2.4 Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act 12
1.3.2.5 Bato Pele principles 14
1.3.2.6 Basic Principles of Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) 16
1.3.2.7 Public Participation and service delivery 17
1.3.2.8 Integrated Development Plan of the municipality 21
1.3.2.9 Service delivery assessment and public participation 23
1.4 RESEARCH MOTIVATION 25
1.5 RESEARCH PROBLEM 28
1.6 RESEARCH QUESTION 29
1.7 OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH 29
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1.8 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS 29
1.9 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 30
1.10 PROPOSED STRUCTURE 31
1.11 DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS 33
CHAPTER 2: THE PLACE OF PERFORMANCE ASSESSEMENT IN
PUBLICADMINISTRATION 36
2.0 INTRODUCTION 36
2.1 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 37
2.1.1 Developmental Public Administration and Public Management 40
2.1.2 Public Administration and Management as an academic discipline 42
2.1.3 Incentives of achieving the set objectives 43
2.1.4 Public Administration and Management in action 44
2.1.5 Incentives of achieving the set objectives 45
2.1.5.1Public Administration functions 43
2.1.5.2 Auxiliary functions 44
2.1.5.3 Instrumental functions 44
2.1.5.4 Line functions 45
2.1.5.5 Public Management in action 45
2.1.6 Distinction between public Sector and Private Sector management 45
2.2 PUBLIC FINANCE MANAGEMENT AND PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT 46
2.2.1 Introduction 46
2.2.2 Responsible Financial Management 48
2.3 Public Finance Management Act (1999) 50
2.3.1 Specific chapter dealing within PFMA 52
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2.3.2 Local Government Municipal Finance Management Act (56 of 2003) 54
2.3.3 Budgeting 55
2.3.4 Principles of budgeting 55
2.3.5 Objectives of budgeting 56
2.3.6 Good budgeting requirements 56
2.3.7 Budgeting for performance 59
2.3.8 Fiscal decentralization 59
2.3.9 Budgeting in South Africa 59
2.3.10 Conclusion 65
2.4 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT 65
2.4.1 Introduction 65
2.4.2 Organizational Performance Systems 66
2.4.3 Performance Management and purpose 70
2.4.4 Principles of performance measurement 74
2.5 POLICY AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK IN SOUTH AFRICA 76
2.6 Conclusion 82
2.7 MONITORING AND EVALUATION IN GOVERNMENT 83
2.7.3 Monitoring and evaluation in South Africa (Outcome approach) 86
2.7.4 Relevance of M&E in the currently 88
2.7.5 Conclusion 89
2 .7.6 SUMMARY 90
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CHAPTER 3 LITERATURE REVIEW 92
3.1 INTRODUCTION 92
3.2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE OF MONITORING AND EVALUATION AT REGIONAL
INTERNATIONAL AND SOUTH AFRICAN LEVELS 93
3.3 EVALUATION PROCESS IN CHILE 106
3.4 PERFORMANCE EVALAUTION AND MONITORING IN SOUTH AFRICA 109
3.5 IMPLEMENTATION OF M&E (GWM&E) SYSTEM 129
3.6 DEFINING GOVERNMENT WIDE MONITING AND EVALUATION SYSTEM 132
3.7 COMPARING IMPLEMENTATION OF GWM&E WITH THE WORLD EXPEREINCES 141
3.8 ENCUPSULATING EXPERIENCES OF SA, CHILE AND AUSTRALIA 145
3.9 SUMMARY 146
CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 148
4.1 INTRODUCTION 148
4.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 149
4.3 SAMPLING 152
4.4 DATA COLLECTION 154
4.5 DATA ANALYSIS, REPORTING AND VALIDATION 155
4.6 SUMMARY 157
CHAPTER 5 SUMMATION OF THE STUDY: AMIXTURE OF GOOD PRACTICES 158
5.1 INTRODUCTION 158
5.2 LESSONS LEARNT FROM AUSTRALIA 162
5.3 LESSONS LEARNT FROM SOUTH AFRICA 164
5.4 IMPLICATIONS OF THE LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL PRACTICES FOR SA 169
5.5 APPROACHES TO EVALUATION 170
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5.6 OTHER APPRAOCHES TO M&E 173
5.7 MOTIVATION FOR PERFORMANCE INFORMANTION 174
5.8 SUMMARY 175
CHAPTER 6 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS OF THE CASE STUDY: THE CASE OF
LUKHANJI AND MALAHLENI MUNICIPALITES 175
6.1 INTRODUCTION 176
6.2 CASE STUDY: LUKHANJI AND MALAHLENI LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES 176
6.3 PHASES AND STEPS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE 184
6.3.1 PHASE 1: PLANNING PHASE 184
6.3.2 PHASE 2: IMPLEMENTATION PHASE 193
6.3.3 PASE 3 - REPORTING PHASE 198
6.4 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY 215
6.5 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS OF THE STUDY 216
6.6 SUMMARY 230
CHAPTER 7 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 232
7. INTRODUCTION 232
7.1 SUMMARY 232
7.2 CONCLUSIONS 235
7.3 RECOMMENDATIONS 236
REFERENCES 247
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
DEDICATION iii
DECLARATION iv
ABSTRACT v
xi
TABLES xi
FIGURES xiii
LIST OF ACRONYMS xiv
xii
TABLES
Table 1:1 Mid-year population estimates by Statistics South Africa in 2010 5
Table 1.2 Disproportionate treatments between Blacks and Whites 6
Table 1.3 Crime rate in South Africa 6
Table 1.4 Principles of public participation 20
Table 1.5 Five methodological phases of IDP 23
Table 2.1 Differences between monitoring and evaluation 83
Table 3.1 Australia evaluation framework 97
Table 3.2 Steps involved in the development of performance indicator 122
Table 3.3 Roles and responsibilities during M& process 136
Table 3.4 Principles governing Monitoring and Evaluation 137
Table 6.1 Programmes and measurable objectives of Lukhanji municipality 180
Table 6.2 Lukhanji Functional area 1 186
Table 6.3 Lukhanji Functional area 2 188
Table 6.4 Lukhanji Functional area 3 189
Table 6.5 Lukhanji Functional area 4 191
Table 6.6 Cluster-based strategies 194
Table 6.7 Lukhanji performance on Functional area 1 199
Table 6.8 Lukhanji performance on Functional area 2 201
Table 6.9 Lukhanji performance on Functional area 3 202
Table 6.10 Lukhanji performance on Functional area 4 206
Table 6.11 Key Performance Areas of Malahleni municipality 207
Table 6.12 Malahleni performance on Functional area 1 209
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Table 6.13 Malahleni performance on Functional area 2 211
Table 6.14 Malahleni performance on Functional area 3 213
Table 6.15 Malahleni performance on Functional area 4 214
Table 6.15 Achievements and failures of Lukhanji and Malahleni municipalities 229
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FIGURES
Figure 1.1 below shows eight levels of public participation 17
Figure 1.2 Housing protests (Abahlali baseMjondolo) 26
Figure 1.3 Housing protests 27
Figure 2.1 Policy as an outcome of processes of system of structures 37
Figure 2.2 Public Management Functions 39
Figure 2.3 Medium Term Expenditure framework 63
Figure 2.4 Budget stages 64
Figure 2.5: Typical example of a balanced scorecard 67
Figure 2.6: Planning, budgeting and reporting cycle 81
Figure 2.7 Differences between monitoring and evaluation 83
Figure 3.1: Outcome and output framework 100
Figure 3.2 Components of GWM&E 118
Figure 4.1 Multiple focal points of qualitative research 150
Figure 6.1 Map showing the locality of Lukhanji and Malahleni municipalities 177
Figure 6.2 housing demand at Lukhanji 178
Figure 6.3: Service delivery backlogs 182
Figure 6.4 Basic steps during the three phases of performance in various organizations 183
Figure 6.5 Lukhanji performance monitoring and evaluation cycle 196
Figure 6.6 Reporting cycle 198
Figure 7.1 Seven Steps of PHDMM by (Gomomo) 243
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LIST OF ACCRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
AG Auditor General
ANC African National Congress
CG Corporate Governance
COGTA Corporate Government and Traditional Affairs
CONEVAL Council for the Evaluation of Social Policy
COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions
DPLG Department of Provincial Local Government
DPLGTA Department of Provincial Local Government and Traditional Affairs
DPSA Department of Public Service and Administration
DTI Department of Trade and Industry
ESKOM Electricity Supply Commission
EU European Union
GWM&E Government Wide Monitoring and Evaluation
IDASA Institute for Democracy in South Africa
IDP Integrated Development Plan
IGR Inter Governmental Relations
KPA Key Performance Areas
M&E Monitoring and Evaluation
MEC Member of Executive Council
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MFMA Municipal Finance Management Act
MTEF Medium Term Expenditure Framework
NPADB National Performance Evaluation Authority Determining Bill
NPEDMS National Performance Evaluation Dynamics Management Strategy
NT National Treasury
OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
PAC Pan African Congress
PALAMA Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy
PFMA Public Finance Management Act
PGDS Provincial Growth and Development Strategy
PHDMM Participatory Housing Delivery Monitoring Model
PSC Public Service Commission
RDP Reconstruction and Development Programme
SA South Africa
SACP South African Communist Party
SASQAF Statistical Quality Assurance Framework
SCOPA Standing Committee on Public Accounts
SMS Senior Management Services
SONA State of the Nation Address
Stats SA Statistics South Africa
TQM Total Quality Management
WPLG White Paper on Local Government
1
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
GENERAL OVERVIEW
1.1 LOW COST HOUSES IN INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT
The following four examples are some of the different organisations worldwide aimed
at helping the poor and homeless in different ways and on various levels:
The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE)
The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) describe themselves as “an
independent, international, non-governmental, not-for-profit human rights organisation
whose mission is to ensure the full enjoyment of the human right to adequate housing
for everyone, everywhere” (2010). COHRE was created in 1994 in the Netherlands but
has since moved to Geneva, Switzerland.
Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI)
Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI) is “a confederation of country-level
organisations (called‘federations’) of the urban poor from 28 countries of the Global
South” (Slum/Shack Dwellers International, 2009). The organisation does not focus on
housing-issues only, but also has programmes addressing savings plans, skills and
knowledge transfers addressing land-tenure issues, infrastructure development,
empowering women and more.
Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR)
Since its inception in 1988, the ACHR has evolved from focussing mainly on housing
rights and problems of evictions to training and community savings and credit activities
2
(2001). ACHR is active in at least fourteen Asian cities, with their headquarters in
Thailand.
The Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SPARC)
This Indian based network is “one of the largest Indian NGOs working on housing and
infrastructure issues for the urban poor” (SPARC, 2010). SPARC in turn provides
support for the “National Slum Dwellers Federation (NSDF), a broad-based
organization of the urban poor” as well as for “a network of women’s collectives called
Mahila Milan”.
1.2 AFRICAN CONTEXT
Akeju, Ajibola Andrew (2007) argues that in many African governments housing is the
one basic human right and as such many countries like Nigeria highlighted housing as a
major priority and all the countries especially in the Sub- Haran region however
highlighted the fact that provision of houses through the creation of mortgages becomes
as challenge in the developing countries and that this result into a situation where
adequate houses are provided through the tortuous traditional method of buying land
and building over some years, which could be an individual's entire life time. In many
cases such buildings are left uncompleted or individuals have to deplete their entire life
savings in order to build a home. This means as much as though international context
problems surrounding building adequate low-cost houses stems from the failure to
involve relevant people in the process, but in the African developing countries the
problems emanate mainly in mortgages.
The Malawian government seemed to have a remedy for homelessness. Habitat for
Humanity in Malawi argues (2003) that home owners are required to repay the cost of
all inputs provided by Habitat for Humanity (Malawi); while no profit or interest is
charged, repayments are indexed to the cost of cement (the biggest input in the house)
to protect against inflation. Repayments are used to build more houses and latrines in
the community, promoting social responsibility. According to Human Habitat for
Humanity (Malawi) the following strategy works for the government:
i) Houses are inexpensive and affordable; the house design is culturally acceptable.
3
ii) Partnerships are foundational to Habitat for Humanity (Malawi).
iii) Partnerships are formed at all levels for the strengthening and furthering of the
work.
Erugen (2001) argues that despite considerable progress has been achieved in
developing countries in the past two decades in policy formulation, facilitating a shift
of the public sector’s role to strengthening of enabling strategies and focussing on the
utilisation of the potential and capacity of informal sectors, there is a widening gap
between policy formulation and the implementation process, and the status of low-
income housing delivery is far beyond being satisfactory and there are many constraints
for this situation. Erugen (2001) further felt that the lack of effective implementation
strategies, poor promotion of security of tenure, inadequate supply of affordable land
and infrastructure, inadequacy of housing finance systems, poor utilisation of local
building materials and technologies, lack of support to small-scale construction
activities, inappropriate standards and legislation, inadequate participation of
communities in shelter development process and support to self-help, lack of focused
research and experimental projects, poor utilisation of research findings, are amongst
such major constraints.
UNCHS (Habitat) is contributing to the implementation of the Habitat Agenda’s
specific goal of “Adequate shelter for all” by undertaking diverse activities in the fields
of knowledge creation, facilitation of information and experience exchange, awareness
raising and advocacy, policy formulation and advice, and technical cooperation. A great
majority of these activities focus specifically on the needs of low income and other
vulnerable groups and in this context related to low-cost housing
1.3 SOUTH AFRICA CONTEXT
1.3.1 Historical overview of the South African Republic
Jan van Riebeeck represented the Dutch East India Company to find Cape Colony, at
Table Bay and Dutch settlement of South Africa, in 1652. The new nation emerged and
they were called the Boers. Boers left Cape Colony and found Orange Free State and
Transvaal after a stiff resistance from indigenous people, in these areas. In 1858, Boers
proclaimed Transvaal a republic. In 1880, every European country rushed for gold in
4
South Africa. Boer domination on Blacks could not last, as an international interest to
colonise South Africa for its gold, grew. The Anglo–Boer war started between British
settlers and Boers in South Africa. In 1910, both Boers and British settlers formed the
Union of South where Cape and Natal became British republics and Transvaal and
Orange Free State, Boer republics. The Union introduced land Act, in 1913, preventing
blacks from purchasing land and adopted the policy of apartheid. In 1948 the National
Party was voted into power and instituted a policy of apartheid. Apartheid is:
1) An official policy of racial segregation formerly practised in the Republic of South
Africa, involving political, legal and economic discrimination against the non-
whites;
2) A policy or practice of separation or segregation of groups; and
3) The condition of being separated from the others (Access:
http://www.answers.com.topic/apetheid: Retrieved: 1March 2012).
The Group Areas Act No 41 of 1950 commenced on the 7th
July 1950 and forced
physical separation between races by creating different residential areas for different
races. Implementation began in 1954 and it led to forced removals of people living in
"wrong" areas and the wholesale destruction of communities. For example, Coloureds
living in District Six in Cape Town. Group Areas Act was the title of three Acts of the
Parliament of South Africa enacted under the apartheid government. The Acts assigned
racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a system of
urban apartheid. An effect of the law was to exclude non-Whites from living in the
most developed areas, which were restricted to.
Whites (e.g., Sea Point in Cape Town). It caused many non-Whites to have to commute
large distances from their homes in order to be able to work. The law led to non-Whites
being forcibly removed for living in the "wrong" areas. The non-white majority were
given much smaller areas to live in than the white minority who owned most of the
country. Pass Laws required that non-Whites carry pass books, and later 'reference
books (similar to passports) to enter the 'white' parts of the country (Retrieved:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group Areas Act) accessed: 2 October 2012. In 1961, the
Union declared South Africa Republic and sentenced Mandela to life imprisonment.
5
This prompted civil unrest. Other countries imposed sanctions on South Africa.
Township revolts in 1970's and 1980’s, emerged. The African National Congress
(ANC) collective resorted to the other forms of struggle. The armed struggle was the
available option. Leaders of the ANC alike Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Joe Slovo
and the others spent many years in prison. The 1985 incidents to the late 1980s saw the
National Party under De Klerk heeding the call by the opposition that says “freedom
today not tomorrow”. Negotiations with the oppositions started. In February 1990, the
National Party government for the first time after 48 years in power unbanned many
political parties and on the 11 February 1990, released Nelson Mandela from prison.
Negotiations thereafter started. At the end of 1993, an interim Constitution was agreed
upon by the twenty one political parties. The first democratic elections were held on the
26th
April 1994.The ANC, COSATU and South African Communist Party (SACP)
alliance emerged victors of the elections and Nelson Mandela from the ANC became
the first Black President of the new democratic South Africa on the 10th
May 1994. The
1996 Constitution created three spheres of government and they are namely: National,
Provincial and Local Government. Each of these governments has a role to play with
respect to local government to enable it render service delivery. Local government and
the other spheres of government therefore are all responsible in rendering service
delivery. As much government have since made strides in ensuring that people receive
better services, there are still huge challenges. Figure 1.1 below shows South African
demographics as July 2010:
Table 1.1
POPULATION
GROUP
NUMBER PERCENTAGE OF
TOTAL (%)
African 39 682 600 79.4%
White 4 584 700 09.2%
Coloured 4 424 100 08.8%
Indians/Asian 1 299 900 2.6%
TOTAL 49 991 300 100%
Table 1:1 Mid-year population estimates: Depicted from Statistics South Africa (2010)
6
The apartheid regime resulted to a highly skewed distribution of resources to the people
of South Africa. The above table shows demographics of South African population in
2010. During apartheid era the distribution of resources to the people was highly
skewed. Table 1.2 below shows disproportionate treatment between Africans and
whites during the years of apartheid:
Table 1.2
BLACKS WHITES
Population 19 million 4.5
million
Land allocation 13% 87%
Share on national income < 20% 75%
Ration of average earnings 1% 14%
Minimum taxable income R 360 R750
Doctors/population ratio 1: 44 000 1: 400
Infancy mortality rate 20% (urban)(40 %(Rural ) 2.7%
Annual expenditure (Education
per pupil)
R845 R8 695
Teacher /pupil ratio 1:60 1:22
Table 1.2: Disproportionate treatment between Blacks and Whites (Lee, 1978:25)
Crime rate prevented investors to come and invest in South Africa. Table 1.3 below
shows total crime rate in South Africa as compared to the other countries:
Table 1.3
CRIME INTERNAL RATING WORLD RATING
Car theft 93.1% 6th
of 46
Corruption (Managers) 16% 16th
of 39
Death penalty 1,997 15th
of 64
Drug offences 1,991 5th
of 55
Gun offences 53,03 of 100 000 4th
of 46
Murders with firearms 31,981 1st of 32
Manslaughters 11.202 1st of 36
Prisoners 181,944 2nd
of 168
Total crime 2,683,849 5th
of 48
Table 1.3: Crime rate in South (Source: South Africa: International crime: 2002)
7
Total population in South stood at 49 991 300. Of the total population about 25 662 300
(51%) were female, and 24 329 000 (48%) male. Africans are in majority (79.4%), with
9.2% whites, coloured population (8.8%) and Indians/Asians (2.6%). Table 1.2 above
shows that in 1978, in South Africa there were about 19 million Blacks compared to 4.5
million Whites. The land in terms of the table, about 87% was owned by Whites and
only about 13% Blacks was allocated land, with Whites having about 75% of the total
income share whilst Blacks consumed only 20%. The doctor –population ratio was 1:
44 000 for Blacks and 1: 400 for Whites and the teacher/pupil ratio was 1: 60 for
Blacks and 1: 22 for Whites.
The following are the 5 key factors that could be seen as counter- development in South
Africa. Firstly crime was the major challenge. Table1.3 above shows a comparison
between South Africa and the World on crime rate on the said factors. South Africa has
been leading in the above-mentioned crimes, and was on top of the least in the three
types of crimes such as manslaughter and murders with firearms and car theft. In car
theft and drug offences South Africa rated 5th
and 6th
respectively. Many countries had
always been treating South Africa as the nation which is faced with highest crime rate,
and this had negative results on the growth and development. Table 1.3 above further
shows that out of 48 countries in South Africa rated 5th
with about 2.683.489 total
crime offences in 2002. Secondly urbanization was one of the counter-development
factors.
People had to migrate to the urban areas for job. This situation caused and exerted
higher demand for housing, health services, and basic services in the urban areas.
Thirdly water shortages which were and are the expected constraints to the national
development as the rainfall season changed dramatically due to climate change. The
country because of this has been characterised with under agricultural production.
Fourthly inequitable distribution of land has since been a problem especially for
housing development. Lastly South Africa has been seen as having the highest number
of people with HIV and AIDS.
The new democratic South Africa had to deal with the above-mentioned factors moving
forward, and had to develop and adopt viable strategies, programmes and policies in
order to arrest this situation. A plethora of pieces of legislation to govern, regulate, and
8
coordinate all spheres of government, have since been adopted by the legislative
assembly, mainly to address the afore-mentioned factors.
1.3.2 Overview of South African structure and functioning of government
In 1996, South Africa adopted its first democratic Constitution. South Africa before
1994, inherited from the apartheid regime, three different administrations. These
administrations included former, TBVC States (Homelands) administrations and
Central Provincial administration. There was a need therefore to organise
administration of government as the new democratic unitary states warrant that. In
terms of the 1996 National Constitution three spheres of government were created and
they are namely:
1) National government;
2) Provincial government and;
3) Local government
Each sphere of government has a role to play in terms of the Constitution with regards
to local government. The main Constitution expectations for each sphere of government
include cooperation, mutual trust and good faith through fostering friendly relations and
supporting one another. The following section pays more attention on the roles and
responsibilities of the three spheres of government and they are namely: national,
provincial and local governments with respect to local government so that is able to
deliver services to the citizenry.
1.3.2.1 National government
In terms of the White Paper on Local Government (1998), national government has the
following roles to play in respect of local government:
i) Strategic role
National sphere of government is responsible for setting strategic framework for
economic and social development of the national and for all spheres of government.
Local government must operate within an enabling environment that will best enable
them to promote the development of citizens, local communities and the country.
9
ii) Providing legislative framework
The national government is responsible for setting the overall strategic framework
within the general legislative framework set out in the constitution. This includes
providing framework for governmental relations, structures, procedures, and
mechanisms to promote and facilitate positive intergovernmental relations within the
spheres of government.
iii) Coordination of transition
National government, provincial and local governments are all responsible for
coordination and management of the said transition process.
iv) Provision of finances
National government is also responsible for providing, managing systems of
intergovernmental fiscal relations and
v) Monitoring and oversight role
In order or ensure that relevant levels of uniformity, consistency and compatibility are
intact , the national government needs to develop systems of monitoring and oversight
to be used by the organs of state in performing these functions.
1.3.2.2 Provincial government
i) Strategic role
To develop a vision and framework to integrated economic, social and community
development in the province through the provincial, growth and development strategy.
ii) Development role
Provincial government should ensure that the municipal Integrated Development Plans
are consolidated to culminate into a viable informed developmental framework across
the province and are vertically intergraded into to the provincial growth strategy.
10
iii) Intergovernmental role
To establish forums and processes for the purpose of including local government in
decision making processes affecting them. They must promote horizontal cooperation
between municipalities in the province.
iv) Regulatory role
Section 155 of the national constitution gives both national and provincial government
legislative and executive authority to see effective performance by the municipalities of
their functions.
vi) Fiscal role
Play role in monitoring of financial status of municipalities through provincial task
teams of Project of viability.
1.3.2.3 Local government
Service delivery assessment is not the responsibility of local government alone, but also
of the other spheres of government. Local government as mentioned above can be seen
as a centre for coordination and integration. The coordination and integration function
of local government is a joint venture between the three spheres of government and is
done through the following departments:
White paper on local government (1998), allocates roles and responsibilities, and they
briefly mentioned below:
1) National government: is having a strategic role of setting the overall strategic
framework for both social and economic development of the country and for all
spheres of government.
2) Provincial government: In terms of the Local government Transitional Act (1998),
both the national government and the other spheres of government are responsible
for coordination, management and oversight of the phase of transition.
11
3) Local government: Determines sustainability of human settlements, and can be seen
as a source of integration and coordination and the programme of other spheres of
government.
4) Adding into the role of the national sphere, the following national government
proposed the following departments in order to decentralise important functions of
local government:
1. Department of Arts and culture
Culture is a concurrent competence (Constitution, Act 108 of 1996). The departments
thereof of Sports Art and culture and local government are responsible for promoting
and developing arts and culture.
2. Department of Health
The department is responsible for designing transport for municipalities.
3. Department of Human settlements
In terms of the new legislation, municipalities must ensure that all inhabitants in their
areas have access to adequate housing
4. Department of minerals and energy
Municipalities and in conjunction with ESKOM reticulate electricity to the people
5. Department of Safety and Security
Local government is responsible for promoting public values, education, and to combat
transnational crime. The two are the pillars of the national crime prevention strategy.
6. Department of Trade and Industry
Local government is responsible for enhance local revenue initiatives under the
Department of Trade and Industry. Both the provincial and national departments
therefore can through intergovernmental structures:
12
1) Work direct with municipalities: This means that substantial resources could be
made available to the municipalities in order to improve service delivery.
2) Integrate programmes into the municipal integrated development plans in order to
boost local economic development
3) Coordinate and decentralising powers, in order to improve effectiveness
4) Intergovernmental relations mean relations between different government organs
of state and departments from different governments.
To effect this coordination, government had to promote the notion of intergovernmental
relations which is the transactions of political office bearers and officials on any sphere
of government that have a bearing on the decisions and actions of another levels/tier/
sphere of government (Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Act (No.13 of 2005). The
Constitution outlines the principles of IGR and Corporative Governance (CG). Chapter
three of the Constitution emphasizes on the cooperation between all spheres of
government in mutual and good faith order to improve and speed up service delivery.
1.3.2.4 Intergovernmental Relations framework (IGR)
There is no government that can effectively meet the challenges unless all spheres of
government function in a cohesive whole (White Paper on Local Government (1998).
Cooperative functioning amongst various spheres of government includes the following
activities:
1) Collective harnessing all public resources behind common goals and within the
framework of mutual support;
2) Developing a cohesive, and multi-sect oral perspective on the interests of the
country as a whole and respecting the discipline of national goals, policies and
operating principles;
3) Coordinating their activities to avoid wasteful competition and costly
duplication;
4) Utilizing human resources effectively;
5) Settling disputes amicably without resorting to costly and time consuming
litigation; and;
6) Rationally and clearly devising between them roles and responsibilities of
government, in order to minimize confusion and maximize effectiveness
13
7) The notion of single window of coordination can help in economizing the
manner in which services are rendered, as there will be no duplication. Fruitless
expenditure will be avoided at all costs. Effective and less time consuming
processes in the litigation of disputes will also be taken care of, and eventually
relations between the spheres of government will be improved. The outcome of
good relations between various spheres of government is good services delivery
process and this satisfies the Constitution mandate on public service which is
expected to function in designated manner and is responsive to the needs of the
people. The Constitution warrants that public service as the arm of government
has to rise to the challenge of service delivery to ensure that government
achieves its deal of creating a better life for all as in line with people’s contract.
8) The Constitution further provides for an effective and responsive to the varied
needs of the people. Public service as an arm of government therefore needed to
be transformed in order to be in keeping with the Constitution mandate of
creating better life for all the citizens of the country. A plethora of pieces of
legislation, regulations, systems and procedures were put in place in order to
assist government to succeed in fulfilling its mandate. Secondly capacity
building cannot be dissociated from good governance and development. Human
resource management and development therefore must be strengthened in order
to ensure that people get the required skills and knowledge that is relevant in the
process of speeding up service delivery. That is the reason why section 195 of
the final Constitution provides for basic values and principal governing public
administration. The following are principles derived from the Constitution are:
1) A high standard of professional ethics must be promoted and maintained.
2) Efficient, economic and effective use of resources must be promoted.
3) Public administration must be development orientated.
4) Services must be provided impartially , fairly , equitably and without bias
5) People’s needs must be responded to and public be encouraged to participate in
policy making.
6) Public administration must be accountable.
7) Transparency must be fostered by providing the public with timely, accessible
and accurate information
14
8) Good human resource management and career development practices, to
maximized human potential, must be cultivated
9) Public administration must be broadly representative of the South African
people, with employment and personnel management practices based on ability,
objectivity , fairness and the need to redress the imbalances of the past to
achieve broad representation
10) Responding to the need for equitable service delivery, the South African
government embarked on a sustainable programme of public sector reform, such
as reforms to the civil service performance management systems and budget. In
order to speed up service delivery, government institutions and public service
had to be transformed in order to be ready for the total change. To regulate the
said change, White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery of 1997)
was adopted. The White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery (1997)
is aimed at advancing one of the eight transformation priorities of White paper
on Public Service Transformation (1995), i.e. “Batho Pele principles”. Batho
Pele framework seeks to create policy framework for the service delivery
(Meiring, 2000:166).
1.3.2.5 Batho Pele principles
Consultation
All South Africans have equal access to services to which they are entitled. This means
people must be consulted and be given a choice about the services that are offered.
Through communication government ensures that it is not pursuing its own agenda, but
rather the general welfare of the broader population, (Guan (1997:15). Public
participation also adds to the legitimacy of policy and prevents resistance to policies.
Service standards
People should be told about the level and quality of service they will receive so that
they become aware of what to expect. To set targets is normally part of the corporate
planning cycle. The corporate plan and targets that are set should involve the collective
efforts of a wide cross-section of employees so as to ensure broad ownership of, and
commitment to, the plan and the targets (Dadoo, 1997:120).
15
Access
All South Africans are entitled to services, and must be serviced equally. People should
have equal access to the services to which they are entitled. Barriers (physical, distance
and culture, etc.) that can prevent them full access to the services have to be identified.
Timeframes must be set for the implementation of these programmes and the progress
thereof monitored (Dadoo, 1997:124).
Courtesy
People should be treated with courtesy and consideration. The fact that a home-seeker
needs a place to stay does not necessarily mean she or he should be treated without any
respect .The public servant should maintain balance between commitment to the public
good and obedience to the administrative and political superiors (Dror, 1997:17).
Access to information
Citizens should be given full, accurate and up-to-date information about the public
services they are entitled to receive. Kaul (1996:149) emphasizes the need of accurate
and unbiased reporting, which strengthens the climate of openness and public
accountability
Openness and transparency
People should know about national, provincial governments and municipalities. A
culture of transparency in the public service guards against anti-social and avaricious
activities Ngouo (1997:490). Transparency helps keep public service clean, effective
and free from nepotism and corruption, (Guan: 1997:170).
Redress
If the promised standard of service is not delivered, citizens should be offered an
apology, a full explanation and speedy effective remedy; and, when complaints are
made, citizens should receive a sympathetic and positive response.
16
Value for money
Public services should be provided economically and efficiently in order to give
citizens the best possible value for money. One of the most important fundamentals to
ensure value for money is to put effective and efficient financial management systems
in place.
The White paper on the Reconstruction and Development Programme, 1994 is a policy
framework for integrated and coherent socio-economic progress. It was adopted to
mobilise all people and the country’s resources towards the final eradication of the
results of apartheid. The main goal of this new policy is to build a democratic, non-
racial and no-sexist future and it represents a vision for fundamental transformation of
South Africa by:
1) Developing strong and stable democratic institutions;
2) Ensuring representatively and participation;
3) Ensuring that South Africa becomes a fully- democratic, no-racial and non-sexist
society; and;
4) Creating a sustainable and environmentally friendly growth and development path.
5) The RDP document contends that the birth of a transformed nation can only succeed if
people themselves are voluntary participants in the process of the realisation of goals.
RPD in the housing development is important for two reasons, namely, housing is the
key priority of RDP under a new democratic order, and should secure the political and
fiscal support to enable the successful launch of sustainable housing programmes,
secondly, housing is a basic human right.
1.3.2.6 Basic principles of Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP)
White Paper on Public Service Transformation puts forth the principles of RDP below:
Integration and sustainability: The legacy of apartheid cannot be overcome with
piecemeal, uncoordinated policies. Government institutions, business, civil society
must all work together to achieve RDP goals; and
People-driven: The RDP is focussed on people’s immense and long-term needs and
depends on their energies. Development in the context of the RDP policy is not about
17
the distribution of goods to a passive citizenry. Obviously there is a need for the State
to develop a guiding document towards the fulfilment of its housing obligation, hence,
the development of the National Housing Policy. The White paper marked the
beginning of the process of housing development. South Africa, today, has a policy
framework for all citizens. The adoption of the White Paper aimed at contributing
towards giving both Local and Provincial Governments, capacity to fulfil their
constitutional obligations.
1.3.2.7 Public participation and public service delivery
Public participation is one of the key identified factors immediately after 1994. The
new government adopted two types of democracies i.e. a participatory and
representative democratic society. The new Public participation Framework Act (2004)
warrants that municipality and the other government structures provide platforms for
the people to participate in various government processes such as:
1) Performance management
2) Integrated development plan
3) Budgets etc.
Figure 1.2 below shows eight levels of public participation:
Figure 1.2
Figure 1.2: Eight levels of public participation: Depicted from (Arnstein: 1969)
18
Citizen control
The communities participate by taking initiatives independent of external institutions
for resources and technical advice they need. However, people retain control over how
to use resources. An example of citizen control is self-government.
Delegated power
In this regard, government runs decision-making process and funds it. The community
members get some powers, to make decisions. People participate in joint analysis,
development of action plans and information. The process involves interdisciplinary
methodologies that seek multiple perspectives and use systemic and structured learning
processes. The groups take over local decisions and determine how to use available
resources. They have a stake in maintaining structures or practices.
Partnership
Communities advise the administration. These people make token changes.
Placation
The community is asked for advice and token changes are made.
Consultation
Communities get information about project. They get information through meetings or
surveys. Their views, however, may not appear in the final decision. They do not get
feedback. External agents define problems and information gathering processes. That
means they control analysis.
Informing
Government informs people about the decision. Administrators do not listen to
responses of the people.
19
Therapy
People participate. Government tells people about the decision or what has already
happened. An administration makes unilateral announcements or project management
without any listening to people’s responses.
Manipulation
Participation is simply pretence, e.g. with "people’s" representatives on official boards
but have no power, the authorities tell community selectively about a project according
to an existing agenda. They use community’s input only to further this existing agenda.
Observing the above-mentioned levels of public participation can serve two important
goals at the same time. It can help to deepen democracy in one hand and improve
planning as well decision-making processes in the other. This can undoubtedly improve
service delivery. In order to ensure public participation happens the following are the
guiding principles of the process:
1) Inclusivity - embracing all views and opinions in the process of community
participation.
2) Diversity - In a community participation process it is important to understand the
differences associated with race, gender, religion, ethnicity, language, age,
economic status and sexual orientation. These differences should be allowed to
emerge and where appropriate, ways sought to develop a consensus. Planning
processes must build on this diversity.
3) Building community participation – Capacity-building is the active empowerment
of role players so that they clearly and fully understand the objective of public
participation and may in turn take such actions or conduct themselves in ways that
are calculated to achieve or lead to the delivery of the objectives.
4) Transparency - promoting openness, sincerity and honesty among all the role
players in a participation process.
5) Flexibility - the ability to make room for change for the benefit of the participatory
process. Flexibility is often required in respect of timing and methodology. If built
into the participatory processes upfront, this principle allows for adequate public
20
involvement, realistic management of costs and better ability to manage the quality
of the output.
6) Accessibility – at both mental and physical levels - collectively aimed at ensuring
that participants in a public participation process fully and clearly understand the
aim, objectives, issues and the methodologies of the process, and are empowered to
participate effectively. Accessibility ensures not only that the role players can
relate to the process and the issues at hand, but also that they are, at the practical
level, able to make their input into the process.
7) Accountability - the assumption by all the participants in a participatory process
of full responsibility for their individual actions and conduct as well as a
willingness and commitment to implement, abide by and communicate as necessary
all measures and decisions in the course of the process.
8) Trust, Commitment and Respect - Above all, trust is required in a public
participatory process. Invariably, however, trust is used to refer to faith and
confidence in the integrity, sincerity, honesty and ability of the process and those
facilitating the process. Going about participation in a rush without adequate
resource allocations will undoubtedly be seen as a public relations exercise likely to
diminish the trust and respect of community in whoever is conducting the process in
the long term, to the detriment of any public participation processes.
9) Integration – that public participation processes are integrated into mainstream
policies and services, such as the IDP process, service planning. Table 4 below
shows practical application of public participation principles
Figure 1.4
Principle Examples of applying these principles
Inclusivity Identifying and recognising existing social networks, structures,
organisations, social clubs and institutions and use them as a vehicle
for communication
Diversity Ensure that different interest groups including women, the disabled and
youth groups are part of governance structures
Building capacity Solicit funding from external sources to train ward committees on their
role in development
Embarking on consumer education on all aspects of local governance
including the functions and responsibilities of the municipality and
different municipal structures
Transparency Engendering trust in the community by opening council meetings to
the public and encouraging attendance
21
Flexibility Being flexible in terms of time, language and approaches to public
meetings
Accessibility Conducting public meetings in the local language
Accountability Ensuring report backs to community forums or ward committees at
least on a quarterly basis
Trust,
Commitment and
Respect
Ensuring that the purpose of the process is explained adequately, as
well as how it will develop
Integration Integrating ward planning with the IDP process
Including user committees into mainstream services, e.g. School
Governing Bodies
Table 1.4 Principles of public participation: Depicted from National public participation framework Act
(2004)
These principles therefore show that public participation in South Africa is factor to
local government as it builds on the commitment of the democratic government to
deepen democracy, which is embedded in the Constitution and above all in the concept
of local government, as comprising the municipality and the community.
1.3.2.8 Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) of the municipality
In terms of the Municipal Systems Act (2000) local municipalities in South Africa have
to use "integrated development planning" as a method to plan future development in
their areas. Apartheid planning left us with cities and towns that:
1) Have racially divided business and residential areas;
2) Are badly planned to cater for the poor - with long travelling distances to work and
poor access to business and other services;
3) Have great differences in level of services between rich and poor areas; and
4) Have sprawling informal settlements and spread out residential areas that make
cheap service delivery difficult.
Rural areas were left underdeveloped and largely serviced. The new approach to local
government has to be developmental and aims to overcome the poor planning of the
past. Integrated Development Planning is an approach to planning that involves the
entire municipality and its citizens in finding the best solutions to achieve good long-
term development (Municipal Systems Act: 2001).
22
In terms of the Act mentioned supra an Integrated Development Plan is a super plan for
an area that gives an overall framework for development and aims to co-ordinate the
work of local and other spheres of government in a coherent plan to improve the quality
of life for all the people living in an area as well as to take into account the existing
conditions and problems and resources available for development. That means the plan
should look at economic and social development for the area as a whole. It must set a
framework for how land should be used, what infrastructure and services are needed
and how the environment should be protected. Integrated Development plan is critical
to achieve the following goals in order to improve service delivery:
Effective use of scarce resources
The IDP will help the local municipality focus on the most important needs of local
communities taking into account the resources available at local level. The local
municipality must find the most cost-effective ways of providing services and money
will be spent on the causes of problems in local areas. For example, a municipality may
decide to allocate resources to building a canal that will prevent homes being damaged
during the flood season. This will reduce the financial burden placed on the
municipality’s emergency services.
It helps to speed up delivery
The IDP identifies the least serviced and most impoverished areas and points to where
municipal funds should be spent. Implementation is made easier because the relevant
stakeholders have been part of the process. The IDP provides deadlock-breaking
mechanisms to ensure that projects and programmes are efficiently implemented. The
IDP helps to develop realistic project proposals based on the availability of resources.
It helps to attract additional funds
Government departments and private investors are willing to invest where
municipalities have clear development plans.
Strengthens democracy
Through the active participation of all the important stakeholders, decisions are made in
a democratic and transparent manner.
23
Helps to overcome the legacy of apartheid
Municipal resources are used to integrate rural and urban areas and to extend services
to the poor.
Promotes co-ordination between local, provincial and national government
The different spheres of government are encouraged to work in a co-ordinated manner
to tackle the development needs in a local area. For example: The Department of Health
plans to build a clinic in an area. It has to check that the municipality can provide
services like water and sanitation for the effective functioning of the clinic. Figure 1.5
below shows five methodological phases of IDP:
Table 5
Phases Key outputs Time Time frame
1. Analysis Assessment of existing level of development;
Priority issues or problems;
Information on causes of priority issues/problems;
Information on available resources;
3 months
1. Strategies Objectives;
Strategies;
Identified Projects
2 months
2. Projects Performance indicators;
Project outputs, targets, location;
Project related activities & time schedule;
Cost & budget estimates
2 months
3. Integratio
n
5-yr financial plan;
\5-yr capital investment programme (CIP);
Integrated Spatial Development framework;
Integrated sectoral programme (LED, HIV, Poverty alleviation,
Gender equity etc.);
Consolidated monitoring/performance management system;
Disaster management plan;
Institutional plan;
Reference to sector plans.
6 Weeks (1-5
months)
4. Approval The output of this phase is an approved IDP for the
municipality
6 Weeks
(Submission
to the MEC)
Table 1.5: IDP methodologies with 5 phases and key outputs: Depicted from COGTA (2009)
24
1.3.2.9 Service delivery assessment and public participation
Ward Committee system
One of the challenges in housing development was seen by the many as the lack of
participation of all stakeholders in the process in the ward level. Government in the
other hand adopted Public Participation Framework (2004) as well as ward committee
guidelines which guides the process of involving people in all the programmes of
government. The ward committees, Community Development Wokers as well as the
councillors were tasked with ensuring that people participate in the programmes of
government including housing delivery. That means as the housing development takes
place as a local sphere of government municipalities must be accountable and ensure
that provision of services to all communities remains sustainable.
As a key developmental agent, local government is obliged by the Constitution of the
Republic of South Africa 1996 to develop a culture of municipal governance that
encourages and creates conditions for the local community to participate in the affairs
of the municipality. In this regard, ward committees have been introduced to
municipalities as community structures to play a critical role in linking and informing
the municipalities about the needs, aspirations and problems of their communities.
In terms of the Local Government Municipal Structures Act 1998 (Act 117 of 1998)
ward committees must create an enabling environment for meaningful community
participation in local government and thereby enhance service delivery. According to
Section 74 (a) of Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000, ward
committees play a crucial role in assisting municipalities in addressing housing
blockages through public participation. As a representative structure of the community,
the establishment of the ward committee is intended to assist the municipality to
respond to the needs, aspirations, potentials and challenges of local communities in
terms of provision of such services in a sustainable manner.
Community Development Worker Programme (CDWP)
In essence CDWs were to address the gap between services policy and actual output by
brokering citizens’ access to services and economic opportunities Using a“learnership”
based approach the CDW programme seeks not only to bring government closer to
25
local communities but also to enhance coordination between different spheres of
government with special emphasis on those line functions related to development. The
main objective of this improved cooperation between government and civil society is
greater efficiency in state expenditure. This improved efficiency is to be achieved by
focusing such expenditure more effectively on local development challenges and
service backlogs. The main reason for the creation of the CDWP is to bridge the gap
between government service delivery programmes and the people who should benefit
from these services, particularly in marginalized communities.
The objectives of the programme include:
1) Ensuring that government maintains direct contact with people where they Live;
2) Strengthening the co-ordination and integration of service delivery at local and
community level;
3) Improving people’s access to government information, knowledge and Services;
4) Providing a holistic service delivery option with the deployment of multi-skilled,
trained personnel;
5) Improving communication and networking between government and the local
community;
6) Ensuring transformation and that government services reach their targets.
1. 4 RESEARCH MOTIVATION
The socio-economic burden still affects the majority of South Africans. When the new
democratic South Africa came into being, in 1994, many felt that this would improve
people’s lives, but that was not the case, as many South Africans are still destitute. The
new government however, has made tremendous strides, in correcting the imbalances
of the past. This is probably because the extent, to which the apartheid regime
entrenched its apartheid policies and has been intensified by the degree of expectations
that the political party in power created among the electorate before 1994. South Africa
adopted two types of democracy, which are: participatory and representative
democracy. This means openness, transparency, and accountability are the pillars of
democracy. The picture that is painted below show that something is wrong and that is
the reason why there is a dire need to investigate reasons and rationale behind these
26
incidents. According to the Times (2nd
April 2014) According to The Times Informal
settlements have been at the forefront of service delivery protests as residents demand
houses and basic services. In February 2014 it was reported that there had been nearly 3
000 protest actions in the last 90 days – more than 30 a day – involving more than a
million people (Pretoria News, 11th
February 2014. In September 2013 the police
reported that they had made more than 14 000 arrests at protests in the past four years.
(Mail and Guardian, 17th
September 2013). Figure 1.2 below shows the typical example
of the housing protests when one of the protesters was gunned down by police.
Figure 1.2 Abahlali basemjondolo
Figure 1.2 Housing protests (Depicted from Maverick, 6th
October 2013)
Figure 1.3 below shows an elderly woman sits with her belongings during on-going
service delivery protests in Johannesburg. Hundreds of people are living in the open
27
after having been evicted from a nearby farm. Many were arrested after blocking a
major highway in protest.
Figure 1.3
Figure 1.3 Housing protest (Depicted from The Guardian Time, 23 July 2009)
The number of petitions and protests now emerging show that somewhere, somehow
State institutions have undermined the same pillar of change as the apartheid regimes
did, which is, strengthening the Public service as a tool through which the State delivers
services to its people. To make matters worse, white colour crime in South Africa
increased drastically. Monies that should have been spent on improving housing service
delivery were channelled into the pockets of some individuals. It is understandable that
people have endless needs, but the large sums of money looted from the State coffers,
could certainly have made a big change in the current situation. In order to operate
effectively and efficiently within the constraints of the budget, the State must revisit
28
new approach to the assessment and evaluation of government performance. The
implementation of viable assessment and evaluation strategies, to measure
performance, could serve as a tool of government in its endeavours to achieve
sustainable housing service delivery.
1. 5 RESEARCH PROBLEM
The problem of adequate low cost houses backlogs is not the unique problem in South
Africa, but most of the African countries as well as developing countries are also
having the same problem. Although South Africa attained its democracy but the
inequitable distribution of resources is still prevalent. The country is divided into two
types of citizens and they are namely: The resourced and services in one hand and un-
resourced and non-serviced in the other. That is reason why there is a dire need for
reconstruction and development. It is quite understanble that South Africa inherited
world class infrastructural from the previous government, there are still macro
contextual issues to resolve and they are: poor housing delivery, poverty and
unemployment. Many people in the areas of Lukhanji and Malahleni local
municipalities still remain underserviced.
The high level of under-development and poverty that many African countries
experience can be attributed to the non-establishment of processes and systems to deal
with the challenges facing governments’ programmes. (Ijeoma, 2008:64). South Africa
therefore requires a will to overcome this challenge. Governance and poor service
delivery remain a challenge government. Poor service delivery can be attributed to the
institutional capacity constraints such inappropriate skills and staff, lack of
transparency, non-involvement of people in governance and budget planning processes,
lack of accountability, failure to comply with legislation.
Of major concern is the level of corruption, institutional capacity constraints with
regard to appropriate skills and staff, lack of transparency, lack of accountability,
dysfunctionality of public servants, lack of public participation in the issues of
government, failure to comply with legislation, failure to prioritize community needs
and the non-alignment of budget. These are some of the major factors that are affecting
the performance of government to render a sustainable service. These factors no doubt
impact negatively on the performance of the State to deliver sustainable services. As
29
mentioned above, it is vital that government adopts new approach on assessment and
evaluation of performance.
1. 6 RESEARCH QUESTION
The study seeks to answer the following question: To what degree can the measurement
of performance bring forth sustainable service delivery in the public sector?
1. 7 OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH
The study looks into both local international practices on the assessment of
performance, in order to ascertain how each experience contributed towards achieving
quality low-cost housing delivery. The objectives of the study were as follows:
1) To find out housing delivery challenge at Malaleni and Lukhanji local
municipalities.
2) To identify the best practice for handling housing challenges
3) To find out how performance monitoring and evaluation can be a strategy for
ensuring quality housing delivery
4) To determine the critical success factors for housing service delivery improvement.
1.8 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS
The documentation obtained will mostly be from a municipal or local government
perspective. This will be vitally important in order to provide a detailed account of the
current situation. The study will cover all demographic partners and provide data on
how the study impacts on housing delivery. The study will take no longer than 2 years.
Gathering information on the four municipalities, despite the assistance of the key
informants, can be a painstaking process. Obtaining the correct contact information for
the relevant people can involve numerous phone calls to verify email addresses after a
few emails can ‘bounced ‘back to the researcher. Meaning that it will not always be
possible to reach key interview candidates as some might have relocated and are no
longer affiliated with their previous institutions. Furthermore, given the busy schedules
of many of these officials, meetings of this nature will depend on a ‘quite day’.
30
1.9 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of this study are to
1) Provide a broad overview of service delivery by the government in South Africa, as
a context within which to understand the issue of monitoring and evaluation of
performance;
2) Discuss monitoring and evaluation approaches, by the governments of Australia and
Chile that have been successfully adopted within an institutional or community context;
3) Critically analyse the current status of monitoring and evaluation of performance in
South Africa by focussing on the experiences of the Lukhanji and Malahleni, local
municipalities;
4) Make recommendation for a range of strategies on performance improvement related
mechanisms that can be used to improve accountability and sustainable public service
delivery. Mapping the proposed strategies would allow departments to perceive their
desired mission to implementation and ask what factors are most critical for the
strategies to succeed.
Upon completion of the research the recommendations will benefit many spheres,
namely:
1) The top management of housing delivery, in assisting future policy decisions that are
directed towards low cost housing service delivery;
2) The Chief financial Officer of the Provincial Human Settlements Department, in
aligning the budget allocations to the strategic priorities to the department;
3) All key managers and budget controllers of all municipalities, in realizing their
contribution towards service delivery
4) Public service departments in South Africa and the other developing countries may
study the findings and recommendations in this study, to find its applicability and
relevance.
31
1. 10 PROPOSED STRUCTURE
Chapter 1: General framework of the study
This chapter entails the general overview and framework of the study. It starts with the
historical background of South Africa from 1652 to date, discussing social, cultural and
political trends. The general overview of the relevant pieces of legislation governing the
functioning and the structure of government to render services to the people. This
chapter also tackles the evolution of assessment and evaluation practices in the World;
followed by a general outline in the South Africa. Thirdly the chapter defines concepts
that are key to the study. These concepts include; Performance measurement, service
delivery, accountability economy, efficiency and effectiveness, public participation,
capacity, performance assessment, evaluation. After the definition of concepts,
motivation for the study will made, followed by the problem statement, research
objective and research question.
Chapter 2: The place of Performance Assessment in Public Administration
The chapter starts by defining Public administration and management and brief history
evolution. This provides a foundation to commence the examination of its existence as
academic field of study and discipline. A brief comparison between public and private
sector administration is outlined. The chapter goes on and examines financial
management in the public sector in order to check how budgets affect the performance
of the organization. Performance management as a control measure designed and
implemented by the institutions is briefly discussed, as control is a generic function of
public administration. An overview of assessment and evaluation (outcome approach)
in South Africa is considered. The chapter concludes by providing differences between
public administration, assessment and evaluation and service delivery.
Chapter 3: Literature review and the overview of assessment approaches: International
and local experiences
As the country is faced with demands for improved services, governments are in the
process of designing, implementing and evaluating ways to improve performance. To
32
do that allocated funds should be preceded by the budget planning processes followed
by feedbacks and reports in order to account for the allocated funds. That means budget
is a tool to promote government accountability and effectiveness. An in-depth report on
the Global and local experiences relating to performance assessment and evaluating
mechanisms in government programmes and activities will be made. Countries in
Africa and Europe will be examined whilst South African approach will be the center
of focus. These cases will be dealt with extensively in order to get as many lessons as
possible for the case study of local municipalities of Malahleni, and Lukhanji in chapter
six (6).
Chapter 4: Research methodology
Research design and methodology will be described in this chapter. The chapter will
proceed to describe research methods, selection of sample, data collection and analysis,
validation and reporting methods. The scope and limitations and significance of the
study will finally be outlined.
Chapter 5: Research findings and policy lessons in Australia, Chile and South Africa
This chapter will start with findings and policy lessons in Australia, Chile and South
Africa, as well as to introduce and present General approaches to Evaluation.
Chapter 6: Analysis and findings of the case study of Lukhanji and Malahleni local
municipalities.
The purpose of this chapter will be to analyze the findings on the performance of the
two municipalities mentioned supra with the view to providing recommendation and
suggestions.
Chapter 7: Summary, Recommendations and Conclusion
An informative summary of the study will be made, followed by recommendations that
have been developed from local and international best practices and analysis of data
33
collected in the research. Recommendations will be offered to the Department of
Human Settlements. Concluding remarks from the researcher will then be made.
1.11. DEFINITION OF KEY WORDS
1.11.1 Service delivery
Service delivery is the provision of a range of programmes, services such as housing
delivery, publications, activities, events, initiatives, or benefits to one or more targeted
audiences, by a non-profit making organization (Roberts, 2009:10). Fox (1995:18)
however defines service delivery as a provision of activities, benefits or satisfaction. It
relates to both tangible and intangible public goods.
1.11.2. Monitoring
This is a continuous function that uses the collection of data on specified indicators to
provide management and the main stakeholders of an on-going development
intervention with indications of the extent of the progress and achievement of objective
and progress in the use of allocated funds (OECD). Motoring of government activities
is key to promoting service delivery.
1.11.3 Assessment and evaluation
They are used interchangeably. It determines how much or how little we value
something, arriving at our judgement on the basis of criteria that we can define (Keifer:
2000:2)
1.11.4. Performance measurement
Process of assessing the performance of development interventions against stated goals
(OECD).
1.11.5. Performance management
Although performance management can be defined as a system to evaluate performance
of people, in this study, it refers to the combination of both people and systems. It is
34
defined as the means though which performance against objectives is reviewed
(Luthuli: 2005:18).
1.11.6. Capacity
The National Capacity Building Framework for Local Government (2003:9) defines
capacity as the potential for something to happen. Act 117 of 1998 defines capacity as
the administrative, financial management and infrastructure that enables a municipality
to collect revenue and to govern on its own initiative the local government affairs.
1.11.7 Accountability
Fox and Mayer (1995:1-2) define accountability as the responsibility of government
and its agents to achieve previously set objectives and to account for them in public.
Greer (1978:15) is of the view that accountability refers to a pattern of behaviour. Only
if a pattern of behaviour exists can predictability and therefore, accountability exist.
1.11.8 Economy
Economy refers to an absence of waste of a given output (OECD) and the minimization
of resource consumption (Hilliard: 1995:4).
1.11.9. Effectiveness
This refers to the degree to which objectives are achieved (PALAMA: 2009:71).
1.11.10. Efficiency
It is concerned with relating the inputs of an activity to the volume of resources
consumed in obtaining those outputs (PALAMA: 71).
1.11.11. Public participation
The World Bank Learning Group defines public participation as a process through
which stakeholders influence and share control over development initiatives and the
decisions and resources which affect them. (World Bank, 1995). From this perspective,
public participation could be viewed from the level of consultation or even decision
35
making in all phases of the programme or project cycle in the community, namely from
needs assessment, to implementation, to monitoring and evaluation
36
CHAPTER TWO
THE PLACE OF PERFORMANCE ASSESSEMENT IN PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
2.0 INTRODUCTION
Fox, Shwella Wissink(1991) suggests that Public administration is a field of study (i.e.,
a discipline) an occupation and that there is much disagreement about whether the study
of public administration can properly be called a discipline, largely because of the
debate over whether public administration is a subfield of political science or a subfield
of administrative science. He however defines public administration as that system of
structures and processes operating within a particular society as an environment with
the objective of facilitating the formulation of appropriate government policy and the
efficient execution of the formulated policy. This means during the implementation or
execution of public administration, many processes interact to give effect to the
outcomes of these processes.
The definition given supra suggests that these outcomes include polices, and enable
public management to take place. The said outcomes give effect to service delivery, e.g.
policy implementation will guide the process of service delivery.
The nature of the study warrants that distinction between public administration and
public management be made. The traditional definitions of public administration,
which are given above demonstrate the view that public administration is only involved
in carrying out the policies and programmes of the government. It reflects that it has no
role in policy-making and also locates the administration in the executive branch but
today the term public administration is used in a broader sense that it is not only
involved in carrying out the programmes of the government, but it also plays an
important role in policy formulation and covers the three branches of the government.
That means public policy is the outcome of the processes within public administration.
Figure 2.1 below shows public policy as an outcome of those processes of that system
of structures and processes Schwella (1991:2) is talking about:
37
Figure 2.1
Figure 2.1 Public policy as an outcome: Depicted from Austin (1990:77)
Chapter two deals with following aspects: definition of Public Administration and
management and the evolution of the concept of public administration. Outlining the
evolution process of public administration serve as a foundation to establish the
existence of public administration as an academic discipline and activity. Differences
between public sector and private sector administration are outlined .Policies are
policies and become effective and implementable if they are funded. That means
therefore the chapter will proceed by examining financial management in the public
sector or in government. For the services to be rendered in a sustainable and equitable
manner the sound financial management assessment practices must implemented. To
assess and evaluate the performance of service delivery it is critical for the phenomenon
of both sustainability and uniformity. Both public management and public
administration are aimed at improving the general welfare of the people.
2.1 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
As per White, this definition covers a multitude of particular operations in many fields
such as the delivery of a letter, the sale of public land, the negotiation of a treaty, the
award of compensation to an injured workman, the quarantine of a sick child, the
Economic, social, political, technological factors
Government Goals
(Shelter for all)
Policy
(Housing)
People Institution &
resources
Project
Project Programme
(Speed up housing delivery)
Project
38
removal of litter from a park, licensing the use of atomic energy. It includes military as
well as civil affairs, much of the work of courts, and all the special fields of
government activity-police, education, health, construction of public works,
conservation, social security, and many others. The conduct of public affairs in
advanced civilisations requires the employment of almost every profession and skill-
engineering, law, medicine, and teaching; the crafts, the technical specialties, the office
skills, and administration.
Nicholas Henry (2004) defines that “Public Administration as a broad-ranging and
amorphous combination of theory and practice; its purpose is to promote a superior
understanding of government and its relationship with the society, it governs, as well as
to encourage public policies more responsive to social needs and to institute managerial
practices attuned to effectiveness, efficiency and the deeper human requisites of the
citizenry”. According to Nigro and Nigro (2010) public administration: is co-operative
group effort in public setting; covers all three branches-executive, legislative, and
judicial, and their inter-relationships; has an important role in the formulation of public
policy and is thus a part on the political process is different in significant ways from
private administration; and is closely associated with numerous private groups and
individuals in providing services to the community”.
In sum, public administration: is the non-political public bureaucracy operating in a
political system; deals with the ends of the State, the sovereign will, the public interests
and laws; is the business side of government and as such concerned with policy
execution, but it is also concerned with policy-making; covers all three branches of
government, although it tends to be concentrated in the executive branch; provides
regulatory and service functions to the people in order to attain good life; differs
significantly from private administration, especially in its emphasis on the public; and
is interdisciplinary in nature as it draws upon other social sciences like political science,
economics and sociology. Based on the background given by Nigro and Negro, Public
Administration is not the implementing but the process of formulating public policy.
This means that the public servants are not only involved in the implementation of
public policy, but in the planning stages of the process. The situation is like that
because they are best source of information. Cloete (1980:3) defines public
Administration as administrative process to be carried out together with other actions
39
executed by government institutions and public officials. He further argues that Public
Administration refers to those processes and actions executed by government executive
institutions, excluding legislative procedures and the procedure performed by the courts
of law. Unlike Cloete (1980:3) Scwella (1991:12) views Public Administration as that
system of structures and processes, operating within a particular society as an
environment, with the main objective of facilitating the formulation of government
policy and the execution of the formulated policy.
Schwella’s definition of the concept partly echoes Nigro’s position but the term
“facilitate” disqualifies the total sentiments by Nigro’s that Public Administration is
involved in both formulation and implementation of public policy. In his definition
another important phenomenon came to surface i.e. public Management. In defining
public management, Schwella (1991:12) excludes it from public administration. Cloete
(1996:236) however views Public Management as a continuation of public
administration. Fox (1991:14) in explaining and defining the concept of public
management developed a model explaining the managerial function and they are
namely: policy plan, organize, lead, motivate, control and evaluate/assess. Figure 2.2
below show management functions as been explained by Fox (1991:14).
Figure 2. 2
Public Management Functions (Depicted from Fox, 1991:14)
5. Leading
2. Control
4. Motivating
3. Organizing
1. Policy
Planning
6. Assess/Evaluate
40
De Toit feels the same as Cloete (1991:14) that public management is a continuity of
public administration. Public administration generic functions are as follows:
1) Planning: goal setting techniques/methods applied by executives as a means of
preparing future courses of organizational action;
2) Organizing: arranging the organizational structure and processes in an appropriate
manner essential to achieving these ends;
3) Staffing: recruiting and hiring personnel to carry out the essential agency work;
4) Directing: supervising the actual processes of doing the assignments;
5) Coordinating: integrating the various detailed elements of these tasks in
6) Cooperation with other units and people in government;
7) Reporting: tracking and communicating the progress of the work within the
organization;
8) Budgeting: fiscal and financial activities necessary to economically support the
completion of these programmes
That means therefore that budgeting, organizing, planning are common functions that
cut across between public administration and public management.
2.1.1 Developmental public administration and public management
Golembiewski (1968:10) identified five stages of Public Administration and
Management evolution and they are namely: Politics and Administration Dichotomy
phase (1900-1926) (Locus) the essence of this shift was mainly the separation of
Public Administration from Politics in to order to detach partisan politics and patronage
from sound public management. Political dichotomy was championed by the people
alike Wilson, White and Goodnow. The process was a locus driven movement
advancing the notion that public administration is found in executive institutions. The
concentration of study during this period was on locus, where public administration
should be.
Hence Goodnow (1859-1939) identified two distinct functions of government:
1. Politics – has to do with policies or expressions of the state will.
2. Administration – has to do with the execution of these policies.
41
White (1891-1958) echoed Goodnow’s argument that in this paradigm there is needed
to strengthen a distinct politics/administration dichotomy by relating it to value/fact
dichotomy.
The principles of Public Administration phase 1927-1937 (focus) the concentration
of study during this period was on focus essential expertise in the form of
administrative principles. Willoughby in his book, principles of Public Administration,
the second fully fledged text in the field depicting certain scientific principles of
administration. 1930s and early 1940s Public administrationists were in demand for
their managerial knowledge, courted by industry and government alike. Separation of
politics from public administration met with various challenges and these include the
following concerns:
1) Politics and administration could never be separated in any remotely sensible
fashion.
2) The principles of administration were logically inconsistent.
3) Questioned the assumption that politics and administration could be dichotomized.
This is supported by “A theory of public administration means in our time a theory
of politics also.”
4) There could be no such thing as a “principle” of administration
Public Administration as a political Science, 1950-1970 (Locus) this phase of the
study aimed at establishing linkages between public administration and political
science. Public administration is an “emphasis”, an “area of interest”, and a “synonym”
of political science.
Public Administration as Public Administration, 1956-1970 (focus): In 1956 the
above stated phases were challenged by the notion that they are all administration.
1960s – Organization theory should be the overarching focus of public administration
according to Keith M. Henderson and others. “Organization development” began its
rapid rise as a specialty in administrative science due to its involvement in social
psychology, opening up of organizations, and self-actualization of the members. A
conflict arises between the public administration and private administration as triggered
by administrative science. However, after years of painful dilemma, it was conceived
42
that the concept of determining and implementing the public interest constitutes a
definition of public administration.
Public Administration as Public Administration 1970 (Locus): Here the term
“public affairs” became popularized. Public administrationists have been increasingly
concerned on areas of policy science, political economy, public policy-making process
and its analysis, measurement of policy outputs.
Towards curricula autonomy: Public administration is at last, intellectually prepared
for the building of an institutionally autonomous educational curriculum.
This is because of the presence of a paradigmatic focus of organization theory and
management science and also a paradigmatic locus of the public interest as it relates to
public affairs. That means syntheses was both a locus and locus driven movements
outlining how and why public activities take place thus stating that public
administration and political science cannot be separated. The new Public Management
theory emerged in South Africa championed by Lane (2000). It also advance the
argument made by various traditionalists that partisan politics be separated from public
administration, and that cultivation of civic duty among citizen and official is
irrelevant.
The definition of the concept of Public Administration by Du Toit and Van der Waldt
(1999:17) points to the fact that public administration as activity comes from the needs.
The pointed out that there is a need to satisfy the needs of the people in particular
water, food and shelter. Better satisfaction of services according to them therefore is
needed which can give rise to the development of the activities of public administration
and public management. When the people needs rise and are rendered efficiently, that
gives rise to the growth of the communities. Hence the need for both public
administration and public management emergence.
2.1.2 Public Administration and management as an academic discipline
Public Administration is both academic discipline and the field of practice. As an
academic discipline originates as an academic field. Du Toit (2001:17) is of the view
that Public Administration originated as an academic discipline after it was practised as
43
an activity. Because of various observations made by academics, in the field of Public
Administration, Public Administration is both academic discipline and practice. That
means that Public Administration as a discipline is because of observations and inputs
made by academics in the field of public administration and management. Botes (2006)
in an academic context it can be assumed that:
1) Public Administration is an academic discipline which can be dissected in
systematic steps of the study and research
2) Public Administration finds a field of application in the public administration
3) Public Administration is a university subject which enjoys universal
acknowledgement and status
4) Public Administration is a science, because there exists a corpus of knowledge,
which has repeatedly been proven to be valid, and can be analysed
systematically and contains aspects of universal applicability. Based on the
above-mentioned arguments, it becomes key to understand fully how public
administration as an activity link with the purpose of Public Administration
contemporarily. Understanding the purpose and objective of an organization
can assist in its longetivity and sustainability. That is the reason why Du Toit
(2001:23) is of the view that the purpose of any organization or institution is the
objectives that the organization has set for itself.
2.1.3 Incentives of achieving the set objectives
As the public officials are responsible for both public administration and management
in order to assist government departments to achieve their objectives (Du Toit and Van
der Waldt (1999:9). That means if government institutions like the Department of
Human Settlement achieves its objectives, its achievement of objectives have a positive
contribution to the lives of the homeless people. This means therefore that the more
government departments achieve their set objectives, the more the lives of the people
improve through the effective and efficient service delivery.
44
2.1.4 Public Administration and management in action
Cloete (1998:85) feels that Public Administration involves all the activities of the
government hence as an activity the scope of public administration is no less than the
scope of state activity. In the modern welfare state people expect many things and that
in this context public administration provides a number of welfare and social security
services to the people. Besides, it has to manage government owned industries and
regulates private industries he said. Cloete (1998:85) further classifies administrative
functions into four distinct classes and they are namely: conceptual and directive
functions, auxiliary functions, instrumental functions and line functions.
2.1.4.1 Public administration functions
Cloete (1998:214) defines conceptual and directive functions at the processes that
facilitate or enable the execution of various functions and they are namely:
1) Policy determination: involves consultation with the public (public
participation) where their interests are taken into account together with the
political environment. It further includes reconciling conflicting ideas and
beliefs. Processes of a legitimate policy include community consultation and
policy legitimising step i.e. making the policy the Act of parliament.
2) Organization: involves structural arrangement of the organization in order to
achieve the set objectives.
3) Financing: includes the drawing up of budgets, which is the determining factor
for both formulation and implementation of a public policy.
4) Utilization of provisioning of staff: The relevant piece of legislation governing
this process is the Public Service (Act No. of 1994) as well as the National
Capacity Building Framework Act, which regulate training and capacitating in
all the spheres of government
5) Determination of the work procedures and methods: Provides tools through
which to establish whether an official has carried out a function in a justifiable
manner.
6) Control: Consists of checking and accountability. Both political bearers and
officials must account for their action. This is in line with the Batho Pele
principles.
45
7) Management : This function include policy implementation, organising staffing,
financing, determining methods and controlling.
2.1.4.2 Auxiliary functions
Include those functions that support other functions that are being carried out e.g.
setting up of information.
2.1.4.3 Instrumental functions
Include processes that are instrumental to the execution of the generic administrative,
auxiliary, and line functions e.g. making decisions to communicate, arrange transport
for an official to conduct his or her work.
2.1.4.4 Line functions
These functions are the results of carrying out the enabling, auxiliary and instrumental
functions, which provide for the framework within which government institutions and
public servants must fulfil their responsibilities, i.e. the line functions.
2.1.5 Public management in action
Cloete (1998:230) Public management is the execution of different categories of
processes and put forth categories of public management activity as follows:
1) Policy implementation
2) Organizing
3) Staffing
4) Financing
5) Determining work method and procedures
6) Controlling
2.1.6 Distinction between public sector and private sector management
Public management in the public sector and private sector differ significantly. George
Boyne (2002:97-122) argues that many theorists hold that the differences are so great
and that the use of private sector management in the public sector should be avoided
46
and Public organizations are more bureaucratic, public managers are less materialistic
and have weaker organizational commitment than their private sector counterparts. It is
not clear whether the existing evidence understates or overstates the distinctiveness of
public agencies is unclear. To be able to discuss the above-mentioned topic Du Toit
(1999:44) came up with the following items:
1) Transparency as opposed to obscurity ;
2) Measurability of success;
3) Origin and ;
4) Service motive against profit motive
According to Du Toit (1999:44) the motive of the managers in the private sector is to
make profit, compared to their counterparts in the public sector who their purpose
differs with those in the private sector. He further argues that managers in the public
sector are concerned with improving the welfare of the people and that the advantage of
the private sector is that it becomes easy for them to measure success compared to the
measuring of success in the public sector. Du Toit (1999) further felt that originality of
public sector management and private sector management can also assist in drawing
distinctions between the two. There is belief that politics stems out of Public
Administration whilst Public Management is the remnant of Public Administration.
2.2 PUBLIC FINANCE MANAGEMENT & AND PERFORMANCE
ASSESSMENT
2.2.1 Introduction
The new democratic South Africa warrants that, everything in government should
change in favour of the people of South Africa. Everything had to start afresh hence the
adoption of both Public Service Transformation White Paper and Reconstruction and
Development Programme (RDP). The implementation of these pieces of legislation
requires that budgets be modified, in order to do two important things namely: develop
systems and render services equitably. Buzz words were “efficient, effective,
community participation, economical”. The generating factor behind quality, effective
and equitable public service delivery, is sufficient funds. In the absence of a number of
key studies on the financial implications of implementing a comprehensive programme
47
of affirmative action or of establishing comprehensive training programmes, it is not
possible to quantify the costs of administrative transformation in any precise way at this
stage.
However in terms of the White Paper on Transformation of Public Service of 1994 at
the general level examples of some of the costs likely to be incurred during the process
of transformation are as follows:
1) The establishment of OMPSA will incur additional costs, particularly in terms of
staffing, although it is anticipated that some of these will be met from the relocation
and redeployment of staff, especially from the Office of the Public Service
Commission;
2) The setting up of transformation teams in ministries, departments, and provinces
will incur some costs, although it is intended that most units will be staffed through
the redeployment of existing personnel;
3) The redeployment of public officials will require support to cover the costs of
relocation and investment in new infrastructure and equipment;
4) The programmes of rationalisation and affirmative action will require funding for
early retirement and retrenchment packages, for the redeployment and relocation of
staff, for training, and for new salaries and benefits;
5) The equalisation of wages throughout the service will require major financing; this
will be increased if uniform wages and conditions are to be established at all
administrative levels;
6) The upgrading of training institutions will require investment in terms of
infrastructure, personnel, and equipment. Conducting training programmes,
likewise, will incur both direct and indirect costs;
7) The installation of new information systems will require investment in equipment
and in the training of users, as well as running and maintenance costs.
Because of envisaged costs mentioned supra, there is a need to put in place a plethora
of pieces of legislation in order to regulate the manner in which finances are managed.
A series of financial reforms were put in place immediately before and after 1994. All
spheres of government were expected to develop and adopt their budgets. Moneys were
then transferred to provinces and municipalities. That means the budgeting process was
48
de-centralised. The Medium Term Expenditure framework replaced one year
incremental budget system.
As a result Local Government Act (No. 152 (1) of 1997) warrants that the nomination
of persons for appointment by the President as members of the Financial and Fiscal
Commission to take place at a meeting of the executive Committee of the national
organisation and that each provincial organisation may designate one person in writing.
Proper management of funds was key at this point in time. There was need to manage
allocated funds in order to put value for money as one of the Batho Pele principles.
Three pieces of legislation were enacted and they are namely: Public Finance
Management (Act No. 1 of 1999, Local Government Municipal Finance Management
(Act No 56. of 2003). Public Finance Management (Act No. 1 of 1999, as well as the
Division of Revenue Act. These Acts will be discussed extensively below as they were
adopted to regulate finances in the changing South Africa.
This section thereof will deal with outlining the meaning of a responsible finance
management, as well as an in-depth interrogation of the two pieces of legislation and
they are namely: Public Finance Management Act (1999) and Municipal Finance
Management Act (2003).
2.2.2 Responsible Financial Management
Sound financial management in the new South Africa is critical for the following
benefits:
1) Responsible financial management
2) Accountability and feedback
3) Transparency
This can always provide the State and its people with information on the state of affairs.
Access to information is one of the Batho Pele principles. If this principle can be
upheld, this can provide both the State and the people at large a platform to constantly
monitor the performance of various institutions. Part of this will be an improved citizen
participation in the finance management of the State. In terms of National Public
Participation Framework (2004) the end results will be good governance although the
49
concept of good governance is still evolving, and that there is no proper definition for
the concept. The framework also highlights 8 major characteristics of good governance
and they are participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive,
effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follow the rule of law. It assures that
corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the
voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. OECD (2001)
provides a brief discussion on the eight characteristics of good governance and they are
as follows:
2.2.2.1 Participation by both men and women is a key cornerstone of good
governance. Participation could be either direct or through legitimate intermediate
institutions or representatives. It is important to point out that representative democracy
does not necessarily mean that the concerns of the most vulnerable in society would be
taken into consideration in decision making. Participation needs to be informed and
organized. This means freedom of association and expression on the one hand and an
organized civil society on the other hand.
2.2.2.2 Transparency means that decisions taken and their enforcement are done in a
manner that follows rules and regulations. It also means that information is freely
available and directly accessible to those who will be affected by such decisions and
their enforcement. It also means that enough information is provided and that it is
provided in easily understandable forms and media.
2.2.2.3 Effectiveness and efficiency: Good governance means that processes and
institutions produce results that meet the needs of society while making the best use of
resources at their disposal. The concept of efficiency in the context of good governance
also covers the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the
environment.
2.2.2.4 Responsiveness: Good governance requires that institutions and processes try
to serve all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe.
2.2.2.5 Accountability: is a key requirement of good governance. Not only
governmental institutions but also the private sector and civil society organizations
must be accountable to the public and to their institutional stakeholders. Who is
50
accountable to who varies depending on whether decisions or actions taken are internal
or external to an organization or institution. In general an organization or an institution
is accountable to those who will be affected by its decisions or actions. Accountability
cannot be enforced without transparency and the rule of law.
2.2.2.6 Consensus oriented: There are several actors and as many viewpoints in a
given society. Good governance requires mediation of the different interests in society
to reach a broad consensus in society on what is in the best interest of the whole
community and how this can be achieved. It also requires a broad and long-term
perspective on what is needed for sustainable human development and how to achieve
the goals of such development. This can only result from an understanding of the
historical, cultural and social contexts of a given society or community.
2.2.2.7 Equity and inclusiveness: A society’s well-being depends on ensuring that all
its members feel that they have a stake in it and do not feel excluded from the
mainstream of society. This requires all groups, but particularly the most vulnerable,
have opportunities to improve or maintain their well-being.
2.2.2.8 Rule of Law: Good governance requires fair legal frameworks that are enforced
impartially. It also requires full protection of human rights, particularly those of
minorities. Impartial enforcement of laws requires an independent judiciary and an
impartial and incorruptible police force.
The three important benefits for both the State and its people from the sound financial
management are reflected on the above-listed characteristics of good governance. That
clearly shows a clear linkage between sound financial management and good
governance. Central to this linkage is the Batho Pele principles, equitable distribution
of quality services and the respect for human rights which are reflected on chapter two
of the Final Constitution.
2.3 Public Finance Management Act
The word budget developed from baguette or ‘small bag’ in middle French. The use of
the word spread to England, where it came to designate the leather bag in which
ministers of the crown carried financial plans to parliament, and eventually it became
51
synonymous with its contents. The use of the word in the United Kingdom now refers
to the spring financial statement, which focuses on taxation measures. In most
countries, the term refers to the annual expenditure and revenue plans tabled in the
legislature. The object of the Act is to modernise the system of financial management in
order to cater for the transformatory government. Accountability is key for good
governance. Key objectives of the Act are to:
i) Modernise the system of financial management in the public sector;
ii) Enable public sector managers to manage, but at the same time be held more
accountable;
iii) Ensure the timely provision of quality information; and
iv) Eliminate the waste and corruption in the use of public assets.
This is in line with the “Batho Pele” principles. Bringing forth an argument on quality
in the public sector is critical, as it has always been associated with the poor quality
service delivery. This scenario talks to Total Quality Management (TQM) approach.
Total quality is a description of the culture, attitude and organization of a company that
strives to provide customers with products and services that satisfy their needs. The
culture requires quality in all aspects of the company’s operations, with processes being
done right the first time and defects and waste eradicated from operations. Nayantara
Pahdi (2012) argues that to be successful in implementing TQM, an organization must
concentrate on the eight key elements:
1) Ethics
2) Integrity
3) Trust
4) Training
5) Teamwork
6) Leadership
7) Recognition
8) Communication
The above-mentioned elements of TQM can be coined as follows:
Foundation – It includes: Ethics, Integrity and Trust.
52
Building Bricks – It includes: Training, Teamwork and Leadership.
Binding Mortar – It includes: Communication.
Roof – It includes: Recognition.
Public Finance management adopted a strategy that focused on outputs replaced the
rule-driven approach of the Exchequer Acts. The adoption of the Act gave effect to
various sections of the 1996 Constitution for both National and Provincial spheres of
government. As mentioned above, the Act was adopted in order to improve financial
management in the public sector. The Act gave effect to the following sections of the
Constitution:
1) Section 213 that limits exclusions and withdrawals from the National Revenue
Fund through an Act of Parliament
2) Section 215 notes that budgets and budgetary processes must promote
transparent, accountability, and the effective financial management of the
economy, debt, and the public sector and for national legislation to prescribe
budget formats for all the spheres of government
3) Section 217 on the procurement to be in accordance with s system which is fair,
equitable, transparent , competitive and cost -effective
4) Section 218 on the conditions for the use of guarantees by a government in any
sphere
5) Section 226 that limits an exclusion from provincial revenue fund through an
Act of Parliament and
6) Sections 100 and 216 on the intervention by the national government when an
organ of fails to perform an executive function related to financial management,
and circumstances under which funds may be withheld
2.3.1 Specific chapters dealing with financial management within PFMA
There are twelve chapters within the Act those that deal specifically with finance
management. The chapters are summarised by the National Treasure as follows:
Chapter 1: This chapter deals with the definitions, objectives of the PFMA, the
departments to which it applies and a procedure for amending the Act. The Act applies
53
to the national and provincial departments, and to the entities under their control. The
definition of ownership control, national government business enterprise and public
entity determine which entities fall under the control of national and provincial
executive authority.
Chapter 2: Chapter 2 establishes National Revenue Fund (NRF) and deals with is
composition, functions, powers and responsibilities. It gives effect to section 213 of the
Constitution on the management of the NRF, any exclusion depositing money received
and the authorization required before any money can be withdrawn from the NRF.
Chapter 3: establishes provincial treasuries and deals with their composition, powers
and functions, and the management of provincial revenue funds (PRF)
Chapter 4: gives effect to section 215 of the Constitution on the timing and content of
the national and provincial budgets, and set out reporting requirements for transparency
in the implementation of a budget. It introduces the concepts of measures and
objectives, and deals with the authorization of the unauthorized expenditure
Chapter 5: ensures that Constitutional institution and national and provincial
departments appoint accounting officers, and spells out their responsibilities. It also
addresses the shifting of funds between programmes and the responsibilities of the
officials.
Chapter 6: outlines the fiduciary and the other responsibilities of the controlling
bodies. Furthermore designated by the executive authority responsible for the public
entity
Chapter 7: deals with responsibilities of the executive authorities of the departments,
and furthermore defines executive authorities such as Ministers and MEC
Chapter 8: outlines general principles of borrowing and the issuing of guarantees. It
gives effect to section 218 of the Constitution on the issuing of guarantees
Chapter 9: lists areas over which the National Treasury is empowered to issue uniform
norms and standards, and deals with the composition of audit committees.
54
Chapter 10: defines financial misconduct and lays down the procedures for
disciplining public officials guilty of financial misconduct. It also concludes provisions
for criminal prosecution in the cases of gross financial misconduct
Chapter 11: to establish Accounting Standard Board (ASB) to set accounting standards
for the public protector. The chapter outlines powers, composition and functions of the
Board.
Chapter 12: Deals with sundry matters, including exemptions and transitions of
transitional provisions.
Encapsulating these chapters within PFMA is indicative of the fact that the Act seeks to
promote accountability, openness and transparency in the management of financial
resources. The features are the pillars of a new democratic South Africa. The following
section deals with Municipal financial Management Act. The Act is key as it regulates
the transferred funds from the National Treasury to the municipalities (MFMA: 2003).
2.3.2 Local Government Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) (56 of
2003)
The municipalities budget and receive allocated funds from the National Treasury and
their finances are regulated through the Municipal Finance Management Act. The
object of the Act therefore is to secure sound and sustainable management of the fiscal
and financial affairs of municipalities and municipal entities by establishing norms and
standards and other requirements for ensuring transparency, accountability and
appropriate lines of responsibility in the fiscal and financial affairs of municipalities
and municipal entities, the management of their revenues, expenditures, assets and
liabilities and the dealings financial their handling of budgetary and financial planning
processes and the co-ordination of those processes MFMA (2003).
The manner in which National and Provincial Treasury allocates funds to the
municipalities must also be regulated hence the adoption of the Division of Revenue
Act (DORA :). The National Constitution of the country provides for the equitable
distribution of resources. That means the manner in which National Treasury allocates
funds to the municipalities should be a uniform and an equitable one hence the DORA.
55
For the departments to manage their finances effectively and efficiently budget
planning process should start before the beginning of the financial year. That means
budget planning process.
2.3.3 Budgeting
Stourm (1917: 2) argued that the budget is a document which forecasts and authorizes
the annual receipts and expenditures of the State and in most countries, the government
budget is drafted at regular intervals by the executive and tabled in the legislature for
review and approval before the beginning of the fiscal year to which it applies and that
a series of budgetary and financial management reforms in South African initiated
significant budgetary and financial reforms soon after the 1994 elections. The new
Constitution of 1996 provides for specific measures regarding the implementation of
measures to improve fiscal transparency and participation. The Constitution put
emphasis on the three spheres of government national, provincial and local and clarifies
the functions and responsibilities of each sphere. The year 1997 saw a major step
forward with the introduction of the new intergovernmental system, which required all
three spheres to develop and adopt their own budgets. That means therefore that the
said steps talked about the de-centralisation of budget.
2.3.4 Principles of good budgeting
According to Streak (2003) a good budget must reflect the following principles:
2.3.4.1 Comprehensiveness: The budget must cover all the fiscal operations of
government, encompassing all public expenditure and revenues, to enable full and
informed debate of the trade-offs between different policy options.
2.3.4.2 Predictability: Spending agencies should have certainty about their allocations
in the medium term to enable them to plan ahead. Stable funding flows support
departmental planning and efficient and effective delivery.
2.3.4.3 Contestability: No item in the budget should have an automatic claim to
funding. All policy and attached funding should be regularly reviewed and evaluated in
order to ensure prioritization and optimal performance of spending agencies.
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2.3.4.4 Transparency: All relevant information required for sound budgetary decision
making should be available in an accessible format, and in a timely and systematic
fashion. Budget information needs to be accurate, reliable and comprehensive.
2.3.4.5 Periodicity: The budget should cover a fixed period of time, typically one year,
and the process of compiling the budget should follow a clear and reliable schedule that
is agreed upon and published in advance. Source: World Bank (1998).
2.3.5 Objectives of budgeting
If resources were limitless, we could all get whatever we want from the government.
There would be no need to budget. In reality, spending needs are inevitably beyond
available funding. Governments have to make choices about the allocation of scarce
resources to meet competing needs in society. Budgeting is effective in facilitating this
process when it forces awareness of overall fiscal constraints, enables the prioritization
of spending in line with policy objectives, and supports the efficient implementation of
policies.
2.3.6 Good budget requirements
Streak (2003:7) argues that the following proposals make a good budget:
1) Allocative efficiency
2) Operational efficiency
3) Aggregate Fiscal discipline
He argued that budget totals should be the result of explicit, enforced decisions; they
should not merely accommodate spending demands and these totals should be set
before individual spending decisions are made, and should be sustainable over the
medium term and beyond and that Expenditures should be based on government
priorities and on effectiveness of public programs. The budget system should spur
reallocation from lesser to higher priorities and from less to more effective programs
and agencies should produce goods and services at a cost that achieves on-going
efficiency gains and (to the extent appropriate) is competitive with market prices
57
(Schick: 1998) and that to know the importance a good budget is key as this will always
direct people in positions always thinks and dream budget.
2.3.6.1 Aggregate Fiscal Discipline
In arguing about Aggregate fiscal discipline Streak (1993) refers to the control of the
key measures of fiscal performance, including total spending, total revenue, the
financial balance and the public debt. Fiscal discipline according to him requires that
budget totals are the result of explicit and enforced decisions, and further argues that
many factors are important for determining the appropriate total level of aggregate
spending, including available revenues, access to borrowing and the acceptable level of
the deficit and given these constraints, fiscal discipline calls for affordability of total
spending, including in the medium to long term and some countries have adopted
formal rules to ensure fiscal discipline, for example by allowing borrowing for capital
purposes only.
He further argued that a strong treasury or finance ministry can check that spending
departments do not make exaggerated claims on the budget and that they stick to their
budgets once they have been approved and that hard budget constraint on departmental
spending exists when the treasury is successful in enforcing approved budgets. As this
according to him requires comprehensive and reliable information to monitor
compliance of government departments with spending plans and that to safeguard fiscal
discipline, parliament has to resist the temptation to add new spending without
commensurate cutbacks elsewhere in the budget. He further commented that because
resources are limited, budgeting forces us to consider the merit of competing claims on
the public purse and to negotiate trade-offs between them.
2.3.6.2 Allocation efficiency
Streak (2003) also felt that the achievement of allocative efficiency or strategic
prioritization requires government capacity to allocate resources and select programs
and projects in conformity with its objectives and this process is supported where the
policy basis of the budget is stated clearly on the basis of a medium term strategy and
that Allocative efficiency is threatened where spending departments are bailed out
when they overspend, because poor budget execution can introduce substantial ad hoc
58
realignments that distort stated priorities. He further argued that such distortions often
divert resources away from the poorest and most vulnerable groups in society to cater
for the interests of bureaucracies and strong interest groups and that Parliament can
provide an important platform for public debate on the nation’s priorities. This means
the allocated funds should be spent optimally.
2.3.6.3 Operational efficiency
The last proposal for a good by Streak (2003) is Operational efficiency which he
defines as the ratio of the resources expended by government agencies to the outputs
produced or purchased by them. He further argued that spending departments should
strive to eliminate waste and produce goods and services at a cost that achieves on-
going efficiency gains and that to provide managerial incentives for operational
efficiency high level civil servants can be given performance contracts that spell out
clear objectives and targets. He further felt that , effective parliamentary scrutiny and
accountability for results can support a mind shift in spending departments from a
mentality of compliance to one of achievement and that Parliaments increasingly
consider not only the allocation of money, but also what is delivered with that money.
He further suggested that to facilitate legislative review of departmental performance
the format of the budget needs to go beyond the traditional focus on cost and inputs and
also needed is information on strategic objectives, output targets (the amounts of goods
and services to be delivered) and outcomes (the effects or impact of the activities
carried out on the community) and further feels that Parliamentary scrutiny of audit
findings also strengthens accountability for performance. The following reasons for
developing budget are critical in displaying the main benefits from a good budget:
1) Forces an organization to carefully consider the expected demand for its products
and services and resources that will be required to meet this demand;
2) Translates the organization’s higher priorities into the appropriate resources
required to achieve those priorities ;
3) Create baseline against which actual results can be compared ;
4) Highlight potential problems early in order that the corrective measures can be
taken (htt://www.defenselink.milbudgte).
59
2.3.7 Budgeting for performance
Performance budgeting has been a prominent theme in budget reform for several
decades. Such efforts have taken many forms, and success varies. One reason is that the
idea of performance budgeting is appealingly simple, but very difficult to implement in
practice. A broad definition of a performance budget is one where the budget presents
information on what departments have done or expect to do with the money provided to
them. Many countries are now providing such information as part of their budget
documentation. More strictly defined, a performance budget is only a budget that
explicitly links each increment in resources to an increment in outputs or other results.
There are very few successful examples of performance budgeting in the stricter sense.
According to Schick (1998) New Zealand is the country that has taken this approach
furthest.
2.3.8 Fiscal decentralization
Decentralization of central functions to lower level government units has become an
important element of public sector reform in recent years. It is hoped that
decentralization can promote local innovation, match services with local preferences,
and that greater accountability to local communities can achieve more efficient
provision of essential services where central government has not been able to deliver.
However, in the initial stages of decentralization, there are often capacity bottlenecks at
the sub national level. For this reason, fiscal decentralization should be complemented
with adequate oversight and accountability mechanisms to ensure that the process of
decentralization is managed optimally and to guarantee equitable access to services. For
instance, the legislature should have access to detailed spending information across
levels of government, and it should scrutinize the underpinning revenue sharing
arrangements.
2.3.9 Budgeting in South Africa
According to Statistic South Africa (2000) with an area of 1.22 million square
kilometres and a population of 44.8 million in 2000, the Republic of South Africa is the
largest economy in Africa and that in spite of this relative wealth the country is
characterized by a striking dualism due to decades of apartheid rule and the distribution
60
of income in South Africa is highly skewed as about 13% of the population live in "first
world" conditions, while the vast majority live in typical 'third world ‘conditions,
characterized by low levels of education, chronic malnutrition, high mortality rates,
disease and abject poverty and as a result income distribution is also highly uneven
from a regional perspective. The example is one of the nine provinces, Gauteng, with a
population share of only 18% accounts for approximately 41, 6% of the country’s gross
domestic product (Stats SA: 2000)
According to IDASA (2003) the racial profile of South Africa's formal business sector
continues to resemble that of the pre-1994 era and apartheid public budgets allocated a
disproportionately small amount of the national budget towards education, health,
housing and basic needs of black South Africans and that a key objective of the 1994
democratic government was to democratize state institutions, redress inequality and
extend services to the broader population. The 1996 Constitution of South Africa, and
the 1993 Interim Constitution, which preceded it, provided the legislative framework
for the new budgetary system.
South Africa's first democratic election in April 1994 ushered in a new chapter in the
country's history, allowing the previously excluded 80% of the population to vote for
the first time. One of the serious challenges that faced the new government was the
need to reprioritize existing budget resources and service delivery from tertiary services
for middle-class white people in cities towards primary services for low-income black
people in the rural areas in the provinces. In order to meet this challenge the entire
budgetary system had to be reformed. This has entailed the designing and
implementation of a new public financial management system, collation and
publication of substantially improved budgetary information, enhanced accountability
of civil servants and provision for the participation of civil society in the budgetary
processes.
The new unitary system of government has three distinctive, interrelated and
interdependent spheres, with significant decentralization of powers, functions and
budgeting processes. The Constitution entrenches 'co-operative governance', obliging
the three spheres of government to co-operate and to negotiate political and budgeting
issues between them. Numerous intergovernmental forums, including the Budget
Council and the Budget Forum facilitate consultation around the budget process. Given
61
the regional imbalances in income distribution, South Africa's fiscal system is based on
a revenue-sharing model, with most of the nine provinces receiving more funds than
they raise through national taxes (DORA:1995).
In terms of DORA (1995most municipalities are highly dependent on national transfers
although to a lesser extent than provinces. The South African Constitution divides
functions between the three spheres of Government. Some functions are shared
(concurrent) and others are exclusive. The provincial sphere performs functions like
school education, health and social grants, which do not lend themselves to substantial
cost recovery, but account for a substantial proportion of public spending. Provinces
only raise about 4% of their own revenue.
The Treasury Department advocated zero budgeting in its formative years to address
the problems identified with incremental budgeting which was being practiced then.
Under incremental budgeting, each agency simply adjusts each line item by a given
percentage to account for inflation in compiling its budget for the coming year.
Under spending was particularly common in respect of new programmes, which took
longer to set up than envisaged, and in respect of capital expenditure. With the latter,
agencies often budgeted in one year for the full amount of project that spanned several
years out of fear that they would not get the necessary money in later years. They were,
however, unable physically to implement the project within the space of twelve months.
The result was a multitude of requests for rollovers and inadequate control of flows
(Hoddinott, et al. 2001). The introduction of the new constitution in 1997
fundamentally changed the budgeting process in South Africa. Previously, budgets
were centrally allocated to each sector or function and the allocation of the overall
budget between the national and provincial departments were determined by a
Committee (Treasury: 1998).
2.3.9.1 Medium Term Expenditure framework (South African budgeting strategy)
The Department of Finance (2008) argued that since the introduction of the new
constitution, budgets are allocated to the National, Provincial and Local spheres of
government and each province has the authority to determine their own preferences in
allocating budgets to different functions or sectors and in addition to these
62
constitutional changes, there have also been changes in the key 'actors' within the
budgeting process and that the Department of Finance (DoF) has assumed the dominant
role in the budgeting process together with the Provincial Treasuries.
The Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) was introduced in 1997, at the
preparatory stages of the 1998/9 national and provincial government's budget (IDASA:
2003) and that spending agencies were required to prepare 3-year budget plans in line
with the government’s new MTEF when preparing budgets for the 1998/99 financial
year as this would enable government and its agencies should plan programmes and
budgets on a three-year rolling basis. IDASA (2003) argues that the three-year envelope
in principle allows for longer-term planning at both the macroeconomic and sectoral
levels and the incorporation of longer-term projects, in particular infrastructure projects
and phased reprioritisation and it provides the opportunity for agencies to phase in new
projects and accommodated delays in start-up.
Thus, the MTEF was seen as a mechanism for ensuring that spending agencies
explicitly consider how to match planned spending with their policy priorities, and for
promoting integration of the planning and budgeting processes. The advantages of
budgeting over a longer time horizon, rather than the traditional annual budget, were
summarised by the Presidential Review Commission (1998: 26) as follows:
1) Permits policy development to be linked with resources over time
2) Creates a predictable medium term planning environment
3) Provides a framework for assessing priorities
4) Promotes the credibility of the fiscal strategy by, inter alia, making explicit the
assumptions on which projections and prioritisation is based. Under the MTEF, the
phases of the budget cycle are presented in figure 2.1 below. The spending agencies
are required to prepare 3-year budgets under 2 scenarios:
i) A 'no-growth' scenario - which requires agencies to consider how they would
stay within the previous year's budget allocation (i.e. if new programmes are to
be introduced, they have to consider what existing programmes will be
downscaled and/or where efficiency gains could be achieved); and
ii) 'needs-based' or 'zero-based' budget - which requires agencies to cost current
activities which they wish to maintain, the expansion of existing programmes
63
and new programmes which they wish to implement. These preliminary budget
estimates are submitted to the provincial treasuries (in the case of provincial
spending agencies) and to the national DoF and DSE (in the case of national
spending agencies) for consideration. The third stage of the budget process is
determining the guideline or indicative allocations to the different spheres of
government (i.e. national, provincial and local government) and within each
sphere (e.g. the allocation to individual provinces from the total amount set
aside for provincial budgets). These allocations are respectively called the
'vertical' and 'horizontal'divisions.The MTEF has since undergone several
transformation since introduced, allowing for inter-governmental coordination
of plans, accountability and transparency.
Figure 2.3 below shows budget cycle with the introduction of MTEF.
Figure 2. 3
March March - May
January June – August
November - December September-
November
January- March October –December
Figure. 2.3: Medium Term Expenditure Framework depicted from: National Treasury South Africa (2008)
Medium Term Fiscal Framework Developed by DoF for cabinet. Revenue and spending
estimates based on GEAR targets
9. National Budget presented to
Parliament and provincial budget to
provincial legislature
5. Sectoral MTEP teams review
Expenditure models and develop
conditional grant proposals
2. National and Provincial spending
agencies prepare and submit 3-year
budget plans
8. Final MTEP submitted to Budget
Council.
4. National and Provincial MTEPs
Consolidated.
6. Draft MTEP submitted to Budget
Council National and Cabinet: Vertical
and horizontal division finalized
3. Vertical and horizontal divisions and
indicative allocations determined.
7. National and Provincial
MTEFs finalized
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Generic budget cycle has been adopted by IDASA (2003) in order to show how the
South African budget perspective through MTEF differs to the generic budget cycle. It
includes the following stages:
Step 1: Formulation of budget, Here the authoritative branch of government puts
together the budget plan.
Step 2: Enactment of budget: debates about budget start and the alterations are made
after which the budget gets approved by the legislative branch of government;
Step 3: Execution of budget: policies are implemented by government
Step 4: Auditing and assessment of budget: approved budget will be audited and
assessed. Accountability process and feedback starts in order to check its effectiveness.
Four stages of a generic budget cycle are reflected on figure 2.4 below:
Figure 2.4: Budget stages: Depicted from (IDASA: 2003)
Step 1
Budget
Formulation
Step 2
Budget
Enactment
Step 3
Budget
Executing
Step 4
Budget
AUditing
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2.3.10 Conclusion
Budgets are regularly produced financial plans of the government comprising revenues
and expenditures of the state. They should be comprehensive and transparent and
ensure funding predictability for government departments. Public resources are always
limited and inevitably fall short of meeting all the needs of society. For this reason the
budget process is used to assess competing claims on the budget and to facilitate
difficult trade-offs. Meeting this challenge successfully requires that budgeting
achieves and maintains fiscal discipline, the strategic prioritization of public funds, as
well as sound operational management. Fiscal policy is the means by which a
government adjusts its levels of spending in order to monitor and influence a nation's
economy. It is the sister strategy to monetary policy with which a central bank
influences a nation's money supply. These two policies are used in various
combinations in an effort to direct a country's economic goals. Here we take a look at
how fiscal policy works, how it must be monitored and how its implementation may
affect different people in an economy. It has been noted that by using a mixture of both
monetary and fiscal policies governments are able to control economic phenomena.
2.4 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
2.4.1 Introduction
Human resource management (HRM) decisions are likely to have an important and
unique influence on organizational performance. The study therefore advances study on
the link between personnel performance as in line with the organizational performance.
Personnel management means the system used to assess the performance of the staff.
Hence William’s (2002:1) argument that performance management is one that focuses
on the individual and which for the most part is essentially an evolutionary extension or
traditional appraisal practice. Defining and describing these two concepts is key in
isolating critical aspects of the whole process of performance management.
He further argues that performance management also applies to teams and
organizations, as well and that organizational performance involves the recurring
activities to establish organizational goals, monitor progress toward the goals, and make
adjustments to achieve those goals more effectively and efficiently. Those recurring
66
activities are much of what leaders and managers inherently do in their organizations
and some of them do it far better than others (Carter McNamara:2006).Performance
management also is critical in creating good work environment, so that people are able
to perform highly ( Heathfield, 2006:17).
The rationale behind performance management highlights mentioned supra is that there
is a direct link between the performance management of the people and the
performance management of the organization. That means the more performance
management of the organization is done accurately the more conducive the
environment for the personnel to work and be productive. This chapter therefore deals
about the factors contributing to the effective organizational performance measurement
and purpose, organizational performance improvement models (systems), legislative
framework surrounding performance management.
2.4.2 Organizational Performance Systems
McNamara (2006) argues that various approaches listed below can improve
organizational performance if they are implemented comprehensively and remain
focused on organizational results and all of them are designed to serve a specific
purpose such as regular recurring activities to establish organizational goals, monitor
progress toward the goals, and make adjustments to achieve those goals more
effectively and efficiently depending on the nature of He further felt that these
approaches become integrated into the overall recurring management systems in the
organization and they are:
2.4.2.1 Balanced score card
Focuses on four indicators, including customer perspective, internal-business processes,
learning and growth and financials, to monitor progress toward organization's strategic
goals.
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Figure 2.5 below is a balanced score card:
Figure 2.5 Typical example of a balanced scorecard: depicted from (IDASA: 2003)
Figure 2.5 above shows four important perspectives of a balance scorecard framework.
The first step in the balance scorecard framework is to analyze these four perspectives.
However, balanced scorecard does not end there, it goes further. Balanced scorecard
also develops metrics and methods for collecting data to calculate them. After data is
collected and metrics calculated, each of the four perspectives can be analyzed relative
to each other.
1) Customer perspective,
2) Internal-business processes,
3) Learning and growth,
4) Financials.
2.4.2.2 Benchmarking
Using standard measurements in a service or industry for comparison to other
organizations in order to gain perspective on organizational performance. For example,
there are emerging standard benchmarks for universities, hospitals, etc. In and of itself,
this is not an overall comprehensive process assured to improve performance; rather the
Learning and
growth
Objectives
Measure
Target
Initiative
Finance
Objectives
Measure
Target
Initiative
Customer
Objectives
Measure
Target
Initiative
Vision and Strategy
International Business
Objectives
Measure
Target
Initiative
68
results from benchmark comparisons can be used in more overall processes. It is often
perceived as a quality initiative.
2.4.2 3 Business Process Reengineering
Aims to increase performance by radically re-designing the organization's structures
and processes, including by starting over from the ground up.
2.4.2.4 Continuous Improvement
Focuses on improving customer satisfaction through continuous and incremental
improvements to processes, including by removing unnecessary activities and
variations. Continuous improvement is often perceived as a quality initiative.
2.4.2.5 Cultural Change
Cultural change is a form of organizational transformation, that is, radical and
fundamental form of change. Cultural change involves changing the basic values,
norms, beliefs, etc., among members of the organization.
2.4.2.6 ISO9000
Is an internationally recognized standard of quality, and includes guidelines to
accomplish the ISO9000 standard. Organizations can be optionally audited to earn
ISO9000 certification. Another major quality standard is the
2.4.2.7 Knowledge Management
Focuses on collection and management of critical knowledge in an organization to
increase its capacity for achieving results. Knowledge management often includes
extensive use of computer technology. In and of itself, this is not an overall
comprehensive process assured to improve performance. Its effectiveness toward
reaching overall results for the organization depends on how well the enhanced, critical
knowledge is applied in the organization.
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2.4.2.8 Learning Organization
Focuses on enhancing organizations systems (including people) to increase an
organization's capacity for performance. Includes extensive use of principles of systems
theory. In and of it, this is not an overall comprehensive process assured to improve
performance. Its effectiveness toward reaching overall results for the organization
depends on how well the enhanced ability to learn is applied in the organization.
2.4.2.9 Management by Objectives (MBO)
Aims to align goals and subordinate objectives throughout the organization. Ideally,
employees get strong input to identifying their objectives, time lines for completion,
etc. Includes ongoing tracking and feedback in process to reach objectives. MBO's are
often perceived as a form of planning.
2.4.2.10 Outcome-Based Evaluation (particularly for nonprofits)
Outcomes-based evaluation is increasingly used, particularly by nonprofit
organizations, to assess the impact of their services and products on their target
communities. The process includes identifying preferred outcomes to accomplish with a
certain target market, associate indicators as measures for each of those outcomes and
then carry out the measures to assess the extent of outcomes reached.
2.4.2.11 Program Evaluation
Program evaluation is used for a wide variety of applications, e.g., to increase
efficiencies of program processes and thereby cut costs, to assess if program goals were
reached or not, to quality programs for accreditation, etc.
2.4.2.12 Strategic Planning
Organization-wide process to identify strategic direction, including vision, mission,
values and overall goals. Direction is pursued by implementing associated action plans,
including multi-level goals, objectives, time lines and responsibilities. Strategic
planning is, of course, a form of planning.
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2.4.2.13 Total Quality Management (TQM)
Set of management practices throughout the organization to ensure the organization
consistently meets or exceeds customer requirements. Strong focus on process
measurement and controls as means of continuous improvement. TQM is a quality
initiative. The above-listed approaches are important for the high performance of the
organization if they are utilized optimally. Figure 2.6 above is typical example of a
balanced scorecard. The following part of the study focuses on the rationale behind
performance measurement and its definition, various performance indicators, relevant
pieces of legislation regulating performance management and performance
measurement, planning-budgeting and reporting interaction in the performance
management.
2.4.3 Performance management and purpose
Fundamental purpose behind measures is to improve performance. Measures that are
not directly connected to improving performance (like measures that are directed at
communicating better with the public to build trust) are measures that are means to
achieving that ultimate purpose (Behn: 2003). Behn (2003) further gives 8 reasons for
adopting performance measurements and they are:
2.4.3.1 To Evaluate
During evaluation the questions on how well a public agency is performing is asked.
To evaluate performance, managers need to determine what an agency is supposed to
accomplish (Kravchuk & Schack 1996). He further argues that evaluation processes
consist of two variables: organizational performance data and a benchmark that creates
a framework for analysing that data. For organizational information, focus on the
outcomes of the agency’s performance, but also including input/ environment/ process/
output- to have a comparative framework for analysis. It is helpful to ask 4 essential
questions in determining organizational data:
1) Outcomes should be directly related to the public purpose of the organization.
Effectiveness Q: did they produce required results (determined by outcomes).
2) Cost-effective: efficiency Q (outcome divided by input).
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3) Impact Q: what value organization provides.
4) Best-practice Q: evaluating internal operations (compare core process performance
to most effective and efficient process in the industry).
2.4.3.2 To Control
Kaplan (1996) argues that today managers do not control their workforce mechanically
they still use measures to control, while allowing some space for freedom in the
workforce and that business has control bias. He further feels that because traditional
measurement system sprung from finance function, the system has a control bias. And
that organization create measurement systems that specify particular actions they want
execute- for branch employees to take a particular ways to execute what they want-
branch to spend money. Then they want to measure to see whether the employees have
in fact taken those actions.
2.4.3.3 To Budget
Budgets are crude tools in improving performance. Poor performance not always may
change after applying budgets cuts as a disciplinary action. Sometimes budgets increase
could be the answer to improving performance. Like purchasing better technology
because the current ones are outdated and harm operational processes. So for decisions
highly influenced by circumstance, you need measures to better understand the
situation. At the macro level, elected officials deciding which purpose of government
actions are primary or secondary. Political priorities drive macro budgetary choices.
Once elected officials have established macro political priorities, those responsible for
micro decisions may seek to invest their limited allocation of resources in the most
cost-effective units and activities.
In allocating budgets, managers, in response to macro budget allocations (driven by
political objectives), determine allocations at the micro level by using measures of
efficiency of various activities, which programs or organizations are more efficient at
achieving the political objectives. Why spend limited funds on programs that do not
guarantee exceptional performance? Efficiency is determined by observing
performance- output and outcome achieved considering number of people involved in
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the process (productivity per person) and cost-data (capturing direct cost as well as
indirect).
2.4.3.4 To Motivate
Giving people significant goals to achieve and then use performance measures-
including interim targets- to focus people’s thinking and work, and to provide periodic
sense of accomplishment. Performance targets may also encourage creativity in
developing better ways to achieve the goal (Behn: 2003). Thus measure to motivate
improvements may also motivate learning. Almost-real-time output (faster, the better)
compared with production targets. Quick response required to provide fast feed-back so
workforce could improve and adapt. Also it is able to provide how workforce currently
performing. Primary aim behind the measures should be output, managers cannot
motivate people to affect something over which they have little or no influence. Once
an agency’s leaders have motivated significant improvements using output targets, they
can create some outcomes targets.
2.4.3.5 To Celebrate
Organizations need to commemorate their accomplishments- such ritual tie their people
together, give them a sense of their individual and collective relevance. Moreover, by
achieving specific goals, people gain sense of personal accomplishment and self-worth
(Locke & Latham: 1984). Links from measurement to celebration to improvement is
indirect, because it has to work through one of the likes- motivation, learning.
Celebration helps to improve performance because it brings attention to the agency, and
thus promotes its competence- it attracts resources. Learning-sharing between people
about their accomplishments and how they achieved it. Significant performance targets
that provide sense of personal and collective accomplishment. Targets could ones used
to motivate. In order for celebration to be a success and benefits to be reality managers
need to ensure that celebration creates motivation and thus improvements.
2.4.3.6 To Promote
How can public managers convince political superiors, legislators, stakeholders,
journalists, and citizens that their agency is doing a good job. (National Academy of
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Public administration’s centre for improving government performance- NAPA 1999)
performance measures can be used to: validate success; justifying additional resources;
earn customers, stakeholder, and staff loyalty by showing results; and win recognition
inside and outside the organisation. Indirectly promote competence and value of
government in general. To convince citizens their agency is doing good, managers need
easily understood measures of those aspects of performance about which many citizens
personally care.(“National Academy of Public Administration-NAPA” in its study of
early performance-measurement plans under the government performance and results
Act) most plans recognized the need to communicate performance evaluation results to
higher level officials, but did not show clear recognition that the form and level of data
for these needs would be different than that for operating managers. Different needs:
Department head/ Executive Office of President/ Congress. NAPA suggested for those
needs to be more explicitly defined- (Kaplan & Norton 1994) stress that different
customers have different concerns (1992).
2.4.3.7 To Learn
Learning is involved with some process, of analysis information provided from
evaluating corporate performance (identifying what works and what does not). By
analysing that information, corporation able to learn reasons behind its poor or good
performance. However if there is too many performance measures, managers strength
will not be able to learn anything. Neves of National Academy of Public
Administration (1986) felt that:
1) Because of rapid increase of performance measures there is more confusion or
“noise” than useful data.
2) Managers lack time or simply find it too difficult to try to identify good signals
from mass of numbers. Also there is an issue of “black box” enigma (data can
reveal that organization is performing well or poorly, but they don’t necessarily
reveal why). Performance measures can describe what is coming out of “black box”
as well as what is going in, but they do not reveal what is happening inside. How
are various inputs interacting to produce the output. What more complex is outcome
with “black box” being all value chain. Benchmarking is a traditional form of
performance measurement which facilitates learning by providing assessment of
organisational performance and identifying possible solutions for improvements.
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Benchmarking can facilitate transfer of .knowhow from benchmarked organisations
(Kouzmin: 1999). Identifying core process in organisation and measuring their
performance is basic to benchmarking. Those actions probably provide answer to
issue presented in purpose section of the learning.
2.4.3.8 To Improve
In order for corporation to measure what it wants to improve it first need to identify
what it will improve and develop processes to accomplish that. Also you need to have a
feedback loop to assess compliance with plans to achieve improvements and to
determine if those processes created forecasted results (improvements). Improvement
process also related to learning process in identifying places that are need
improvements. Develop understanding of relationships inside the “black box” that
connect changes in operations to changes in output and outcome. Understanding “black
box” processes and their interactions.
2.4.4 Principles of performance measurement
IDASA (2003) puts forth about eight (8) principles of performance measurement and
they are as follows:
1) Work that is not measured or assessed cannot be managed because there is no
objective information to determine its value. Therefore it is assumed that this work
is inherently valuable regardless of its outcomes. The best that can be accomplished
with this type of activity is to supervise a level of effort.
2) Unmeasured work should be minimized or eliminated.
3) Desired performance outcomes must be established for all measured work.
4) Outcomes provide the basis for establishing accountability for results rather than
just requiring a level of effort.
5) Desired outcomes are necessary for work evaluation and meaningful performance
appraisal.
6) Defining performance in terms of desired results is how managers and supervisors
make their work assignments operational.
7) Performance reporting and variance analyses must be accomplished frequently.
8) Frequent reporting enables timely corrective action.
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9) Timely corrective action is needed for effective management control.
2.4.4.1 Common problems with measurement systems that limit their usefulness
1) Heavy reliance on summary data that emphasizes averages and discounts outliers.
2) Heavy reliance on historical patterns and reluctance to accept new structural
changes (or re-design of processes) that are capable of generating different outcomes,
like measuring the time it takes them to do a task.
3) Heavy reliance on gross aggregates that tend to understate or ignore distributional
contributions and consequences.
4) Heavy reliance on static, e.g., equilibrium, analysis and slight attention to time-
based and growth ones, such as value-added measures
2.4.4.2 Performance indicators
A performance indicator refers to any piece of information that serves the purpose of
measuring or indicating the level of performance or success achieved by an activity,
group of people, or facilities. Performance indicators generally consist of quantitative
information rather than subjective descriptions such as "good" or "bad”. Performance
indicators are used not only in accounting, but every type of information systems. For
example, a maintenance management may use a performance indicator such as "mean
time between failures" to measure performance how well the maintenance function is
able to reduce machine failures.
In accounting the most commonly used performance indicator is profit. But for
effective management in an organization we need to measure performance of not just
the final result such as the profit but also of activities that contribute and lead to the
final profit. Thus we may need to measure performance of activities such as purchase,
production, inventory, manpower productivity, capital cost, maintenance cost, and so
many others. Depending upon what activities needs to be planned and controlled more
closely we need to develop and choose appropriate performance indicators.
Performance indicator however must meet the following requirements as been laid
down by the National Treasury office (2007). In terms of the Treasury requirements of
the performance indicators, they must meet the following standards:
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1) Reliable : the indicator must be accurate and flexible in terms of responding to
the changes in the level of performance;
2) Well defined : they must be clear, unambiguous definition to show consistent
collection of data;
3) Verifiable: must be possible to validate the process and systems that produce the
indicator;
4) Cost effective, the usefulness of the indicator must justify the costs of
collecting data
5) Appropriate: must avoid unintended consequences and must enhance service
delivery improvement; and
6) Relevant : must relate logically and directly to an aspect of the mandate and the
realization of the objectives and goals of the organization
2.5 POLICY AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK IN SOUTH AFRICA
The White Paper on Local Government (1998) proposed the introduction of
Performance Management Systems (PMS) for local government as a tool to monitor the
progress of service delivery at local government level. Two years later, in 2000, the
Municipal Systems Act of 2000, required local governments to develop a PMS. It
concluded that Integrated Development Planning, Budgeting and Performance
management are powerful aspects that can help municipalities to develop an integrated
perspective on development in their area. It is against this background that a policy
document for developing and implementing a PMS for the Local Municipalities should
be viewed. The purpose of the policy document is to (within the legal framework of the
Municipal Systems Act) develop a performance management framework.
Legislative enactments which govern performance management in municipalities are
found in the Batho Pele Principles; the White Paper on Local Government; Municipal
Systems Act, 2000; Municipal Planning and Performance Management Regulations,
2001; Municipal Finance Management Act 2003; Municipal Performance Regulations
for Municipal Managers and Managers Directly Accountable to Municipal Managers,
2006; the Framework on Managing Performance Information and lastly the Directive
on Performance Information of the Public Audit Act, 2004 published under Notice 646
of 2007. Although it is not considered necessary to go into detail in respect of all the
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legislation it is important to give a brief overview of the most important legislative
provisions set out in:
1) The Municipal Systems Act No. 32 of 2000
2) The Municipal Planning and Performance Management Regulations of 2001
3) The Municipal Finance Management Act No. 56 of 2003; and
4) The Municipal Performance Regulations for Municipal Managers and Managers
Directly Accountable to Municipal Managers of 2006.
Summaries of the provisions relating to organisational performance management are
therefore set out hereunder.
The Municipal Systems Act, 32 of 2000
Chapter 6 of the Municipal Systems Act (2000) provides briefly that a municipality
must:
1) Develop a performance management system (PMS);
2) Promote a performance culture;
3) Administer its affairs in an economical, effective, efficient and accountable manner;
4) Set Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) as a yardstick for measuring performance;
5) Set targets to monitor and review the performance of the municipality based on
indicators linked to their IDP;
6) Monitor and review performance at least once per year;
7) Take steps to improve performance;
8) Report on performance to relevant stakeholders;
9) Publish an annual performance report on performance of the municipality forming
part of its annual report as per the provisions of the Municipal Finance Management
Act of 2003;
10) Incorporate and report on a set of general (sometimes also referred to as national)
indicators prescribed by the national Minister of Provincial and Local Government;
11) Conduct an internal audit of all performance measures on a continuous basis;
12) Have their annual performance report audited by the Auditor-General; and
13) Involve the community in setting indicators and targets and in reviewing municipal
performance.
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Sections 55 to 58 of the Municipal Systems Act further outline the provisions on the
employment and functions of the Municipal Manager and Managers directly
accountable to the Municipal Manager.
The Municipal Planning and Performance Management Regulations of 2001
In summary the Regulations provide that a municipality’s Performance Management
System must:
1) Entail a framework that describes and represents how the municipality’s cycle and
process of performance management, including measurement, review, reporting and
improvement, will be conducted;
2) Comply with the requirements of the Municipal Systems Act;
3) Relate to the municipality’s employee performance management processes and be
linked to the municipality’s IDP; and that: A municipality must:
4) Set key performance indicators (KPI’s) including input, output and outcome
indicators in consultation with communities;
5) Annually review its Key Performance Indicators;
6) Set performance targets for each financial year;
7) Measure and report on the nine nationally prescribed KPI’s;
8) Report on performance to Council at least twice a year;
9) As part of its internal audit process audit the results of performance measurement;
10) Appoint a performance audit committee; and
11) Provide secretarial support to the said audit committee.
The Municipal Finance Management Act, 56 of 2003 (MFMA)
The Municipal Finance Management Act also contains various important provisions
relating to performance management. In terms of the Act all municipalities must:
Annually adopt a service delivery and budget implementation plan with service
delivery targets and performance indicators; when considering and approving the
annual budget, set measurable performance targets for revenue from each source and
for each vote in the budget; empower the Executive Mayor or Executive Committee to
approve the Service Delivery and Budget Implementation Plan and the Performance
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Agreements of the Municipal Managers and the Managers directly accountable to the
Municipal Manager; and compile an annual report, which must, amongst others things,
include the municipality’s performance report compiled in terms of the Municipal
Systems Act.
The Municipal Systems Act and the Municipal Finance Management Act require that
the PMS be reviewed annually in order to align itself with the reviewed Integrated
Development Plan (IDP). In consequence of the reviewed organisational performance
management system it then becomes necessary to also amend the scorecards of the
Municipal Manager and Section 57 Managers in line with the cascading effect of
performance management from the organisational to the departmental and eventually to
employee levels.
Municipal Performance Regulations for Municipal Managers and Managers
Directly Accountable to Municipal Managers of 2006.
This legislation regulates the management of the Section 57 employees of a
municipality by providing an outline of employment contracts, performance
agreements, performance plans, employee development and empowerment 7 measures
and performance evaluation processes. These regulations further provide criteria for
performance assessment and the 5-point rating upon which performance of an
individual need to be scored during the assessment and evaluation.
Objectives of Performance Management
The objectives of institutionalizing performance management are beyond the legislative
compliance requirements. The general objectives of managing performance are to:
1) facilitate increased accountability;
2) facilitate learning and improvement;
3) provide early warning signals; and
4) facilitate decision-making processes (Systems Act:2000)
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Benefits of Performance Management
The Systems Act (2000) also highlights the benefits of adopting a performance
management system as beneficial as it identifies major or systematic blockages on time,
ensures accountability between residents, the political leadership and the administration
of the Municipality, and provides early warning signals so that corrective action can be
taken on a regular basis.
Principles to Guide the Development and Implementation of Performance
Management System
i) In terms of the Systems Act (2000) the municipality in developing the system,
guided by the following principles:
ii) Both development and implementation of the system must be driven by top
management and council;
iii) The system must be owned by all relevant stakeholders within the municipality
and supported by other spheres of government;
iv) Communication must occur at all levels;
v) The value of having the PMS must be understood by all role players and
stakeholders;
vi) The system must place the community at the centre of the local government
processes;
vii) The system should not be punitive, but be developmental;
viii) The system must be developed and implemented within the available
Planning, budgeting and reporting cycle in performance measurement
In terms of the PFMA (2003) Planning, budgeting and reporting or feedback is closely
related and these processes are led by the executive authority. Feedback or reporting is
what is required and must be done at the end of each stage. This section sets out an
overarching framework that explains the links between planning, budgeting and
reporting for provincial departments and the relationship between the different
documents that provincial departments are expected to produce in relation to each of
these processes. The critical challenge facing all provincial departments is to ensure
that strategic planning is developed and synchronised with the entire planning,
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budgeting, monitoring and reporting framework that the PFMA seeks to put in place.
Another challenge is to ensure that the provincial department’s plans are formulated
within the top-down frameworks set by overarching national and sectoral plans, the
individual province’s own position statements or plans, as well as the bottom-up
information coming from district offices, and the Integrated Development Plans. (IDPs)
developed by local government.
Figure 2.6
Figure 2.6: Planning, budgeting and reporting cycle (depicted from National Treasury 2007)
Answerability reports
All departments must report on their performance as set out in their plans. This means
they are expected to account on whether why and how they failed to perform as per the
set standards. National departments must develop and submit accountability reports to
parliament every year. The following documents are the types of accountability reports
that these department submit to parliament:
1) Strategic plans
2) Corporate plans
3) Operational plans
Institution
National department
Provincial department
Municipality/Public entity
End-Year reporting
Policy development
Operational planning and
reporting
Implementation
and In-year reporting
Oversight
by parliament and other
relevant bodies
Strategic planning
Identify desired impacts
Specify performance
indicators
Set targets and allocate
resources
Monitor and take
corrective action
Assess and adjust
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4) Budgets
5) Performance agreements
6) Monthly budget reports
7) Quarterly performance reports and
8) Annual reports
These reports are key in a democratic state where the government is responsible for
ensuring that people get feedback, and this will help the electorates hold government
accountable. The above-mentioned documents also vital to assisting management to get
information that is vital in all the stages of planning, budgeting and reporting cycle.
This process of utilising the said information can help in adopting a result-based
approach in order to manage service delivery.
2.6 Conclusion
In choosing the right areas to be covered by performance indicators is also necessary to
design the most appropriate way of measuring performance in a given area. One very
technique used to improve the utility of performance indicators is to use ratios. For
example, though a manager is very much interested in knowing the total profit earned
by the unit managed by him or her, this information alone is not enough to decide if this
profit is adequate or not. A small profit of half a million dollar on a sales turnover two
million dollar may mean better performance than a larger profit of one million dollar
earned on ten million dollars. The ratio enables us to compare and contrast
meaningfully different things. It is like being able to compare meaningfully apples with
oranges. One of the most commonly used performance indicator using the concept of
ratio is "efficiency". In accounting, it is possible to develop and use many more useful
ratios. Some of the other commonly used ratio include, margin of profit on turnover,
rate of return on capital employed, and inventory turnover ratio.
2.7 MONITORING AND EVALUATION IN GOVERNMENT
Assessment and evaluation are used inter-exchangeable by various authors. As the
study is focused on the assessment of service delivery performance, the world
evaluation is used in the place of assessment. This means the process of monitoring and
evaluation will be interrogated. Monitoring and evaluation are always used as twins as
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they complement one another in the processes and programmes of government. Ejeoma
(2008:74) argues that monitoring and evaluation are imperative for systematically
appraising progress during and after the Implementation of government programmes
and projects. Planning, monitoring and evaluation come together as Result Based
Management (RBM).It is defined as “a broad management strategy aimed at achieving
improved performance and demonstrable results, and has been adopted by many
multilateral development organizations, bilateral development agencies and public
administrations throughout the world (United Nations Development Programme: 2007).
As much as many argue that there is thin line between monitoring and evaluation
processes, Ijeoma (2010:350) gives a clear distinction between these two concepts.
Table 2.7 below illustrates differences between monitoring and evaluation:
MONITORING EVALUATION /ASSESSMENT
Clarifies programme objectives Assesses why intended results were not achieved
Links activities and their resources to
objectives
Assesses specific causal contributions of activities to
results
Translate objectives into performance
indicators and set targets
Examine the implementation process
Routinely collects data on these indicators
and compares actual results with targets
Explores unintended results
Reports progress to managers and alerts
them to problems
Provides lessons., highlights accomplishments or
potential and offers recommendations
Collects basic information overtime-
constant methods
Analyses information in-depth –various methods
Figure 2.7 Differences between monitoring and evaluation: depicted from Ijeoma (2010:350)
2.7.1 General overview and evolutionary stages of monitoring and evaluation
Each monitoring and evaluation activity has a purpose. The importance on monitoring
and evaluation is that when done and used correctly, they strengthen the basis for
managing for results, foster learning and knowledge generation in the organization as
well as the broader development and evaluation community, and support the public
accountability (UNDP:2007). Learning according to Edmunds (2008:8) means the
process of analysis which in turn requires the existence of relevant information or
evidence on which to base the analysis. Monitoring however is not static. It evolves
over time. Marchant (2008:9) argues that a fully evolved monitoring and evaluation
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system is much more than simply a means of tracking and measuring performance and
outcomes, it is a central component of the process of management for results.
Monitoring and Evaluation according to him is a cyclical process to management.
Three phases of the said cycle include:
1) Planning : articulation of strategic choices in the light of the past performance
2) Implementation: on-going performance monitoring and periodic evaluation and
provide opportunities for learning and adjustment; as well as
3) Reporting on the results: used for both internal and external managements purposes
and in internal accountability to stakeholders including, in particular civil society.
2.7.2 Evolution of Monitoring and Evaluation
As mentioned earlier evolved monitoring and evaluation became a central component
of management for results, Edmunds (2008:19) goes further and defined four stages of
the evolving monitoring and evaluation. These phases are discussed briefly below:
2.7.2.1 Beginnings: 1970s
1) M&E is essentially project-based.
2) Common practice for larger projects each to maintain their own individual M&E
unit.
3) Main purpose of M&E to serve as a management tool to provide timely feedback
and give warning whether the project is on track or not. Focus of interest on the
monitoring of inputs and outputs -largely extracted from administrative records.
4) The need to establish and document the baseline situation is recognised. Usually
done using a baseline household survey - an activity which they were in most cases
ill-equipped to undertake.
2.7.2.2 Expanding Horizons: 1980s
1) Shift in focus from the “project” to Sector Wide Approaches (SWAPs)
2) Re-centering of many M&E activities from the project level to the sectoral level.
Monitoring and evaluation become functions of sectoral ministries and appropriate
M&E units established at the Ministry level.
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3) Results-based management gains popularity.
4) Shift in emphasis away from the monitoring of inputs and outputs to the
measurement of “results” –a much more difficult task involving collection of data
from the beneficiaries themselves.
5) Need to call on a much wider range of data tools and sources, including surveys and
beneficiary interviews.
6) Level of expertise and training that is not generally available in project M&E units
– or even in the M&E units of sector ministries.
7) New players with more technical expertise become involved, including NSO.
8) Initial NSO contribution was disappointing. Statistical offices were on the whole
overextended and under-resourced, lacked adaptability, and failed to rise adequately
to the challenge.
9) Whilst their data could make a contribution to the monitoring and evaluation of the
overall performance of national and sectoral development programmes, they were
generally not specific enough to be helpful in measuring the outcome of focused
sectoral development interventions.
2.7.2.3 Arrival of poverty monitoring: 1990s
Growing concern about the issue of poverty. A new branch of monitoring activity was
required poverty monitoring, built around the tracking of living standards with a view
to anticipating the direction in which they would likely move as a result of
macroeconomic policy. Only the National Statistics Office had the capacity to
undertake such large-scale national household surveys, but even then in most cases they
did not have the capacity to analyse them. Establishment of national Poverty
Monitoring Units - distinct and separate from other monitoring and evaluation capacity-
building efforts.
2.7.2.4 Monitoring Poverty Reduction Strategies: Building National M&E Capacity:
2000s
1) By the turn of the millennium, poverty alleviation had moved from being a
marginal issue to being central concern for almost all countries. A target of
reducing global poverty by 50% by the year 2015was enshrined as the first target of
the Millennium Development Goals.
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2) National Poverty Reduction Strategy introduced to serve as a framework for
promoting vision of “pro-poor growth.”
3) Project- and sector-based M&E efforts come together with poverty monitoring
activities. Result was the emergence of national M&E programmes centred round
the monitoring of PRS.
2.7.3 Monitoring and evaluation in South Africa (Outcome approach)
The first democratic government’s term of office was concerned primarily with the
fundamental restructuring of the apartheid state into a modern public service. The
second term was concerned with coordination and integration of government systems
and services. The third term has a number of strategic priorities but key amongst these
has been the challenge of increasing effectiveness, so that greater developmental impact
is achieved. One of the ways Government is increasing effectiveness is by
concentrating on monitoring and evaluation. This is because it is a pivotal competence
that has positive effects both up and downstream: it improves policies, strategies and
plans as well as improving performance and optimizing impact. Improving M&E leads
to improvements in the quality of planning (driven by comparisons between what was
planned and what was done) and implementation systems (so that they are better able to
record what services are delivered and what results they achieve). As noted before,
M&E revolves around a number of key elements from one country to the other. In
South African context M&E revolves around four important activities and they are
namely:
Inputs: all the resources that contribute to the production of service delivery outputs.
Inputs are “what we use to do the work”. They include finances, personnel, equipment
and buildings.
Activities: the processes or actions that use a range of inputs to produce the desired
outputs and ultimately outcomes. In essence, activities describe “what we do”.
Outputs: the final products, goods and services produced for delivery. Outputs may be
defined as “what we produce or deliver”.
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Outcomes: the medium-term results for specific beneficiaries which are the
consequence of achieving specific outputs. Outcomes should relate clearly to an
institution’s strategic goals and objectives set out in its plans. Outcomes are “what we
wish to achieve”. Outcomes are often further categorized into immediate/direct
outcomes and intermediate outcomes.
Impacts: the results of achieving specific outcomes, such as reducing poverty and
creating jobs. Impacts are “how we have actually influenced communities and target
groups. Monitoring and Evaluation became proper under these circumstances. New
definitions based on the circumstances on the ground emerged.
Monitoring
Monitoring for example involves collecting, analysing, and reporting data on inputs,
activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts as well as external factors, in a way that
supports effective management. Monitoring aims to provide managers, decision makers
and other stakeholders with regular feedback on progress in implementation and about
this policy framework and its applicability
Evaluation
Evaluation is a time-bound and periodic exercise that seeks to provide credible and
useful information to answer specific questions to guide decision making by staff,
managers and policymakers. Evaluations may assess relevance, efficiency,
effectiveness, impact and sustainability. Impact evaluations examine whether
underlying theories and assumptions were valid, what worked, what did not and why.
Evaluation can also be used to extract crosscutting lessons from operating unit
experiences and determining the need for modifications to strategic results frameworks
instance. Monitoring and evaluation is, however, extremely complex, multidisciplinary
and skill intensive. Government-wide monitoring and evaluation even more so, since it
requires detailed knowledge both across and within sectors, and interactions between
planning, budgeting and implementation. The picture is complicated even further when
the machinery of government is decentralised, with powers and functions being
distributed across three spheres of government. It is precisely this complicated
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intergovernmental structure with diffused powers and functions which requires strong
M&E systems to promote coordination and prevent fragmentation.
Performance monitoring and evaluation of government alone without monitoring the
performance of the people who are in charge of various state institutions and
departments would not yield any good results. Hence the adoptions of the outcome
approach by the cabinet. This gave effect to the assessing the performance of various
government Ministers and the Members of Executive Council (MECs). In 2010 the
State President (Honourable Jacob Zuma) signed work agreement with each minister in
his office. That means therefore South Africa adopted outcomes approach. This
approach would effected through coherent priority setting, monitoring and evaluation
related to the achievement of outcomes, institutional performance monitoring and
evaluation as well as improving service delivery through changing the way
government does things.
2.7.4 Relevance of M&E in the currently
Monitoring and Evaluation happens in three levels and they are namely:
1) Internationally
2) Nationally and
3) Locally
Nowadays, countries preparing national development strategies, such as a PRS, include
an M&E component as a matter of course. However, as the demand for data has grown,
so too has the awareness of the limitations of the stock of available statistical data. For
instance in the area of poverty reduction, despite the global commitment to reduce
poverty levels by half by 2015, it is recognised that it will be extremely difficult to
verify whether this goal has been achieved or not. There are gaping holes and
uncertainties that exist in the various national and international statistical databases. For
example the number of people estimated as living in extreme poverty is officially over
a billion. And given these errors it is not clear how long one has to wait to identify a
trend and measure whether national antipoverty measures have had any effect at all.
89
These problems and others like them have turned the spotlight on national statistical
systems across the world and have highlighted the need for serious investment to
improve the quality and coverage of the national statistical information systems.
Poverty reduction strategies have been at the core of development for low-income
countries for the past decade. They aim to provide the crucial link between national
public sector policies and actions, donor support, and the development outcomes
needed to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Five core principles
underlie the PRS approach. Poverty reduction strategies should be:
1) country driven, promoting national ownership of strategies through broad-based
participation of civil society;
2) results oriented and focused on outcomes that will benefit the poor;
3) comprehensive in recognising the multidimensional nature of poverty;
4) partnership oriented involving co-ordinated participation of development partners;
and
5) Based on a long-term perspective for poverty reduction featuring prominently in
almost all the PRSs is the recognition that the implementation of the strategy will
require very close monitoring and that the national statistical office (NSO) should
have an important role to play.
2.7.5 Conclusion
Over the centuries social and economic progress has been driven at least in part by
human curiosity and the desire to improve things. For example human intervention has
changed crop varieties and life-stock out of all recognition from their natural, wild
counterparts. Until comparatively recently this progress was driven solely by
observation and “trial and error” and only in the past one hundred years has knowledge
and understanding advanced to the point that statistical and monitoring and evaluation
methodologies have been formalised. Each of these communities may have their
favoured approaches to data gathering and each will certainly have different objectives
in mind. But at the most basic level each is searching for evidence on which further
action will depend. Clearly there is a strong community of interest between government
M&E practitioners and official statisticians, centred on a shared concern to gather and
disseminate accurate, policy-relevant information. These shared objectives should
encourage cooperation and sharing of tasks depending upon which community is better
90
placed to conduct them. South Africa also was forced to take monitoring and evaluation
seriously because of the two reasons i.e. Millennium Development Goals (Poverty and
unemployment reduction). The President took a stand to lead by example, after the
Cabinet adopted outcome based approach, signed performance agreements with
Ministers. The department of the M&E was also opened in the office of the President.
2.7.6 SUMMARY
The chapter aimed at shedding more light on various aspects of public administration
and management. These aspects were outlined as follows: broad definition of the
concept of public administration, its distinction with the public management, wherein
the history and evolvement of the concept which without doubt laid down the
foundation as the basis to examine public administration as both academic discipline
and activity. To more understand of the public administration in this chapter a
comparison between private and public sector administration was conducted to check
differences and cross cutting issues wherein good practices from the private sector
could be integrated into the public sector administration. Public administration and
management can be compromised is financial management is not intact. That means the
chapter had to proceed with examining public management in the public sector, where
issues like budgets, plans were discussed.
Extensive discussions on budget were made, as budget is one activity to be monitored
and evaluated as it directs impacts on the performance of the organization. This chapter
led to an over of monitoring and evaluation processes. The South African outcomes
approach was thoroughly discussed. Before the closure of the chapter it became key to
link monitoring and evaluation, service delivery, and public administration in order to
level grounds for the case study.
As public administration, monitoring and evaluation and service delivery were linked
and contextualised, an extensive discussion on the national and international
experiences with regard to performance monitoring and assessment will then be
conducted. Here the South African approach will be weighed against monitoring and
evaluation approaches of the other countries. In chapter three literature review will be
discussed in order to get more knowledge on the concept being studied.
91
92
CHAPTER THREE
LITERATURE REVIEW
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Chapter two was more concerned about finding a place of performance evaluation in
Public Administration. There was a need to first acknowledge that Public
Administration is an academic field of study. This would be done to gather more
knowledge on Public Administration. Chapter three deals with literature review in order
to both enlarge knowledge about performance evaluation, as well as to gain and
demonstrate skills in information seeking and critical appraisal (i.e. the ability to apply
principles of analysis to identify unbiased and valid study) To do this performance
evaluation and monitoring approaches internationally, and locally will be examined.
Australia and Chile approaches will be examined from an international perspective. The
South African evaluation approach will then be considered from a local view point.
In examining Australia approach, the following sub-headings will be discussed: Firstly,
historical background of performance evaluation in Australia (The rise of the evaluation
concept in Australia, examination of evaluation, possible benefits for using
performance evaluation information). Secondly: evaluation culture in Australia. To give
effect of the government of Australia commitment to performance evaluation focus is
made on the work of the Australian Department of Finance (ADoF). After that the
performance evaluation approach of Chile will be considered. The Chile case will be
discussed on the following headings: background and introduction, Chile’s evaluation
process.
Local experiences of the Republic of South Africa will be finally analysed.
Performance evaluation background in South Africa will be the first item, followed by
introduction of the government wide monitoring and evaluation approach (GWM&E).
A brief comparison between South Africa and the other countries experiences on the
evaluation process will follow and be followed by the shortfalls or limitations in the
implementation of GWM&E, the lessons learnt from South Africa’s experience, and
lastly, an integration of international and local approaches will be developed as an
accurate summation of the chapter.
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3.2 REVIEW LITERATURE ON MONITOLIRNG AND EVALUATION AT
REGIONAL, INTERNATION AND SOUTH AFRICAN LEVELS
Mackay (2011) classifies Australia evaluation experience in three phases or periods as
he felt that thorough analyses of the situation can only be achieved if these three phases
or stages the evaluation process undergone are extensively explored and they are as
follows:
3.2.1 First phase: 1989 to 1997
Mackay (2011) argued that the first phase lasted from 1987 to 1997. According to him
during that time evaluation system was used to systematically evaluate all government
programs every three to five years and the evaluation findings were used heavily by
officials, ministers and the cabinet in the annual budget process. It is critical to
highlight that these findings were highly influential on the Cabinet’s ultimate policy
decisions (Mackay: 2011). He further argued that evaluation findings were also used
extensively within various departments in support of their on-going management where
success factors included strong champions at the higher levels of the department of
finance (ADoF), which is the central budget office and that the complementary factor to
its success is the strategy which was the effort of DoF to reorient its staff away from a
more traditional line-item focus toward a much greater focus on policy advice that was
concerned with the efficiency and effectiveness of government spending. This is in line
with Australian National Audit Office (ANAO report: 1991) that ADoF should be more
active in encouraging departments to plan and undertake evaluations.
There was a need for an evaluation strategy in order to allow managers space to manage
and to make departments to plan and conduct evaluations (Keating and Holmes
1990).The process therefore required a substantial development of ADoF’s staff and
their skills sets. The ADoF was not only the designer of the whole-of-government
evaluation system but also its implementer (Mackay: 2011). Mackay (2011) also argued
that another force behind its success was the presence of reformist government
ministers and that evaluation that were produced under the evaluation strategy were
planned and conducted by line departments themselves. He further felt that the role of
the ADoF and other central agencies was to use their efforts to influence the choice of
which programs to evaluate, which issues to address in each evaluation, and in the
94
actual conduct of these evaluations. That means that evaluation in the Australian
government was a collaborative effort. The advantage about collaborative approach is
that it is a specific form of evaluation, where the control of the evaluation of an
intervention rests in the hands of those with a direct vested interest (Owen: 2006).
3.2.2 Elements of the developed Evaluation strategy
The Evaluation strategy of Australia objectives were:
1) that every program be evaluated every 3-5 years;
2) that each portfolio (i.e., comprising a line department plus outrider agencies)
prepare an annual portfolio evaluation plan (PEP), with a 3-year forward
coverage, and submit it to Department of Finance (DoF) these plans comprise
major program evaluations with substantial resource or policy implications;
3) that Ministers’ new policy proposals include a statement of proposed
arrangements for future evaluation; and that completed evaluation reports
should normally be published, unless there exist important policy sensitivity,
national security or commercial-in-confidence considerations (Mackay: 2011).
3.2.3 Australia evaluation strategy objectives
The new strategy according to Mackay (2011) had three main objectives and they are
namely:
1) To provide fundamental information about program performance to aid cabinet’s
decision-making and prioritization, particularly in the annual budget process when a
large number of competing proposals are advocated by individual Ministers.
2) To encouraged program managers within departments to use evaluation for the
improvement of their programs performance; and lastly:
3) To strengthen accountability in a devolved environment by providing formal
evidence of program manager’s oversight and management of program resources.
This emphasis on transparency is of considerable interest to the parliament,
particularly.
95
3.2.4 Shortfalls in the Australian Evaluation Strategy (AES)
The strategy however had its own weaknesses as more than one-third of the evaluations
it produced suffered from methodological weaknesses of one kind or another
(Mackay:2011). This scenario according to (Mackay: 2011) was in line with
insufficient evaluation skills available within the public service as the results of
evaluations being conducted by line departments, and usually by the program areas
within each department and a number of these apparently lacked the necessary skills.
Empowerment evaluation here was relevant as it would sit within their transformative
participatory evaluation stream (Cousins and Whitmore: 1998). This form of evaluation
would see the program participants conducting their own evaluations with an evaluator
serving as a coach or facilitator (Fetterman: 2002).
Empowerment evaluation however has been criticised for a number of reasons
including theoretical or conceptual ambiguity, lack of concordance in practice that
readily distinguishes it from other participatory approaches and a lack of documented
evidence of success and that it presents an empirical review of case examples of
empowerment evaluation from 1994 to 2005 to analyse how closely theory and practice
align (Miller and Campbell: 2006). This argument is in line with (Chekoway &
Richards-Shuster:2004) that the general obstacles to participation by a variety of
stakeholders include limited financial resources, staff size and time for engagement and
training of participants the perception of a long and slow-moving design process,
stakeholders’ lack of previous hands-on evaluation experience and concomitant training
needs and the difficulty in establishing a balanced and committed stakeholder
representative group (Cousins & Whitmore, 1998; Papineau & Kiely, 1996). Results of
the review suggest a number of issues within these cases examples including:
1) lack of the embodiment of the core principles that underpin empowerment
evaluation practice (for example, lack of strategies of social justice and democracy,
2) lack of use of evidence-based strategies considerable heterogeneity in practice
3) and lack of inclusion of program consumers with a greater focus on program staff
members (Miller and Campbell: 2006).
96
Some line departments were said to have avoided this problem by creating specialist
evaluation units. Change of government in 1996, was one of several important risks
factors that could impinge on any facet of public sector management as well as the
departure of key champions of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and the arrival of
M&E opponent who pursued an extreme devolutionary approach to public sector
management that virtually condemned any whole of government approach to M&E; a
whole-of- government which was performance-based budgeting (Mackay: 2011).
Whole of-government approach stressed monitoring indicators, largely in order to
support accountability reporting to the parliament (ANAO report: 1991).
3.2.5 Second phase (1996-2007) (Mackay: 2011)
Mackay (2011) felt that an important trait of most of the second period, from 1996 to
2007, was the reliance on outcomes and outputs framework that was based on a system
of performance indicators and that an advantage of performance indicators is that they
are cheaper, simpler and quicker than evaluations. He said that while performance
indicators can be used to highlight examples of good or bad performance, a major
limitation is that they fail to explain the reasons for this performance; in the absence of
evaluations. He further argued that it is difficult to apply the performance lessons
elsewhere and that Australia’s performance framework during this period provides a
strong example of how not to go about constructing a system of performance indicators.
The framework encountered many conceptual and data difficulties and also suffered
from severe problems of implementation by line departments and agencies and from a
lack of effective oversight by the ADoF (ANAO: 1991).
3.2.6 Birth of Evaluation Devolve Approach (EDA)
In 1997 the evaluation strategy was abolished. During this time ADoF came up with as
new strategy and has interpreted this new framework of performance information and
evaluation as a devolved approach (Russell 2003). The Australian Auditor-General
characterized these reforms as a deregulation of evaluation (Barrett 2001).
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Table 3.1
Australia’s Performance Framework ― Key Aspects
Key Aspect 1987–96 1996–2007 2007–10
Australian
Public
Service
(APS)
Cohesive public
service;
central rules,
standards e.g., pay,
classifications,
terms of
employment
Public service downsized
and balkanized; individual
employment contracts;
heavy use of
business consultants;
departmental secretaries
often on three-year
contracts
Efforts to
renovate
public
service, e.g.,
regarding
policy skills;
moves to
recentralize
some
functions,
e.g.,
procurement,
pay grades
Philosophy
underling
public sector
management
Substantial
devolution to
departments;
central
requirements, e.g.,
evaluation, to
‘make the
managers manage’
Very high level of
devolution
‘let the managers
manage’;
reduction in red tape;
much greater reliance on
private sector
Some
recentralizati
on,
with heavy
emphasis on
encourageme
nt; ‘let the
managers
manage’;
further
reduction in
red
tape
Policy cycle Formalized,
disciplined;
heavy reliance on
analysis
by public service;
Expenditure
Review
Committee (ERC)
at
centre of budget
Much less disciplined;
greater
reliance on non-APS
policy advice;
many policy/ expenditure
decisions
taken in Prime Minister’s
Office;
ERC relatively weak
Decision-
making
initially in
hands of 4
key
ministers;
now
greater
reliance on
budget/ERC
98
process processes;
APS policy
skills to be
Strengthened
Role of the
Department
of
Finance
(DoF)
Powerful,
respected, high
level of policy
skills;
heavily involved in
scrutinizing new
policy
proposals ― the
‘challenge’
function;
responsible for
budget
estimates; heavily
involved in
evaluation
Severely downsized; small
role in
budget estimates and low
financial
management skills (until
after
2002); low policy skills;
little or no
evaluation involvement;
passive
oversight of Outcomes
and Outputs
Framework; strategic
reviews
managed by DoF (from
2006)
Increase in
staff
numbers;
refurbished
financial
management
skills; role in
reducing
regulation
and red tape;
strategic
reviews, and
prospect of a
rejuvenated
evaluation
approach
Evaluation Formal strategy
and
requirements (from
1987);
enforcement by
DoF;
heavy utilization in
policy
advice and by
ERC;
evaluation use by
line
departments
Evaluation deregulated;
only a few
remaining evaluation
islands among
departments/agencies;
small
number of strategic
reviews (from
2006); no systematic use
of
evaluation in budget
process
Flurry of
reviews after
2007;
continuation
of strategic
reviews; no
systematic
use of
evaluation in
budget
process, and
major
investment
decisions
taken without
benefit of
evaluation;
agency
reviews to be
conducted
in future;
possible
rejuvenation
of evaluation
in near future
99
Performanc
e
information
(PI),
program
objectives,
accountabili
ty
Program budgeting
(1986
on); evaluations
usually
published; only late
attention to
performance
indicators via
reviews of
PI, program
objectives
(from 1994);
federal/ state
reporting of service
delivery
performance
(from 1995);
formal
reporting
requirements
(annual reports,
PBSs)
Program budgeting
abolished (from
1999); new Outcomes and
Outputs
Framework for formal
reporting,
based on performance
indicators
(1999); principles-based,
no quality
control by DoF; accrual
accounting
(1999); evaluations rarely
published; federal/state
reporting of
service delivery
performance
Outcomes
and
Programs
Framework,
based on
performance
indicators,
and now
including
program
budgeting;
evaluations
rarely
published;
federal/state
reporting of
service
delivery
performance;
citizen
surveys
planned
Table 3.1: Australia evaluation framework (depicted from Australia government Framework: 1987)
3.2.7 Third phase (2007- to date)
According to (Mackay: 2011) third phase of the process has been marked by several
initiatives that collectively are likely to increase the demand for and supply of
monitoring information and evaluation findings and these include a modernized
monitoring framework that focuses on government outcomes and outputs, and that
reintroduces program budgeting. He saw a renewed focus on evaluation and review,
with substantive interest from ADoF in creating a whole-of-government system that
avoids the weaknesses of the earlier evaluation system. According to him collectively,
these changes have the potential to regain some of the ground lost during the period
from 1996 to 2007. The new outcome and output framework emerged in 1999, after the
100
collapse of evaluation strategy (Mackay: 2011). Figure 3.1 below is a typical example
of the outcome and output framework:
Figure 3.1
Fig 3.1: Outcome and output Framework: depicted from (ANAO: 2007)
3.2.8 Objectives of the outcome and output framework
According to Australia National Audit Organization (ANAO) report in 2007, these
were the objectives of the new framework:
1) To support the government’s policy development;
2) To support and strengthen departments’ internal management, including staff learning;
3) To strengthen external reporting, for accountability purposes.
4) On paper at least, the framework also has the potential to:
5) Clarify objectives and expected standards of performance- this understanding is crucial
to ensure purchaser-provider arrangements work well;
6) Clarify for departments their results chains ― i.e., the logical (and desirably evidence
based) links between spending, activities, outputs, and contribution to desired
outcomes;
Guidelines on performance
Reporting
Agreement of outcome statements
Publication of department
and agency Annual Reports
and Portfolio Budget
DEPARTMENT
OF FINANCE
SECTOR POFOLIOS
(Departments and
outrider agencies)
PARLIAMENT
CITEZENS
101
7) Facilitate benchmarking comparisons across departments, and between the public and
private sectors. This would make it easier to select least-cost providers; and promote
shared objectives among departments.
3.2.8 BUILDING EVALUATION CULTURE IN AUSTRALIA
In Australia, there are many departments with evaluation mandates and being
championed by the Department of Finance and as such during the second phase of
government reforms, the respective practices have been evolving and being coordinated
by the Department of Finance (ANAO: 1991). In spite of evolvement of practices and
decentralization of the process two factors remained a concern and they are namely: the
degree of objectivity and independence of evaluation (Feinstein 2003). Secondly the
government inability to assess the second generation phase of the reforms. This
situation however did not deter the other departments like education; employment; and
health from developing and utilising evaluation process (Mackay: 2011).
Mackay (2011) identified various organizations in Australia those that are involved in
performance evaluation and audits of the State and they are inter-alia:
1) Bureau of Transport Economics,
2) Bureau of Industry Economics
3) Industry Commission
4) Department of Family and Community Services.
5) Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
6) Australian National Audit Office
7) Department Finance
8) viii)Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
9) World Bank
10) Central Departments and the Budget Process
11) Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
12) Treasury
In Australia there were many institutions that were responsible for conducting
evaluations (ANAO: 2006). The main organizations responsible for these tasks
included, DoF, ANAO.
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3.2.10 The Department of Finance and performance assessment
The role of ADoF was two folded, as it was responsible for making inputs to the
portfolio evaluation plans (PEPs) and assist in evaluation processes (Mickay:2011).
According to (ANAO: 2007), in its support to the other departments they oversee the
implementation of evaluation strategy. ANAO (2007) report further argues that ADoF
has been in the forefront of performance evaluation in Australia from the early stages of
the process and that all departments were conducting their evaluations, based on their
situations and submits result to the cabinet.
According to the report the ADoF was responsible for coordinating the submission of
these reports to the cabinet and that the whole - government - evaluation process has
been the initiative of ADoF. ANAO (2007) also argues that ADoF is essentially the
central budget office as it coordinates the expenditure side of the budget and oversees
budget accounting including the financial framework as well as providing policy
analysis of government outlays including all new policy proposals of line ministers, and
that the ADoF analyses accompany the spending proposals and are sent to the Cabinet
committee that decides the budget (the Expenditure Review Committee). All three
departments, and especially ADoF, perform a ‘challenge’ function, in terms of
analysing and questioning the new policy spending proposals of line ministers
(Mackay:2011). That is the reason why the Cabinet adopted the evaluation strategy
proposed by ADoF.
Secondly ADoF together with key agencies ADoF and other central agencies would use
their best efforts to influence the choice of which programs to evaluate, which issues to
address in each evaluation, and in the actual conduct of these evaluations by, for
example, participating in evaluation steering committees (ANAO: 1997) That means
ADoF is not only the architect of the whole-of-government evaluation system but also
its implementer. The report went on to say that after the whole-government evaluation
process failed, ADoF was given a task to renew the whole-of-government system that
avoids the weaknesses of the earlier evaluation system and that more emphasis is also
being placed on developing the policy skills of the public service, in the context of
processes of government decision making that provide greater scope for policy advice
from the public service.
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3.2.11 Australia National Audit Organization (ANAO)
According to Mackay (2011) the primary client of the Australian National Audit Office
is the parliament as ANAO (2007) provides the parliament with an independent
assessment of selected areas of public administration, as well as assurance about public
sector financial reporting, administration and accountability. He further argued that
ANAO views the executive government and public sector entities as important clients
and that ANAO conducts performance audits and financial audits where the former are
a type of evaluation, and they account for about one third of ANAO resources (McPhee
2008). ANAO (1997) report stated that about 50–60 performance audits are performed
each year and About 90 percent of performance audit recommendations are accepted by
government departments and the remainder are partially accepted. Performance audits
have been conducted on a wide range of topics, such as:
1) AusAID’s aid to tertiary education
2) The Australian Federal Police’s management of new policy implementation
3) the management of overseas leased estate
4) The Australian Taxation Office’s administration of the luxury car tax
5) The service delivery of the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service (for the disabled)
6) Therapeutic goods regulation
7) Indigenous employment in government service delivery. Retrieved on 2012/05/14
(www.anao.gov.au.)
In analysing evaluation culture in Australia the following activities will be considered:
Evaluation Planning
According to Mackay (2011) in the periods between 1987 and 88, all government
departments had prepared annual portfolio evaluation plans and these were intended to
comprise the major evaluations in the department and its outrider agencies and that by
the mid-1990s about 160 of these evaluations were underway at any given time and that
the majority of these evaluations were major, in that the programs had significant
policy or spending implications, although a significant minority of these evaluations,
particularly for the smaller departments, were only of minor programs. He also argue
that line departments themselves decided which programs should be included in their
PEPs, and also which issues the evaluation terms of reference would cover and that
104
ADoF would usually endeavour to influence departments’ choice of evaluation
priorities by making direct suggestions to them.
In a number of efficiency audits and two ‘better practice’ guides on program evaluation
and performance information, the national audit office has repeatedly reminded
departments about the importance of planning their evaluation activity and that where
ADoF experience difficulty would approach cabinet and the Cabinet endorsed
(ANAO/ADoF 1996). According to Mackay another influential factor was the issuing
by ADoF of formal guidelines to departments on the wanted content of these plans,
together with follow-up monitoring and reminders to departments about the need for
the plans.
Conduct of evaluation
Most departments chose to set up evaluation units to coordinate their formal evaluation
planning (ANAO: 2011) and at their smallest, these units comprised two or three
individuals. The report goes further and says in some departments, such as
employment, there was a separate branch of 20-25 staff responsible for evaluation
planning, provision of advice on evaluation methodology, participation in steering
committees, and the conduct of a number of major evaluations, particularly in the area
of labour market programs.
Evaluations conducted over the period 1995-1997: about half examined the delivery of
products or services to external clients, and a further 30% were associated with matters
internal to the department and one third of the evaluations examined the
appropriateness of new or established programs, and 15% were directed towards the
development of policy advice for the government (ANAO 1997).The ANAO report
also indicated that the large number of evaluations underway at any time, and the fact
that over 530 evaluation reports were published between 1993 and 1997, show that
extensive evaluation activity in the Australian government exists and this has provided
a growing ‘library’ of evaluation findings. The ANAO survey found that 75% of
evaluations conducted in 1995 and 1996 were released to the public and/or available on
request.
105
Evaluation quality
As the quality of evaluation reports is a more difficult dimension to measure rigor of
program evaluations depends on the expertise and objectivity of the evaluators
(ANAO:2011). ANAO further argued that the quality of a sample of evaluation reports
in 1997 and over a third of them suffered from methodological weaknesses of one kind
or another and is surely the case that some published evaluations were of low quality,
and the suspicion is that some of these were produced for self-serving purposes, such as
to provide a justification for the retention or expansion of the program.
Mackay (2007) revealed that ADoF would be willing to inform the Cabinet that it
considered an evaluation to be unreliable if something goes wrong and that line
departments would typically try hard to avoid such criticism, which would-be virtually
guaranteed to attract the ire and condemnation of Cabinet. He revealed that the national
audit office consistently argued that departments should set up central oversight
procedures to achieve quality assurance of evaluations conducted by line areas within
the department and that there is evidence from few departments which have followed
this approach that it is an effective means of making available needed evaluation skills
and expertise, and of ensuring evaluation quality. But most departments chose to rely
on program managers and their staff for the actual conduct of evaluations.
Russell (2003) argued that the devolutionary approach helped ensure that the
evaluations drew on the program expertise of staff, and that there was a high level of
‘ownership’ of the evaluation findings both of these may be difficult to achieve with
external evaluations. Basic training in evaluation skills was widely available in the
Australian government provided by ADoF in particular and ADoF and departments also
prepared guidance material such as evaluation handbooks (e.g., ADoF 1991, 1994a,
1996) but the 1997 ANAO study also revealed that 20% of departments were concerned
about the lack of available training in advanced evaluation techniques, and this does
appear to have been a weakness of the Australian evaluation system and some
departments addressed the need for more advanced skills and experience by setting up a
central evaluation unit to provide advice on methodology and to participate in
evaluation steering committees.
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Use of evaluation
Mackay (2011) felt that the main aim about evaluations is the extent to which their
results are utilised and that if their use is unreliable or poor there is no need to conduct
evaluations. According to (Mackay: 2007) in Australia there is evidence that
evaluations were used intensively in the budget process they provided a substantial
contribution to the development of policy options and their consideration by cabinet.
ADoF conducted several surveys of the extent of influence of evaluation findings on
the budget proposals submitted to Cabinet for its consideration (ADoF: 1994b).
In terms of (ANAO:2011) report in the 1990-91 budget, some A$230 million of new
policy proposals submitted by line Ministers were judged to have been directly or
indirectly influenced by the findings of an evaluation and by 1994-95 the latest year for
which estimates were available this had risen to A$2300 million. The report went
further and revealed that the department of health encouraged quality evaluations
through: selection of good quality officers to manage the evaluation; involvement of
internal and external stakeholders; ensuring technical advisory panels were available to
help assess the work of consultants; having steering groups available to help manage
consultants; and ensuring sufficient resources were available for the evaluation
findings. Campbell (2001) has observed that ADoF ‘functioned as the nerve centre for
cabinet on how programs actually functioned. It spearheaded public service reform
throughout the 1980s. The 1997 ANAO survey however found that the impact or use of
evaluations by line departments was most significant with respect to improvements in
operational efficiency, and to a lesser extent with respect to resource allocation
decisions and the design of service quality improvements for the benefit of clients
(Crossfield and Byrne: 1994).
3.3 EVALUATION PROCESS: THE CASE OF CHILE
3.3.0 INTRODUCTION
The preceding chapter talked more about evaluation and monitoring in Australia, as
well as highlighting the role of government in the process. This chapter therefore deals
with literature review in order to gain more information on the views of the other
people in Chile. In Chile evaluations are managed by the department of finance. That
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means the country is using country-led monitoring and evaluation systems in order to
enhance evidence-based policy making through country-led monitoring and evaluation
systems. Although Chile like other developing countries adopted country-led evaluation
systems, country-led monitoring and evaluation systems is known to be an emergent
topic with a knowledge base which is slowing growing and that developing country-led
monitoring and evaluation system takes time just as it has in developed countries. There
are, however, additional constraints on building such systems in developing countries.
All evaluations here are externally commissioned to academics and consultants through
standardised Terms of References and methodologies. Ministry of finance officials use
the monitoring information and evaluation findings intensively in their budget analysis
of the performance of each ministry and agency as an input to the government’s budget
decision making as it is well known that monitoring and evaluation has a strategic role
to play in informing policy making processes also in Chile the aim is to improve
relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of policy reforms.
In order to optimally discuss the process of evaluation in Chile the following items will
be used: an introduction of the process of evaluation, followed by historical background
and evolution of evaluation in Chile as well as the assessment of the other approaches
to evaluation. This is done to systematically provoke arguments and views of the other
people in Chile.
3.3.1 PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND MONITORING IN CHILE
According to (Mackay:2007:12) the ministry of finance developed an M&E system for
the whole government which includes about 1,550 performance indicators, 10 to 12
rapid evaluations annually, and about four impact evaluations per year. He mentioned
that all evaluations were externally out-sourced to academics and consultants through
standardised terms of references and methodologies and that the ministry of finance
officials used the monitoring information and evaluation findings intensively in their
budget analysis of the performance of each ministry and agency as an input to the
government’s budget decision making and that the ministry also uses the information to
set performance targets for each agency and to impose management improvements
(Mackay 2007:12, 13). The said system includes:
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1) Ex ante cost-benefit analysis for all projects
2) Performance indicators for all programmes, reported to Ministry of Finance
3) Comprehensive management reports
4) Evaluations of government programmes by Ministry of Finance and responsible
ministry
5) Rigorous impact evaluations
6) Comprehensive spending reviews conducted within ministry
7) Programme and agency evaluations (including Comprehensive Spending
8) Reviews) a Bidding Fund for public programmes;
9) Management Improvement Programmes linked to performance bonuses for central
government employees (Rojas & Saavedra 2005:1).
These tools are all integrated into the budget process, and create synergies from the
conceptual elements in their design and implementation (Burdescu et al. 2005:1).
(Mackay in Scott et al. 2005:7-8) however argued that the central role of the finance
ministry has had the side effect of low levels of ownership and use by sector ministries
and their agencies, which have not taken or seen the opportunity to use the information
for their own strategic planning, policy development and management. The four main
ways in which monitoring information and evaluation findings can be helpful to
government according to Mackay (2011) include:
1. To support policy-making, especially budget decision-making (performance-based
budgeting) and national planning. These processes focus on government priorities
among competing demands from citizens and groups in society. M&E information can
support government’s deliberations by providing evidence about the most cost-effective
types of government activity .Examples of this are different types of employment
programmes, health interventions, or conditional cash transfer payments. M&E is
widely viewed as a useful tool to help governments under fiscal stress reduce their total
spending, by identifying programmes and activities which have relatively low cost-
effectiveness. Performance budgeting also helps governments prioritize among
competing spending proposals. In this way, it is a vehicle to help them achieve greater
value for money from their spending.
2. To help government ministries in their policy development and policy analysis work,
and in programme development.
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3. To help government ministries and agencies manage activities includes government
service delivery and the management of staff. M&E identifies the most efficient use of
available resources; it can be used to identify implementation difficulties. For example,
performance indicators can be used to make cost and performance comparisons
(performance benchmarking) among different administrative units, regions, and
districts. Comparisons can also be made over time which helps identify good, bad, and
promising practices. This can prompt a search for the reasons for this level of
performance. Evaluations or reviews are used to identify these reasons. This is the
learning function of M&E, and it is often termed “results-based management”. Building
monitoring and evaluation systems to improve government performance.
4. To enhance transparency and support accountability relationships by revealing the
extent to which government has attained its desired objectives. M&E provides the
essential evidence necessary to underpin strong accountability relationships, such as of
government to the Parliament or Congress, to civil society, and to donors. M&E also
supports the accountability relationships within government, such as between sector
ministries and central ministries, and between ministers, managers, and staff. Mackey
(2011) despite this range of concepts, the main proposition of an M&E system is to use
monitoring information and evaluation findings for one or more purposes such as:
1) To inform budget decision-making, by providing information on the actual or likely
performance of government programs;
2) To support government planning, such as in the development of national plans;
3) To help the on-going management of government pro -grams and activities, by
providing information on their efficiency and effectiveness; and
4) To underpin accountability relationships accountability to the President’s office, to
the finance ministry (the hacienda), to the planning ministry, accountability within
ministries, to Congress, and to the people (Mackay:2012)
3.4 PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND MONITORING IN SOUTH AFRICA
3.4.0 INTRODUCTION
In terms of Government- wide Monitoring and Evaluation (2005) monitoring and
evaluation in South Africa is more complex, as it requires detailed knowledge both
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across and within sectors as well as interactions amongst planning, budgeting and
implementation functions in the public sector. That means South Africa adopted
government – wide monitoring and evaluation approach. In a decentralised type of
government with powers and functions allocated across three spheres of government
the situation of M&E in South becomes more complicated. The notion of corporative
government as per the National constitution (Act No 108 0f 1996) is the key to assist
the process of M&E. A plethora of pieces of legislation were put in place to ensure that
the performance evaluation of public sector institutions is being assessed.
The following Acts and policies promote the existence and the development of M&E
approaches: Municipal Systems Act, Constitution Act (No. 108 of 1996), GWME
policy (2005). Government Wide Monitoring and Evaluation (GWM&E: 2005) led to
the establishment of the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association
(SAMEA) in 2006. In terms of this structure democracy in South Africa would be
deeply rooted as the notion of accountability would prevail in all spheres of
government. In support of this performance, monitoring and evaluation unit was
established in the presidency the new government. Various challenges made it difficult
for the state to implement M&E.
These challenges needed to be resolved before that implementation of the M&E. There
were also macro contextual issues the Country had and has to deal with and they
include poverty, unemployment, and urbanization of rural communities (RDP: 1993).
Further than that the other key challenge the Nation has to consider is to overcome the
legacy of racially skewed public service delivery under the apartheid regime by
enhancing access to, and the quality of services to the previously disadvantaged
communities and vulnerable groups. (Ejeoma: 2008) also feels that poverty and high
level of under-development can be attributed to the non-establishment of systems and
processes to deal with the challenges. Hence the need for the development of M&E
systems.
3.4.1 PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND EVALUATION IN SOUTH
AFRICA
Ajam (2010) argued that monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is an extremely complex,
multidisciplinary and skill-intensive endeavour and that Government-wide M&E is
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even more so because it requires detailed knowledge both across and within sectors,
and as well as of interactions among planning, budgeting, and implementation functions
in the public sector. She further said that the situation is complicated even further when
the machinery of government is decentralized, with powers and functions distributed
across three spheres of government and that it is quite this kind of complex
intergovernmental structure, with diffuse powers and functions, which requires strong
M&E systems to promote coordination and prevent fragmentation.
Ajam (2010) further argued that South Africa’s transition to a new democratic order in
1994 created immense pressures on the newly elected government and that one of the
key priorities was to overcome the legacy of racially skewed public service delivery
under apartheid by enhancing access to, and the quality of, services to previously
underserved communities and vulnerable groups, such as children and the disabled.
Because of the nature of life people in the rural areas enjoy there was a need to
prioritise their situation. To deal with this problem there was a need to come up with a
piece of legislation that would assist in mapping out transactional period. LGTA, 209 of
1993 explicitly mapped out three phases of transition for local government in South
Africa and they are namely:
1) The pre-interim phase, 1993-95;
2) The interim phase, 1995-99; and
3) The final phase, 1999 to the election of 5 December 2000 (Nyalunga: 2006)
In terms of the Constitution Act (No. 108 of 1996) all citizens has socio-economic
rights to health care, housing, education, water, and other basic necessities, which are to
be satisfied with the available resources. The final Constitution provides for the three
distinct but interrelated spheres of government: i.e. the national government,
provincial/local governments, and municipal governments. Although the policy making
occurs primarily at the national level, implementation of policies in concurrent
functions occurs mainly at the sub-national level (Constitution Act No 108 of 1996).
The National government also has a role of collecting and distributing revenue and
systematically allocating equitable shares of the nationally collected revenues to
national and provincial spheres in the form of grants Constitution (Act No.108 (13) of
1996).
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Provincial governments have few of their own revenue sources and are largely
dependent on the unconditional “equitable share grants provided by the national
government (Intergovernmental transfers: 2008). The intergovernmental system also
interacts with a number of national, provincial and local public entities, and state-
owned enterprises and these interactions require both monitoring and evaluation to do
the following:
1) to provide information to users on the service level they can expect;
2) make an objective evaluation of services and activities;
3) identify problems in the supply chain;
4) determine what measures are needed for improving services;
5) understand the need to increase or decrease resources;
6) objective measurement for calculating reorder levels;
7) define parameters for the periodic review system calculations;
8) evaluate performance of individual staff members;
9) motivate logisticians (logcluster.org/response/monitoring)
The GWM&E implementation plan was adopted by cabinet in 2005 for this purpose
(Presidency: 2006). This chapter therefore will be dealt with according to the following
items: After the introduction on both M&E and GWM&ES, Evolution of M&E in
South Africa will follow and will be followed by the implementation of GWM&E, after
which summary, as well as integrating the experiences of the countries mentioned
supra.
3.4.2 BUILDING EVALUATION CULTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA
It has been argued that monitoring and evaluation ideas are not new as many Nations
apply monitoring and evaluation practices in their work and home lives in so much that
presently there is an increase in the amount of systematic attention and study being
applied to the field of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) both internationally and within
South Africa and the argument goes further and view this as a very interesting and
exciting development as the practice of M&E can contribute to sound governance in a
number of ways such as improved evidence-based policy making, policy development,
management, and accountability which is why many governments around the world
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have realised much of this potential, including most first world countries and a small
but growing number of developing countries (SAMDI:2007).
The Presidency (2007) reported that The South African Government has placed
increasing importance on M&E during its third term of office since democracy and that
key strategic priorities have been the challenge of increasing effectiveness, so that a
greater developmental impact can be achieved. The Presidency (2007) revealed that one
important approach to increase effectiveness is by concentrating on M&E and that the
reason is M&E is a central competency that has the positive effect of improving
policies, strategies and plans, as well as improving performance and optimising impact.
In his State of the Nation Address (2007) (SONA) the President of the Country saw the
need to focus on M&E. President Mbeki said “strengthen monitoring and evaluation
capacity across all spheres of government”. The drive to improve public M&E practice
has also been emphasised by the Minister of Public Service and Administration -
Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi at various media briefing. In South a policy
framework has already been put in place in order to guide the implementation process,
as the proposed recommendations developed by the Presidency to the cabinet was
approved in 2005 (Presidency:2005). The Constitution of the Republic provides for the
development of monitoring and evaluation system as in terms of the following:
1. To measure outcomes, results or impacts
2. To distinguish the outcomes and impacts from other external factors,
3. To clarify or justify costs on an activity, as well as well-informed policy decision on
expansion, modification and elimination (Ijeoma: 2010).
A plethora of pieces of legislation have since been adopted in order to regulate M&E
and they are namely:
In the local government sphere, the mandate for performance measurement and
management is found in the White Paper on Local Government, 1998, and the Local
Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act 117 of 1998). The implementation of
a performance management system is also comprehensively explained in the Local
Government through: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act 32 of 2000) and the Local
Government: Municipal Planning and Performance Management Regulations, 2001.
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Relevant information is also contained in the Local Government: Municipal Finance
Management Act, 2003. The relevant sections within each of these legislative
documents will be introduced briefly for the benefit of this study.
The foundation for M&E in the National government is laid down in The Constitution
of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996) and the White Paper on
Transforming Public Service Delivery (Batho Pele White Paper) 1997. The recent
development of the Policy Framework for a Government-wide Monitoring and
Evaluation System (2007); the National Treasury Framework for Managing Programme
Performance Information (2007); the South African Statistical Quality Assessment
Framework; First edition (2008); the Presidency’s annual Mid Term Development
Indicators; and the 2009 Green Paper on National Performance set the scene for an
integrated system of public sector M&E in South Africa. A valuable addition is the
Basic Concepts in Monitoring and Evaluation (February 2008) published by the Public
Service Commission.
3.4.2.1 The Constitution of South Africa
The government-wide performance management objective is to instil performance
culture in local government and ethos in the public service (GWM&E: 2005). This
attempt is a Constitutional requirement of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of
1996) which outlines the basic principles that should underpin public service and these
principles are:
1) The promotion and maintenance of a high standard of personal ethics.
2) The efficient, economic and effective use of resources.
3) Public administration must be development-oriented.
4) Services must be provided impartially, fairly and equitably without bias.
5) Public administration must be accountable.
6) Good human resource management and career development practices must be
cultivated
7) To maximise human potential.
The Public Service Commission mandate to strive for good governance is to
investigate, monitor and evaluate the organisation, administration and personnel
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practices of the public service and to advise national and provincial organs of state, as
well as promote a high standard of professional ethics (PSC 2007(a) (2). In fulfilling
this mandate, the PSC undertakes research and investigations on behalf of parliaments
and legislatures, such as the research project that analyses the compliance of individual
Public Service departments with the nine principles for public administration prescribed
in Chapter 10, Section 195(1) of the Constitution. “The research involves analysing
departmental performance against a performance indicator or two for each principle”
(PSC 2007(a) (2).
3.4.2.2 The Batho Pele White Paper of 1997
The White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery (Batho Pele White Paper),
1997 (hereafter referred to as the Batho Pele White Paper), requires national and
provincial departments to develop PMS that include the setting of service delivery
indicators and measurement of performance (WPTPS: 1997) and the tools needed to
attain a new system of public service management are:
1) assignment to individual managers of responsibility for delivering specific results
for a specified level of resources and for obtaining value for money in the use of
those resources;
2) individual responsibility for results matched with managerial authority for decisions
about how resources should be used;
3) delegation of managerial responsibility and authority to the lowest possible level;
and
4) Transparency about the results achieved and resources consumed.
Public service institutions are expected to consider the “Batho Pele” principles in
implementing these tools. The Batho Pele principles include consultation, service
standards, access, courtesy, information, openness and transparency, redress, and value
for money.
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3.4.2.3 Policy Framework for the Government-wide Monitoring and Evaluation
System (GWM&ES)
According to Presidency (2005) the GWM&ES is intended to coordinate a systematic
programme of policy monitoring and evaluation throughout the public sector in South
Africa. The programme is aimed at improving general public management in the
country and will be the vehicle for reporting in 2014 on the implementation of the UN
Millennium goals and targets to halve poverty according to a set of common indicators
(Cloete 2008:8) After the Presidency consulted with the National Treasury, the Public
Administration Leadership and Management Academy (PALAMA), as well as various
M&E experts GWM&E policy framework was published in November 2007(RSA
2007). The GWM&ES policy framework consists of four parts. Part one outlines the
importance and principles of M&E and M&E systems, with part two explaining the
GWM&ES and data terrains from which it draws.
Part three (3) gives guidelines for implementing M&E at institutional level in terms of
its management; the division of roles and responsibilities; practicing M&E; and
building internal evaluation capacity. Part 4 provides the implementation process and
division of roles for effecting the GWM&ES in government. (Presidency 2007:9). Cloete
(2008:8) argued that the GWM&ES is a secondary data assessment system that will not
undertake primary research or data collection itself and that it will draw on information
gained from the above and other agencies, and interpret this data in the context of the
national government’s strategic Programme of Action, in order to assess progress towards
those strategic goals. As illustration of the intent of government with the GWM&ES, the
following passages from the document are provided:
1) The GWM&ES will enhance the quality of performance information available for
programmes, improve the “monitoring of outcomes and impact across the whole of
government”, promote “sectoral and thematic evaluation reports”, improve the
“M&E of national outcomes in relation to the Constitution and government’s
Programme of Action, provincial outcomes and impact in relation to Provincial
Growth and Development Plans, and municipal outcomes in relation to Integrated
Development Plans”. Supporting these objectives, the GWM&ES will implement
projects and capacity building initiatives to improve M&E practices, thereby
fostering a governance culture that responds to M&E findings (Presidency
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2007:11). The Presidency and National Treasury will develop an Evaluation
Framework, guidelines and support material to promote the regular evaluation of
public programmes, guide evaluation processes and provide for the publication of
the results (Presidency 2007: 15).
2) “The GWM&ES seeks to embed a management system within public sector
organisations which articulates with other internal management systems”
(Presidency 2007: 8). As such, “M&E strategies will outline how M&E findings
will inform strategic and operational planning, budget formulation and execution as
well as in-year and annual reporting” (Presidency 2007: 16).
3) “Data and information from (institutional M&E) systems will also be used by other
stakeholders in the GWM&E system to create an overall picture of national,
provincial and local performance” (Presidency 2007: 8). Therefore, while “each
institutional strategy must focus on monitoring and evaluating its own performance
and impact, it should also adopt a sectoral perspective and develop the capacity to
report on progress and challenges at that level” (Presidency 2007: 16).
4) “This GWM&E Policy Framework will not result in a single automated IT system
for the South African Government, but shape the policy context within which
electronic IT-based systems will operate.” (Presidency 2007: 8)
5) The responsibility for M&E should be distributed throughout the organisation, from
the political and executive heads, to the programme managers, dedicated M&E
units and accounting officers (Presidency 2007: 20). Organisations should
incorporate M&E capacity-building initiatives in their skills development plan that
enable “the users of M&E data ... to understand how to integrate M&E functions
within their areas of responsibility and how to respond to M&E findings”, “M&E
managers ... to set up an M&E system, manage that system, and produce the results
required for M&E from it” and M&E practitioners to “gather and analyse data”
(Presidency 2007:21-22).
6) The GWM&E framework states that it is important that an institution’s M&E
strategy encompasses the organization’s approach to implementing the Programme
Performance Information Framework in preparation for audits of non-financial
information, as well as to implementing SASQAF standards (Presidency 2007). In
2005, the development and implementation of the new Government-Wide
Monitoring and Evaluation was adopted by the Cabinet. This according to (Ejeoma:
2010) led to the establishment of Monitoring and Evaluation unit in the Presidency.
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The system according to Department of Treasury (2007) has three important
components and they are:
7) Programme performance information
8) Social, economic and demographic statistics
9) Evaluations and that each of these components are referred to as a “data terrain” which
can essentially be understood as sources of data. Figure 3.2 below shows the
components of GWM&E system:
Figure 3.2
Figure 3.2 Components of GWM&E: Depicted from National Treasury (2007)
3.4.2.4 National Treasury Framework for Managing Programme Performance
Information (2007)
The GWM&E framework (2005) provides a generic understanding of M&E; discusses
M&E systems and management within the South African government context; and
Evaluations
Programme Performance
information
Social, Economic and demographic
statistics
Government
Wide Monitoring
and Evaluation
Framework
Evaluations
Frameworks
Statistics and
surveys
Framework
Framework for managing
programme performance
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describes the components of the GWM&ES. The system seeks to enhance existing
monitoring and evaluation systems within government by listing these systems;
enhancing links between systems; and filling in the existing information systems
(National Treasury 2007:2). The system has three components, programme
performance information, social, economic and demographic statistics, and evaluations
(National Treasury 2007:2). The first component falls under direct under the National
Treasury and is guided by the Framework for Managing Programme Performance
Information (FMPPI). The Framework for Managing Programme Performance
Information aims to:
1) Clarify standards for performance information and support regular audits of non-
financial information where appropriate
2) Improve the structures, systems and processes required to manage performance
information
3) Define roles and responsibilities for performance information
4) Promote accountability to Parliament, provincial legislatures and municipal
councils and the public through timely, accessible and accurate publication of
performance information (Presidency 2007:13; National Treasury 2007: Slide 3).
This framework provides detailed guidelines on performance information concepts,
developing indicators, managing performance information and the division of roles
and responsibilities (FMPPI: 2007).
It also makes accounting officers responsible for ensuring that the organisation has:
1) Documentation that outlines the process for establishing integrated performance
management systems that are integrated with existing management systems;
2) 2) Appropriate capacity to manage performance information;
3) Appropriate systems and processes to collect, collate, verify, store, review and
evaluate information for each service delivery period; and
4) Consultation processes to select performance information elements, processes to
integrate performance management responsibility into individual performance
agreements and appropriate indicators to report for oversight and publication
purposes (National Treasury 2007: Slide 14).
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3.4.2.5 Stats SA South African Statistics Quality Assurance Framework
(SASQAF), First and Second Edition
The SASQAF promotes trust in official statistics by ensuring the quality of information
produced by all organs of state through the establishment of standards, criteria and
practices that protect the integrity of gathered information (Stats SA 2010: Foreword;
Presidency (2007:14). The aim of the assessment framework is to decentralise the
process of data collection to all government agencies; to include generated data and
information in the national statistics system; to develop standards and build capacity
not only internal to Stats SA, but for government as a whole (Stats SA 2010: Preface).
It provides a flexible structure for the assessment of statistical products and the quality
of produced data. Prior to the assessment, SASQAF requires, firstly, that “the
producing agency should be a member of the NSS; [secondly, that] the statistics should
meet user needs beyond those specific and internal to the producing agency, and [lastly,
that] the statistics produced should be part of a sustainable series, not a once off
collection” (Stats SA, 2010:2; Stats SA 2008: preface). While the draft to the first
edition (2006) drew extensively on the International Monetary Fund’s Data Quality
Assessment Framework, the first edition (2008) incorporated viewpoints from a range
of users (Stats SA 2008: preface). The purpose of the document is to allow for the self-
assessment of data quality by the producers of statistics; to provide a basis for reviews
by the data quality assessment teams; and for data users and international agencies to
assess the quality of data based on the quality declaration (Stats SA 2010:2, Stats SA
2008:2).
Data quality is assessed against “eight dimensions of quality, namely, relevance,
accuracy, timeliness, accessibility, interpretability, coherence, methodological
soundness and integrity by Data Quality Assessment Teams appointed by the
Statistician-General (Stats SA 2008:2-3). SASQAF provides comprehensive indicators
of success and minimum compliance standards for each of the eight quality
requirements to assist statistic-producing institutions to change their processes that they
may deliver quality statistics, accepted by the Statistician-General as National
Statistics, and fit for internal and external M&E.
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While the document has detailed indicators and standards within each of the quality
dimensions, it acknowledges that not all indicators apply equally to all datasets (Stats
SA 2008: preface). The assessment process involves an agreement between the
applicant and data quality assessment team on the set of relevant indicators before the
actual study is conducted. After the study is completed, the applicant issues a quality
declaration to be the agreed upon indicators, verified by the data quality assessment
team against the relevant standards before a quality level is assigned to the data set
(Stats SA 2008:26). The four levels of certification that may be issued include:
Level Four: Quality Statistics, describing statistics that meet all requirements; Level
Three: Acceptable Statistics, which describe statistics that meet most, but not all,
quality requirements, but is still acceptable for the purposes for which it was generated;
Level Two: Questionable Statistics, which meet few quality requirements and provide
for limited deductions only; and, finally;
Level one, Poor Statistics, which meet almost none of the quality requirements and
provide for no deductions (Stats SA 2010:5, Stats SA 2008:3-4). The second edition
issued mid 2010 illustrates a commitment to the continual updating of the SASQAF
indicators and standards to enhance clarity and uniform implementation.
3.4.2.6 National Indicator Initiative
The Presidency’s Mid-term Development Indicators, a “series of 72 preliminary generic
policy assessment indicators”, revised slightly to contain 76 indicators in the 2008 and
2009 publications, provide the first coordinated national set of development indicators
(Cloete 2008:12; Presidency 2009a). The 76 indicators cover the following sectors
(Presidency 2009a):
1) Economic growth and transformation
2) Employment
3) Poverty and inequality
4) Household and community assets
5) Health
6) Education
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7) Social cohesion
8) Safety and security
9) Good Governance
The document provides a guideline to departments for tailoring their own M&EC
systems to provide feedback on these national indicators to the GWM&ES, so as to
enable the compilation of national statistics on progress in terms of these sectors.
Presidency identifies six steps in the development of performance indicators. Table 3.2
below shows these steps:
Table 3.2
STEP 1 Agree on what you are aiming to achieve
The first step in developing robust indicators is to agree on the problem you seek to remedy. Based on
the understanding of the problem (What is the solution?), or on social terms (what would the society be
look like if the desired changes could be affected?). This enables you to define a clear set of outcomes
and impacts. These are the institution’s strategic goals and objectives, which need to be defined in
measurable terms. Well strategic goals and objectives provide a better basis from which to develop a
suitable programmes and projects, as well as indicators. Once an institution has decided on what is to
be achieved it then needs to decide what it needs to do to do so.
STEP 2 Specify the outputs, indicators and inputs
Step 2 is the most difficult –specifying what the institution needs to do to achieve the desired outcomes
and impacts. You may find it useful to reverse the thought process. Having defined the outcomes and
impacts the institution is aiming to achieve you should then examine:
What does the institution need in the short term to achieve the desired outcomes and impacts? These
will be the outputs for the organization. The choice of the output needs to take into account who will
be affected by the intervention;
What does the institution require to produce these outputs? These will be the activities the institution
needs to undertake;
What is needed to perform these activities? These will be the inputs the institution requires. This
approach to planning is called the “logic model” and is a useful way to plan and order information. In
determining the logic model risks and assumptions must be identified for each of the levels of the
planning process. Specifying appropriate outputs often involves extensive policy debates and careful
analysis. The process of needs to take into account what is practical and the relative costs of different
courses of action. Assessment of its effectiveness is vital.
STEP 3 Select the most important indicators
There is a need to measure every aspect of service delivery and outputs. Fewer measures may delivery
a stronger message. Institutions should select indicators that measure important aspects of the service
that is being delivered, such as critical inputs, activities, and key outputs. When selecting indicators the
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following must be considered :
Clear communication: the indicator should communicate whether the organization is achieving the
strategic goals and objectives it set itself. The indicators should be understandable to all who need to
use them. Available data: The data for the chosen indicators needs to be readily available; and
Manageability: The number of indicators need to manageable. Line managers would be expected to
track a greater number of indicators pertaining to a particular programme, as compared to merely the
head official of the institution or the executive authority.
STEP 4 Set realistic performance indicators
When developing indicators there is always a temptation to set unrealistic targets. However doing so
will detract from the image of the institution and staff morale, Effective performance management
requires realistic achievable targets that challenge the institution and staff. Ideally targets should be set
with the reference to previous and existing levels of achievement and realistic forecasts of what is
possible. Where Targets are set in relation to service delivery standards it is important to recognise
current service standards and what is generally regarded as acceptance. Chosen performance targets
should :
i) Communicate what will be achieved if the current policies and expenditure programmes are
maintained.
ii) Enable performance to be compared at regular intervals – on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis as
appropriate and
iii) Facilitate evaluations of the appropriateness of the current policies and expenditure programmes.
STEP5
Determine the process and format for reporting performance
Performance information is only useful if it is consolidated and reported back into planning, budgeting,
and implementation processes where it can be used for management decisions particularly for taking
corrective measures. That means getting the right format and right people at the right time. Institutions
need to find out what information the various users of performance information need, and develop
formats and systems to ensure their needs are met.
STEP 6 Establish processes and mechanisms to facilitate corrective action
Regular monitoring and reporting of performance against expenditure plans and targets enables
managers to manage by giving them information they need to take decisions to keep service delivery
on track. The information should help mangers establish:
What has happened so far?
i) What is likely to happen if the current trend persists, say for the rest of the financial year?
ii) What actions, if any need to be taken to achieve the agreed performance targets?
Table 3.2 Steps involved in developing performance indicators: depicted from (National Treasury: 2007:12).
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3.4.2.7 Green Paper on National Performance
The Presidency (2009b:3) suggested the following aspects as M&E approach on the
discussion document: The discussion paper entitled “Improving Government
Performance” seeks to promote the view that achieving outcomes starts with identifying
the desired outcome; defining the output measures that must be monitored; describing
the key activities to be completed; listing crucial inputs, and delivery requirements will
be set out in a performance letter from the President to a Minister, group of Ministers or
Sector including the MECs. And the report-back meetings with the President every six
months would evaluate progress and provide guidance on how to overcome obstacles to
delivery as well as reports will comment on all four aspects of the Delivery Chain –
Outcomes; Outputs; Activities and Inputs. Presidency further felt that the performance
management process is based on the priorities in the MTSF 5-year plan, which is
translated into 25 to 30 outcomes with corresponding indicators. The delivery chain is
developed into delivery agreement between implementing partners and finally
translated into Performance Agreement between the President and relevant Minister(s)
(Presidency 2009b:7-8).
3.4.2.8 Public Service Commission’s Guide on Basic M&E Concepts
In terms of the PSC’s guide, the statutory role of a PSC is to assess the performance of
government institutions. Because of that the institution pursues a series of studies,
culminating in reports, to assess the performance of government institutions in areas
such as applying Batho Pele principles in service delivery, and responding to the
Presidential call for the establishment of M&E structures in all government institutions.
There is however not a formal policy directive by government yet, the PSC’s Basic
Concepts in Monitoring and Evaluation (February 2008) provides a valuable resource
to public sector institutions for understanding the basic concepts, problems and
approaches to M&E generally, as well as specifically, in the South African public
sector context. This according to the guide document provides an introduction with
definitions, and explanation of the importance and purposes of M&E. It discusses M&E
as a component of the Developmental State and links it to planning and policy
development, before providing an overview of the emerging GWM&ES and leading
role players in M&E in the South African public sector context.
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It describes various evaluation perspectives that may be adopted and the values and
principles that underpin M&E. Last two chapters provided practical guidelines for
evaluating programme performance, including the establishment of programme logic;
the design of indicators; designing M&E frameworks; formulating evaluation
questions; and linking types of M&E studies to various evaluation perspectives.
The document’s predecessor, Towards a Common Understanding of Monitoring and
Evaluation in the Public Service (A Guide on Basic M&E Concepts, published in
2007), also provided useful guidelines for M&E. This document starts with a
theoretical background to the importance, perspectives and types of M&E before
discussing what constitutes good public service performance. It also discusses
development of the M&E system through objective setting, indicator development and
target specification and provides examples and critical questions that build M&E
understanding. In addition, it contains a chapter on formal reporting as required by the
Accountant-General and tries to reconcile these requirements with other M&E
reporting.
3.4.2.9 Local government legislation for performance monitoring and evaluation
Performance management and monitoring and evaluation at local government sphere is
guided and instilled by the following policies, acts and regulations:
3.4.3.9.1 The White Paper on Local Government of 1998
The White Paper on Local Government (RSA 1998) outlines the vision for a more
development-orientated local government system. It sets out the framework and
programme for transforming the inherited local government system. The White Paper
(1998: Section B, part 3) identifies the following tools for realising a developmental
local government:
1) integrated development planning and budgeting
2) performance management
3) partnerships with local citizens and partners
According to the White Paper (1998: section 3.2), performance management, linked to
the IDP, can assist municipalities in developing an integrated perspective on
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development in their area. This will enable municipalities to direct resource allocations
towards priorities, despite an increasingly complex and diverse set of demands.
Performance management is critical in ensuring that development plans are
implemented; resources are used efficiently and optimally; and ensuring that the desired
effect is obtained through implementation. The content of the White Paper is currently
being reviewed, which may render interesting changes and new direction. In giving
effect to the White Paper, the Municipal Structures Act, 1998, emphasises the need for
the regular review of its local development mandate and performance in delivery.
3.4.2.9.2 The Municipal Structures Act of 1998
The Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act 117 of 1998) (here after
referred to as the Municipal Structures Act) aims to institute a Performance
Management System (PMS) in local government that will facilitate access of service
information to communities and thereby empower them to demand better services and
thereby cause municipalities to be more accountable (DPLG, 2001:8). Section 19 of the
Municipal Structures Act stipulates that a municipality must annually review:
1) The needs of the community.
2) Its priorities to meet those needs.
3) Its processes for involving the community.
4) Its organisational and delivery mechanisms for meeting the needs of the
community.
5) Its overall performance.
3.4.2.9.3 The Municipal Systems Act of 2000
The Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act 32 of 2000) (hereafter
referred to as the Municipal Systems Act, 2000) provides the most comprehensive
national framework for M&E in local authorities. Section 5 of the Act requires
municipalities to regularly disclose information regarding the affairs of the municipality
to the public while section 11 compels municipalities to monitor the impact and
effectiveness of its policies, programmes and plans (Atkinson & Wellman 2003:4).
Chapter 6 requires municipalities to:
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1) Develop a PMS.
2) Set targets, monitor and review performance based on indicators linked to their
IDP.
3) Publish an annual report on performance for the councillors, staff, the public and
other spheres of government.
4) Incorporate and report on a set of general indicators prescribed nationally by the
Minister responsible for local government.
5) Conduct an internal audit on performance before tabling the report.
6) Involve the community in setting indicators and targets and reviewing municipal
performance (RSA 2000: Sections 38 and 41).
Chapter 6 of the Act outlines the details of the PMS and identifies the core components.
Sections 38 and 39 describe the establishment of a PMS, while Section 40 refers to the
establishment of mechanisms for monitoring and adapting the system (Burger &
Ducharme 2000:2). Section 41 outlines the core components of the performance
management system:
1) Set appropriate performance indicators to measure performance outcomes and
impact.
2) Specific, measurable targets.
3) Regular monitoring of performance.
4) Measurement and review of performance at least once a year.
5) Ways to improve performance.
6) An established process of regular reporting.
The system should be developed to function as an early warning system of
underperformance so that it could be addressed through proactive and timely
interventions (Burger & Ducharme 2000:2 and Minister Sydney Mufamadi in the
foreword to DPLG (2) 2001:2). The Municipal Systems Act, 2000, provides the most
comprehensive guideline to enable local authorities to establish and implement a PMS
that would fulfil the national Government’s expectations of PM in the public sector.
The guidelines provided in the Municipal Systems Act, 2000, are complemented by the
PMS Regulations (2001) that highlight the involvement of the local community in the
establishment, implementation and controlling of the PMS.
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3.4.2.9.4 The Performance Management Regulations of 2001
The Local Government: Municipal Planning and Performance Management
Regulations (hereafter referred to as the PM Regulations), published in August 2001,
provides additional guidelines for the implementation of the Municipal Systems Act,
2000. The PM Regulations state that, in developing the PMS, a municipality must
ensure that the system:
1) complies with all the requirements set out in the Act;
2) demonstrates how it is to operate and be managed from the planning stage up to the
stages of performance review and reporting;
3) clarifies the roles and responsibilities of each role-player, including the local
community, in the functioning of the system;
4) clarifies the processes of implementing the system within the framework of the
integrated development planning process;
5) determines the frequency of reporting and the lines of accountability for
performance;
6) relates to the municipality’s employee performance management processes; and
7) Provides for the procedure by which the system is linked to the municipality’s
integrated development planning processes” (RSA 2001:8-9). With regard to KPIs,
the PM Regulations prescribe seven general key performance indicators against
which local government can measure its performance in achieving development:
1) Access to basic services.
2) Access to free basic services.
3) Level of capital spending.
4) Number of local jobs created.
5) Progress on employment equity at senior management level.
6) Level of municipal expenditure on the workplace skills plan.
7) Financial viability with respect to: debt coverage; outstanding debtors in relation to
revenue; and cost coverage (RSA 2001:9-10). Furthermore, the PM Regulations
require municipalities to appoint performance audit committees consisting of at
least three members, the majority of whom may not be councillors or employees of
the municipality (RSA 2001:13). Performance audit committees have powers to
investigate municipal affairs and are required to:
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1) review the quarterly reports prepared by internal auditors
2) review the PMS and make recommendations for its improvement; and
3) Submit biannual audit reports to the municipal council.
The PM Regulations also require each municipality to establish a community forum to
enhance community participation in the drafting and implementation of the IDP; the
development, implementation and review of the PMS; and monitoring municipal
performance in relation to KPIs and performance targets. A municipality must, after
consultation with the local community, develop and implement mechanisms, systems
and processes for the monitoring, measurement and review of performance in respect of
the key performance indicators and performance targets set by it. The mechanisms,
systems and processes for review must at least identify the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats of the municipality in meeting the key performance indicators
and performance targets set by it, as well as the (prescribed) general key performance
indicators (RSA 2001:11-12).
3.4.2.9.5 The Municipal Finance Management Act of 2003
Although the Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003, does not
refer directly to PM, it provides the framework for good financial management
practices in local authorities. The financial practices and performance of the
municipality has a direct bearing on the overall performance of the municipality,
especially in terms of ensuring the effectiveness, efficiency and economy of all aspects
of service delivery and municipal management. The Act also provides for a number of
budgetary requirements for linking the budget of the municipality to the IDP (and
thereby also to the PMS) as well as for assigning responsibility and accountability of
financial performance to both managers and political representatives.
3.5 IMPLEMENTATION OF M&E (GWM&E SYSTEM)
In terms of the laws the President of South Africa isolated the following institutions and
pieces of legislation as key in the implementation of GWM&E system in South Africa:
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3.5.1 The Presidency
Section 85 of the Constitution requires that the President, together with other Cabinet
Members, should, inter alia, exercise executive authority through the development and
implementation of national policy and the coordination of the functions of state
departments and administrations. The Constitution requires that all three spheres of
government work together and participate in development programmes to redress
poverty, under-development, marginalisation of people and communities. The
Presidency plays a crucial role in the coordination, monitoring, evaluation and
communication of government policies and programmes, and accelerating integrated
service delivery. The Presidency also aims to evaluate the implementation of
government strategy, including its impact as measured against desired outcomes.
3.5.2 National Treasury
The National Treasury’s mandate is informed by sections 215 and 216 of the
Constitution, and other legislation such as the Public Finance Management Act
(PFMA) of 1999 and the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) of 2003. The
Treasury’s engagement with the GWM&E Framework revolves around ensuring that
information on inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes underpins Monitoring and
Evaluation planning, budgeting, implementation management and accountability
reporting to promote economy, efficiency, effectiveness and equity, as well as
transparency and expenditure control.
3.5.3 Statistics SA
The mandate of Statistics SA is informed, inter alia, by the Statistics Act (No. 6 of
1999), the 2002 January Cabinet Legkotla and the State of the Nation Addresses 2004
and 2005. Section 14.6 (a), (b) and (c) of the Statistics Act makes provision for the
Statistician- General to advise an organ of state on the application of quality criteria and
standards. Section 14. 7 (a) and (b) confers upon the Statistician-General power to
designate statistics produced by other organs of state as official statistics. Section 14.8
clauses (a) and (b) authorises the Statistician-General to comment on the quality of
national statistics produced by another organ of state; and to publish such other
department’s statistics
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3.5.4 Department of Public Service Administration (DPSA)
DPSA’s mandate is framed by the Public Service Act. This department is responsible
for public service transformation to increase public service effectiveness and improve
governance. It acts as the custodian of public management frameworks, performance
and knowledge management and service delivery improvement. It co-chairs the
Governance and Administration Cluster and the GWM&E Working Group.
3.5.5 Department of Provincial and Local Government
DPLG derives its mandate from the Constitution, Chapters 3 and 7 as well as other
legislation such as the Municipal Structures Act of 1998 and the Municipal Systems
Act of 2000. Its core function is to develop national policies and legislation with
regards to provinces and local government, to monitor their implementation and to
support them in fulfilling their constitutional and legal mandate
3.5.6 South African Management Development Institute (SAMDI)
SAMDI’s mandate is informed by the Public Service Act, 1994, Chapter II Section 4
(2).
The institute:
(a) shall provide such training or cause such training to be provided or conduct such
examinations or tests or cause such examinations or tests to be conducted as the Head:
South African Management and Development Institute may with the approval of the
Minister decide or as may be prescribed as a qualification for the appointment,
promotion or transfer of persons in or to the public service;
(b) May issue diplomas or certificates or cause diplomas or certificates to be issued to
persons who have passed such examinations. SAMDI will play an important capacity
building role in rolling out the GWM&E Policy Framework.
3.5.7 Office of the Public Service Commission (OPSC)
The OPSC derives its mandate from sections 195 and 196 of the Constitution, 1996. It
has been tasked with investigating, monitoring, and evaluating the organisation and
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administration of the public service. This mandate also entails the evaluation of
achievements, or lack thereof of Government programmes. The PSC also has an
obligation to promote measures that would ensure effective and efficient performance
within the Public Constitution, throughout the Public Service. (E.g. professional ethics
efficient, economic and effective use of resources, impartial, fair and equitable service
provision, transparency and accountability etc.).
3.5.8 Auditor-General
The annual reports of government departments need to include, inter alia, audited
financial statements and statements of programme performance. Section 20(1) (c) of the
Public Audit Act (25 of 2004) requires that the Auditor General express an opinion or
conclusion on “reported information of the audited against pre-determined objectives”.
Similar provisions exist in terms of the Municipal Systems Act of 2000 and the
Municipal Finance Management Act of 2003 at local level.
3.5.9 Provincial Offices of the Premier
Section 125 (1) vests the executive authority of a province in the Premier, who –
together with the provincial executive council, exercises this authority through the
development and implementation of provincial policy, the implementation of national
policies in concurrent function areas, and the coordination of the functions of the
provincial departments. The Premier as the political head of the Provincial Government
is also responsible for the implementation of Chapter 3 of the Constitution on
cooperative government. The Premier’s Offices play a critical leadership role in the
development and implementation of Provincial Growth and Development Plans.
3.6 DEFINING GOVERNMENT WIDE MONITORING AND EVALUATION
SAMDI (2006) defines GWM&E system as an overarching framework for collecting
information within government and feels that although there are various existing
systems gathering valuable information there are also a number of gaps in the
information needed for planning the delivery of services and for reviewing and
analysing the success of policies. Presidency (2007) however defines M&E as
monitoring and evaluation system as a set of organisational structures, management
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processes, standards, strategies, plans, indicators, information systems, reporting lines
and accountability relationships which enables national and provincial departments,
municipalities and other institutions to discharge their M&E functions effectively and
added that these formal managerial elements are the organisational culture, capacity
and other enabling conditions which will determine whether the feedback from the
M&E function influence the organisation’s decision-making, learning and service
delivery.
GWM&E system according to the Presidency(2007) is a statutory requirement that the
accounting officer of a department or municipality, or the chief executive officer of a
public entity, is required to establish a monitoring and evaluation system for the
institution and that primary users of the M&E system will use these source systems to
refine their planning and implementation processes where the data and information
from these source systems will also be used by other stakeholders in the GWM&E
system to create an overall picture of national, provincial and local performance.
3.6.1 Principles guiding the implementation of GWM&E system
There are eight principles that guide the implementation of GWM&E system (Richard
Levin: 2005) and they are as follows:
The implementation plan should be clearly linked with prior public sector reform
initiatives.
This will allow the M&E improvements envisaged by this Policy Framework to build
upon, complement and consolidate previous reform efforts.
As far as possible, the GWM&E framework should incorporate and consolidate
existing M&E initiatives in the three spheres, aligning them to the overall aims of
government.
Many national departments have taken the lead in fostering a culture of monitoring and
intervention in sub-national spheres. The implementation of the GWM&E framework
therefore does not start with a clean slate, but should recognise and build upon these
initiatives. The implementation plan should thus be evolutionary.
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Roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder should be clearly defied and related to
their mandate.
M&E resources are extremely limited across the South African public service. It is very
important that the scarce resources available are harnessed for optimal impact, avoiding
both unnecessary duplication as well as omissions of key interventions. Effective
coordination of efforts is of paramount importance.
The implementation plan should adopt a differentiated approach across spheres and
sectors.
Although all spheres of government have a common interest and objective in
contributing whole-of government performance, it must be borne in mind that the
operating context of each sphere is very different. In order to be feasible, any
implementation plan has to be sensitive to these nuances.
The administrative burden of compliance across government should be minimised.
Implementation milestones must be linked to existing capacity and the ability to build
capacity over the medium term. Overlapping responsibilities (for example in respect of
concurrent functions) tend to result in multiple reporting lines. Provincial government
departments and especially municipalities incur substantial compliance costs in
reporting essentially the same information in many different formats to different
stakeholders. To this end the streamlining of reporting lines and sharing of information
is vital, although each data source should have a clearly designated owner. While the
GWM&E Policy Framework sketches the ultimate destination at which all public sector
departments will converge, it must always be borne in mind that capacity varies
markedly across spheres and geographic jurisdictions. While capacity should not dictate
the normative long term ideal for government, it must be factored into implementation
plans and risk managed accordingly.
Where M&E systems are supported by IT solutions, the emphasis will be on systems
integration and ease of data interchange.
The GWM&E Policy Framework seeks to embed performance a management system
within public sector organisations which articulates with other internal management
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systems. The term system, in this context refers to the policies, strategies, structures,
processes, information flows and accountability relationships which underpin the
practice of M&E across government. This may or may not be supported by IT software
and other tools.
Monitoring and the development and enforcement of statistical standards are important
pre-conditions for effective evaluation.
The sequence of implementation will focus firstly on creating a culture of monitoring
service delivery and then feeding back into managerial action. Simultaneously the
definition of statistical standards will be concluded with interventions to enable
departmental data to be converted into official data. Improvements in the quality of data
and information and the creation of knowledge will then lay the foundations for more
effective evaluation practices.
Regular review of the implementation plan against milestones
Implementing the GWM&E Policy Framework will no doubt be a learning process.
Doubtlessly implementation challenges, unforeseeable at this time, will arise. There
needs to be mechanisms to respond to these challenges, engage with relevant
stakeholders and modify the implementation plan if required.
3.6.2 Key outputs for government-wide monitoring and evaluation system
The GWM&E system produces the following outputs:
1) Improved quality of performance information and analysis at programme level
within departments and municipalities (inputs, outputs and outcomes);
2) Improved monitoring and evaluation of outcomes and impact across the whole of
government through, e.g. Government Programme of Action bi-monthly Report,
Annual Country Progress Report based on the national Indicator etc.;
3) Sectoral and thematic evaluation reports;
4) Improved monitoring and evaluation of provincial outcomes and impact in relation
to Provincial Growth and Development Plans;
5) Projects to improve M&E performance in selected institutions across government;
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6) Capacity building initiatives to build capacity for M&E and foster a culture of
governance and decision-making which responds to M&E findings
(Preseidency2007).
3.6.3 Institutionalising M&E in South Africa
Table 3.3 below shows roles and responsibilities during M&E process. Table 3.4 shows
principles governing M&E.
ROLES WHO WHAT
Legislators and councillors As representatives elected by
South Africa’s voters,
Government and all its
structures are accountable to
legislatures and municipal
councils. Legislators and
councillors must exercise
consistent and informed
oversight of the bodies
accountable to them, using
insight gained from M&E
systems.
Executive authorities Should use M&E findings in
the political oversight of
institutional performance and
for ensuring that desired
outcomes and impacts are
achieved. Also provide the
bodies to which they are
accountable with detailed
regular reports on the
institutions under their
control.
Accounting officers and
accounting authorities
Accountable for the frequency
and quality of M&E
Information and the integrity
of the systems responsible for
its production and utilisation.
They need to ensure that
prompt managerial action is
taken in relation to M&E
findings.
Programme managers, other Establishing and maintaining
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line managers and officials M&E systems, especially
collecting, capturing,
verifying and using data and
information.
Designated M&E units Ensuring the
implementation of M&E
strategies by providing
expertise and supports as
well acting as a service
hub for related initiatives.
Table 3.2 Roles and responsibilities of M&E (Depicted from Presidency: 2007)
Table 3.3
i) Transparency
ii) Accountability
iii) Participation
iv) Inclusion
i) All findings are publicly available unless there are compelling
reasons
ii) Use of resources is open to public scrutiny.
iii) Voice is provided to historically marginalized people.
iv) Traditionally excluded interests are represented throughout
processes
M&E should be development-oriented – nationally, institutionally and locally
M&E should be undertaken ethically and with integrity
i) Confidentiality
ii) Respect
iii) Representation of fair
competency
iv) Fair reporting
v) M&E should be utilisation
oriented
i) Processes ensure the responsible use of personal and sensitive
information.
ii) Promises of anonymity and non-identifiability are honoured and
relied upon.
iii) Dignity and self-esteem is built amongst stakeholders and affected
people.
iv) There is skilful and sensitive implementation of M&E processes.
v) Those engaged in monitoring and evaluation fairly represent their
competence and the limitations of their reports.
i) Consistent indicators
ii) Data/evidence based
iii) Appropriateness
iv) Triangulated
vi) Common indicators and data collection methods are used where
possible to
vii) Improve data quality and allow trend analysis.
i) Findings are clearly based on systematic evidence and analysis.
ii) Methodology matches the questions being asked.
iii) Multiple sources are used to build more credible findings.
i) Planned
ii) Scope
iii) Managed
i) As an integrated component of public management, M&E is routine and
regularized.
ii) The scale of M&E reflects its purpose, level of risk and available
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iv) Cost effective
v) Systematic
resources.
iii) Conscientious management of the function leads to sustained on-time
delivery of excellence.
iv) The benefits of M&E are clear and its scale is appropriate given resource
availability.
v) Robust systems are built up that are resilient and do not depend on
individuals or chance.
Table 3.3: Principles for monitoring and Evaluation (Depicted from: Presidency: 2007)
3.6.4 Policy framework for government-wide monitoring and evaluation system
(GWM&E) system
The GWM&ES is intended to coordinate a systematic programme of policy monitoring
and evaluation throughout the public sector in South Africa and is aimed at improving
general public management in the country and will be the vehicle for reporting in 2014
on the implementation of the UN Millennium goals and targets to halve poverty
according to a set of common indicators (Cloete 2008:8). The Presidency, after
consultation with the National Treasury, the Public Administration Leadership and
Management Academy (PALAMA), as well as various M&E experts published the
GWM&ES policy framework in November 2007 (RSA 2007). The GWM&ES policy
framework consists of four parts. Part one outlines the importance and principles of
M&E and M&E systems, with part two explaining the GWM&ES and data terrains
from which it draws.
Part three 3 gives guidelines for implementing M&E at institutional level in terms of its
management; the division of 168 roles and responsibilities; practicing M&E; and
building internal evaluation capacity. Part 4 provides the implementation process and
division of roles for effecting the GWM&ES in government. “The overarching
GWM&E System aims to provide an integrated, encompassing framework of M&E
principles, practices and standards to be used throughout Government” to “increase
effectiveness” and “developmental impact” (Presidency 2007:9). Cloete (2008:8)
explains that the GWM&ES is a secondary data assessment system that will not
undertake primary research or data collection itself. It will rather draw on information
gained from the above and other agencies, and interpret this data in the context of the
national government’s strategic Programme of Action, in order to assess progress
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towards those strategic goals. As illustration of the intent of government with the
GWM&ES, the following excerpts from the document are provided:
1) The GWM&ES will enhance the quality of performance information available for
programmes, improve the “monitoring of outcomes and impact across the whole of
government”, promote “sectoral and thematic evaluation reports”, improve the
“M&E of national outcomes in relation to the Constitution and government’s
Programme of Action, provincial outcomes and impact in relation to Provincial
Growth and Development Plans, and municipal outcomes in relation to Integrated
Development Plans”. Supporting these objectives, the GWM&ES will implement
projects and capacity building initiatives to improve M&E practices, thereby
fostering a governance culture that responds to M&E findings (Presidency
2007:11). The Presidency and National Treasury will develop an Evaluation
Framework, guidelines and support material to promote the regular evaluation of
public programmes, guide evaluation processes and provide for the publication of
the results (Presidency 2007: 15).
2) The GWM&ES seeks to entrench a management system within public sector
organisations which articulates with other internal management systems and M&E
strategies will outline how M&E findings will inform strategic and operational
planning, budget formulation and execution as well as in-year and annual reporting
(Presidency 2007: 16). Presidency (2007) further argued that data and information
from (institutional M&E) systems will also be used by other stakeholders in the
GWM&E system to create an overall picture of national, provincial and local
performance and that while each institutional strategy must focus on monitoring and
evaluating its own performance and impact, it should also adopt a sectoral
perspective and develop the capacity to report on progress and challenges at that
level. GWM&E Policy Framework will not result in a single automated IT system
for the South African Government, but shape the policy context within which
electronic IT-based systems will operate (Presidency, 2007: 8).
3) Presidency (2007: 20) further felt that the responsibility for M&E should be
distributed throughout the organisation, from the political and executive heads, to
the programme managers, dedicated M&E units and accounting officers and that
organisations should incorporate M&E capacity-building initiatives in their skills
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development plan that enable the users of M&E data to understand how to integrate
M&E functions within their areas of responsibility and how to respond to M&E
findings, and that M&E managers should set up an M&E system, manage that
system, and produce the results required for M&E from it and M&E practitioners to
gather and analyse data (Presidency 2007:21-22).
3.6.5 National Treasury Framework for Managing Programme Performance
Information (May 2007)
National Treasury (2007:2). Argues that the GWM&E framework provides a generic
understanding of M&E; discusses M&E systems and management within the South
African government context; and describes the components of the GWM&ES and the
system seeks to enhance existing monitoring and evaluation systems within government
by listing these systems; enhancing links between systems; and filling in the existing
information systems and that the system has three components, programme
performance information, social, economic and demographic statistics, and evaluations.
Treasury further felt that the first component falls under the wings of National Treasury
and is guided by the Framework for Managing Programme Performance Information
and that the Framework for Managing Programme Performance Information aims to:
1) Clarify standards for performance information and support regular audits
2) of non-financial information where appropriate;
3) Improve the structures, systems and processes required to manage performance
information;
4) Define roles and responsibilities for performance information;
5) Promote accountability to Parliament, provincial legislatures and municipal
councils and the public through timely, accessible and accurate publication of
performance information.” (Presidency 2007:13; National Treasury 2007: Slide 3).
This framework provides detailed guidelines on performance information concepts,
developing indicators, managing performance information and the division of roles
and responsibilities (See the Framework for Managing Programme Performance
Information by National Treasury 2007). It also makes accounting officers
responsible for ensuring that the organisation has:
1) Documentation that outlines the process for establishing integrated performance
management systems that are integrated with existing management systems;
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2) Appropriate capacity to manage performance information;
3) Appropriate systems and processes to collect, collate, verify, store, review and
evaluate information for each service delivery period; and consultation processes to
select performance information elements, processes to integrate performance
management responsibility into individual performance agreements and appropriate
indicators to report for oversight and publication purposes (National Treasury 2007:
Slide 14-15).
3.6.6 Shortfalls of the implementation process
Presidency (2008) went on to argue that the principles according to which the GWM&E
system was conceptualized can be seen as largely consistent with international practices but
the strategy that was proposed for rolling out the system did not sufficiently take account of
intergovernmental complexity; and there was not enough clarity about existing systems
used for sectoral and institutional monitoring and that a review by the Office of the Public
Service Commission (OPSC) on M&E systems in government and reporting requirements
was not released until mid-2007. This delay according to Presidency meant that the central
coordinating departments did not have a comprehensive view of the existing M&E
practices across all spheres of government. And that the original design also did not take
account of the extensive nonfinancial monitoring done by the National Treasury through
the formalization of the accountability cycle in strategic plans, annual performance plans,
budget statements, and annual reports.
3.7 COMPARING IMPLEMENTATION OF GWM&E WITH WORLD
EXPERIENCES
Comparing implementation experiences of growing GWM&E system in South Africa with
those of other countries, is always difficult to do, given the different developmental and
governance contexts and dynamics, which are often country-specific. Until recently, the
literature tended to have a donor perspective, rather than a government perspective (OECD
2002). Where the literature is related to government, the focus tends to be on the project,
program, or sector level rather than from a government-wide perspective (Bergeron 1999).
Schiavo-Campo (2005) argues that there is a new and fast growing body of knowledge
which deals specifically with whole-of-government M&E systems. Whilst UNCDP (2006)
felt that public sector M&E reforms are seldom conceived and implemented separately
from other broader public sector reforms. While there is a significant body of literature on
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performance budgeting and intergovernmental relations/fiscal decentralization
(Groenwegen: 1990 echoed by Shah 1994), these thematic areas are seldom treated
together in the literature. In analysing the design and implementation of the emerging South
African GWM&E system, attempts will be made to draw on each of following thematic
areas.
3.7.1 Political Leadership and Championing of M&E
Kusek and Rist (2002:153) emphasized that introducing and sustaining a GWM&E is
essentially a political rather than a bureaucratic or technical act and a precondition for
starting a results-based M&E system seems to be an unambiguous and sustained
political commitment, from officials at the highest levels, to a performance-based ethos
in the public sector and that Influential and visible champions can play a crucial role in
mobilizing support for M&E systems implementation. Stability in the political
environment therefore is also crucial since results-based M&E only yields results
slowly although there can be “quick wins.” In Australia, the election of a conservative
government in 1996 led to a downsizing of the civil service and a reduced role for the
Department of Finance and this resulted in the decade-long performance evaluation
strategy being abandoned (Mackay, 2007:43). Where the M&E system is driven by a
central agency, then any reduction of the power and influence of that central agency
could threaten the perceived relevance and utilization of the system (Mackay, 2007:28).
In South Africa, the leadership for the GWM&E system is shared by the President’s
Office, the National Treasury, and Statistics South Africa, with support from other
agencies. This joint leadership should help mitigate the sustainability risk. It is
interesting to note that the Office of President Zuma has signalled that M&E and the
objective of evidence-based policy making will continue to be a high priority on the
agenda of the incoming government. This augurs well for the continuing sustainability
of the emerging GWM&E system (Mackay: 2007).
3.7.2 Incentives for M&E
Mackay (2007) strongly felt that in most governments, incentives or sanctions are generally
focused on policy formulation, spending allocations, and the early stages of
implementation, rather than on actual results achieved or on the feedback loop from
implementation experiences to new policies, strategies, or budgets and that the
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implementation of any M&E system will have to create incentives for carrying out
effective M&E and building capability for M&E improvement. Mackay (2007) refers to
“carrots, sticks, and sermons” as ways to create incentives. In the South African scenario,
audits of nonfinancial information by the Auditor-General could potentially serve as a
severe stick. In addition, the GWM&E Policy Framework and the Framework for the
Management of Program Performance Information stresses the need to reflect M&E
responsibilities in the performance agreements of senior managers. Mackay (2007) also
warned that the Department of Public Service and Administration is in the process of
changing the format of individual performance agreements in government to include a
component that will reflect on organizational performance.
3.7. 3 Top-Down and Bottom-Up Convergence
(Mackay 2007) felt that in many countries, the development of a GWM&E system
tends to be evolutionary and syncretistic rather than consciously designed from scratch
with a clean slate and that the implementation period may also be quite protracted and
made the example of Chile which is widely held up to be an example of good practice.
In South Africa, there is already some linkage between the M&E process and the planning,
budgeting, in-year reporting, annual reporting, and auditing processes, but this needs to be
strengthened. In particular, the use of evaluation findings still needs to acquire influence in
the intergovernmental resource allocation process (Mackay: 2007).
3.7.4 Monitoring before Evaluation
In many developing countries, the initial focus was on strengthening monitoring and
performance information first, before enhancing evaluation and in Australia however, the
initial focus in the late 1980s was on evaluations, with performance information being seen
as something to be managed by line departments and that in 1995, increased concern about
the quality of performance information led to detailed reviews of departmental performance
information (Mackay 2007). He warned that in South Africa, now that the monitoring
systems have been established, the quality of the data needs to be improved and that the
next stage of GWM&E implementation will focus on evaluations, which are more skill
intensive. He saw South Africa as fortunate, as there is a strong academic sector as well as
private sector providers, so a good mix between in-house and independent evaluations is
achievable.
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3.7.5 Information and Data Constraints
Kusak and Risk (2001) argue that in developing countries, baseline information is often
not available or is not very accurate and where data do exist; there may not be
sufficiently long time series for sophisticated quantitative analysis. Also a proliferation
of indicators can actually undermine, rather than enhance, effective M&E (Schiavo-
Campo 2005). Public participation in M&E can also be a way to diversify monitoring
and evaluation mechanisms (Mackay: 2002). Client surveys can provide invaluable
information on the perceived quality of service delivery. Where information systems
are in place, the emphasis often tends to be on data collection rather than analysis. Like
many other developing countries, South Africa will have to grapple with the problems
of constructing credible baselines, setting and enforcing credible standards and
improving the quality and usage of performance information for many years to come
and it is critical to raise awareness among all concerned that M&E is not an
afterthought, but must be part of the initial conception of policies, programs, projects
and other interventions (MacKay: 2007).
3.7.6 Capacity Building
Kusek and Rist (2002) defined the minimum capacity requirement for results-based M&E
systems as: the ability to define and implement indicators; constructing baselines and
collecting, analysing and reporting performance data relative to the indicators; and
communicating and reacting to M&E findings and that the skills, infrastructure and
institutional capacity required to put into place the information systems and processes that
will ensure credible, user friendly, and that timely performance information can be quite
considerable , and argue that the skills requirements span social and economic research,
statistics, data and information management, planning, public management, and budgeting.
Sustainability of the M&E system requires that enough people with the critical levels of
skills be residents in the country rather than have for the skills sourced from the
international M&E community. Capacity building has occupied a central position since the
conception of the GWM&E system in South Africa (Presidency: 2005).
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3.7.7 Managing Change: Formal versus Informal Rules
Mackay (2007) notes that there is an on-going need to create a culture in the public sector
which demands and rewards good performance and which sanctions inefficiency and
corruption. Reflecting on the Tanzanian experience, Kabunduguru (2004) notes that M&E
is a new culture and that there could well be lack of a shared view among civil servants on
why and how M&E should be conducted and argues that there is a danger of M&E
degenerating into a “compliance” reporting culture, with little critical organizational
introspection and proactive managerial action. One of the critical questions in South Africa
is whether there is sufficient political and managerial maturity to deal with politically
sensitive and potentially embarrassing information (Presidency: 2005).
3.7.8 “Ownership” of the M&E System by Line Ministries and other
Agencies
When the adoption of an M&E system is driven by a central agency, there is a risk that line
ministries will not “take ownership” of the system. For example, in Chile, utilization of
M&E findings and insights were very low in the line ministries and agencies: “The
weakness of Chile’s M&E system arises from its centrally driven, force-fed nature”
(Mackay 2007, p.28). This can be contrasted with the Australian experience where
evaluations were essentially collaborative efforts involving the department of finance, other
central departments and the line departments. This
resulted in greater utilization of M&E findings and drew on the expertise within line
departments regarding their programs and projects. While the National Treasury was the
first driver of process to improve in-year nonfinancial reporting in sectors and across tiers,
there has been more buy-in recently from the relevant national sector departments, which
share concurrent competences with provincial departments.
3.8 ENCUPSULATING EXPERIENCES OF SA, CHILE & AUSTRALIA
In Africa there is no country that has achieved a fully developed M&E system that is
suited to its needs (Ejeoma: 2008:65). He further argued that most countries are still
experimenting with several methods of M&E that aim to provide plausible solutions to
their programme implementation. Based on the previous presentations made on
government-driven M&E systems that included both best practice case studies and
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those relevant because of similar development challenges, some best practice guidelines
or elements of a good M&E system for the public sector can be refined. In the case of
Chile, the system is driven by the Department of Finance, which traditionally controlled
financial performance and expanded their role to include outcome performance
information. Generally focus of M&E systems, as is evident in the countries that have
gone through the process to restructuring and refine their M&E systems Australia is on
outcomes or results of public programmes and policies.
There is a move away from accepting output or financial performance as an indication
of public programme success, although all of the systems still maintain a strong
financial performance focus, as one might expect given the ever-present financial
pressures to which government is subject. There seems to be merit in ensuring
institutionalisation of M&E by means of legislation or performance agreements at
senior management level. In this, Australia, Chile and the South Africa provide
valuable lessons. As Mackay concludes, Australia has digressed from a situation where
almost all new spending proposals relied on evaluation findings, to a situation where
evaluation findings are unreliable, of questionable quality and rarely used. Chile has the
strongest M&E systems internationally.
This system is backed by Treasury legislation that emphasises evaluation practices.
Mackay advises that the sustainability of the system can be ensured by merging and
institutionalising M&E in core government processes such as budgeting and funding
requests (Mackay 2007:24). Linked to institutionalisation, it is critical that the M&E
system gives guidelines to ensure the use of evaluation information. In the above cases,
evaluation information was used to inform budget decisions (e.g. Australia, Chile and
South Africa).
3.9 SUMMARY
This chapter started by examining performance evaluation and monitoring in Australia.
Here the historical background of the process was made, where development and
evolution of evaluation concept has been extensively analysed. This was followed by
the examination of evaluation and monitoring in Australia. To show commitment of
Australia government on the process of evaluation, more focus was made on the work
of Finance department. The chapter continued to give motivation for the use of
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performance evaluation information, and this was followed by establishing how
Australia had begun creating evaluation culture. The last part of the section was on
offering some lessons learnt from the Australian situation.
Section two was on examining performance evaluation and monitoring in Chile.
Immediately after the short introduction the study went on to discuss monitoring and
evaluation in Chile which was followed by the examination of the best practices. The
last part was on offering lessons learnt on Chile experiences. Section three of the
chapter went on to examine performance evaluation and monitoring in South Africa.
After a brief introduction, the evolution and development of performance monitoring
and evaluation in South Africa was examined, followed by the implementation of
GWM&E system. The section went on to discuss implementation comparisons between
GWM&E and the international experiences. After comparisons on the implementation
of these two systems, there was need to encapsulate good practices on the above-
mentioned cases (i.e. Australia, Chile and South Africa). Lastly the section the lessons
learnt on performance evaluation in South were provided.
Chapter four will outline the research methodology of the study where target population
(sample) data and information collection and data analysis, scope and limitations of the
study the significance of the study will be outlined.
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CHAPTER FOUR
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4. 1 INTRODUCTION
Research is as a process through which one endeavours to accomplish, systematically
with the support of data, the answering, questioning or resolution of a problem, or a
greater understanding of a phenomenon (Leedy, 1997:10) According to Welman (2005)
research is an exploration of scientific knowledge using various objective methods and
procedures. Leedy (1997) further defines research as a cyclical process. Given the
above definitions for the phenomenon of research, there is a need for a vigorous
exercise to produce sound arguments for the assumptions, data collection, data analysis,
project writing and the presentation of the findings. He also defined methodology as the
logic and reasons behind methods or techniques and Saunders (2007) saw research
methodology as a process that helps in the understanding the research carried out and
answers questions about how and why the research was carried out and providing valid,
accurate and genuine results.
Chapter four therefore gives a description of both the research design and methodology
used in this research study. The aim of the study is to provide a qualitative examination
of the performance of the National Human Settlements Department. A qualitative case
study approach is used in order to strengthen the existing thought of institutional
performance of both local municipalities (i.e. Lukhanji, Malahleni,) and the result of
the case study is incorporated into the thesis. Chapter five (5) proceeds to define the
research method used, determining research sample, data collection and analysis,
validation and reporting methods. The scope, limitation, as well as the significance of
the study is also outlined.
According to Naidoo (2005), the qualitative study approach requires that the researcher
to conduct a detailed analysis of data from a variety of authors and different sources of
information. This means that the methods have to be triangulated. Housing
development, in the local government sphere, was selected for the study. Sources used
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to conduct the study included documents from the department of Human Settlements
(National and Provincial), district and Local municipalities, and the Department of
Local Government. Data analysis was performed concurrently with the data collection
from the above-mentioned sources. Conclusions were also documented in the study.
4.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The nature of the research problem always defines the methods to be used in the study.
This means that the relevance of a research method is a task of the nature of the social
phenomenon to be explored (Morgan, 1980:491). Neumann (2000:63) asserts that
research is what makes social science scientific. Scientific research has the following
elements: Curiosity to know about the unknown, searching for data to explain the
unknown, satisfying the curiosity, determining the truth of the answer, and practical
using of the answer (Botes: 1995) quoted in (Brynard: 1997).
In this regard, (Noor: 2008) put forth two traditions of social science research and they
are positivism and phenomelogy. Positivism is an approach to the creation of
knowledge through research which emphasises the model of natural science, where the
scientist assumes the position of an objective researcher who collects facts about the
social world and then builds up an explanation of social life by arranging such facts in a
form of causality (Finch, 1986:6).
The qualitative method was chosen to conduct the research study. Qualitative research
seeks out the “why” not the “how” of its topic through the analysis of unstructured
information, such as interview transcripts, open ended survey responses, emails, notes,
feedback, forms, photos, and videos and does not rely on statistics or numbers, which
are the domain of quantitative researchers (Ereaut:2007). Unlike the quantitative, the
qualitative method is used to gain insight into people’s behaviour, attitudes, concerns,
motivations aspirations culture or lifestyles. Qualitative research is also used to inform
business decisions, policy formulation, communication and research. Formal
approaches used in a qualitative research include focus groups, interviews, content
analysis, and evaluation. Easterby-Smith (1991:23) argues differently that positivism is
about reality which is socially constructed rather than objectively determined, and that
the task of the social scientist should not be to gather facts and measure how often
certain patterns occur, but to appreciate the different constructions and meanings that
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the people place on their experience. Since positivism is based on the natural science
model of dealing with facts it is more closely associated with the quantitative method of
which deals with understanding the subjectivity of social phenomenon, requires a
qualitative approach. Ereaut (2007) further explained that qualitative research has
multiple focal points. The said focal points are depicted in figure 4.1 below.
Figure 4.1
Figure 4.1: Multiple focal points of qualitative research adapted from Ereaut (2007:4)
The focal points include:
1. What people say: the knowledge they have or what they understand - researching
the conscious mind ;
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
CULTURE
WHAT PEOPLE MEAN, NEED OR
DESIRE
WHAT PEOPLE DO
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2. Mean/need or desire: emotional drivers, includes conscious and unconscious or
researching the psyche;
3. What people do: the actions that they take and what they see themselves doing-
researching meaningful behaviour
4. Culture: Including cultural forces and meaningful systems, researching shared
meanings, norms and codes (Ereaute: 2007:4).
According to Leed (2001: xviii) “research has one end: the ultimate discovery of truth”
and that its purpose is to learn what has never been known before. Qualitative research
involves the studied use and collection of a variety of empirical materials – case study,
personal experience, and introspective life story, and interview, observational,
historical, interactional and visual texts – that describe routine and problematic
moments and meanings in individuals' lives (Denzin, 2004: 2). Qualitative research
therefore aims to get a better understanding through first-hand experience, truthful
reporting, and quotations of actual conversations. It aims to understand how the
participants derive meaning from their surroundings, and how their meaning influences
their behaviour. It further uses observation as the data collection method. Observation
is useful for generating in-depth descriptions of organisations or events, for obtaining
information that is otherwise inaccessible, and for conducting research when other
methods are inadequate.
Denzil (1994) state that qualitative research implies emphasis on the process and
meanings that are not rigorously examined, measured in terms of quantity, amount,
intensity, or frequency. Merriam (1988:5) argues that there are instances particularly in
the social sciences where researchers are interested in insight, discovery, and
interpretation rather than hypothesis or cause and effect relationships required. The case
study approach with the case of low housing delivery is used to investigate an issue of
interest, namely; performance by the Human Settlement Department of government.
Why choosing a case study?
Case studies are widely used in organizational studies and across the social sciences,
and there is some suggestion that the case study method is increasingly being used,
with a growing confidence in the case study as a rigorous research strategy in its own
right (Hartley, 2004:323). Stake (2000) holds the same view that case studies have
become one of the most common ways to do qualitative inquiry. Robert K. (2003a:1)
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however argued differently that , “using case studies for research purposes remains one
of the most challenging of all social science endeavours" Anderson (1993:152) views
case studies as being concerned with how and why things happen, allowing an
investigation into contextual realities and the differences between what was planned
and what actually occurred. He further explains that the case study is not intended as a
study of the entire organisation; rather, it focuses on a particular issue, feature or unit of
analysis.
The main issue being considered in this study is the evaluation of performance in four
local municipalities in the Eastern Cape, which implies an assessment of performance
by government; hence, a case study was chosen.
The following are some of the known advantages of the case study approach:
1) By including both quantitative and qualitative data, the case study helps explain both
the process and outcome of a phenomenon through complete observation,
reconstruction and analysis of the cases under investigation (Tellis : 1997).
2) Research becomes more prominent when issues with regard to education (Gulsecen:
2006), sociology (Grassel: 2006) and community based problems (Johnson, 2006), such
as poverty, unemployment, drug addiction, illiteracy, etc. are raised.
3) It enables the researcher to gain a holistic advantage of a certain phenomenon or a
series of events (Gummeson: 1991) and provides a round picture since many sources of
evidence are used.
4) It proves useful in capturing the emergent and immanent properties of life in
organisational activity, especially where it is changing rapidly (Hartley, 1994:210).
4.3 SAMPLING
Roger (2004) believes that a research sample is a group of people or events drawn from
a population and is carried out on a larger population. Roger (2004) also believes that
the best method to use to obtain a representative sample is to randomly select a sample
from the population and that a study that has a large, randomly selected sample or a
carefully matched sample is said to have external validity.
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This is in line with Castillo (2009) who argues that the research population is generally
a large collection of individuals or subjects, which form the main focus of a scientific
query. However, because of the large size of populations, researchers cannot usually
test everybody in the population because it is too expensive and time consuming; hence
researchers use a sample of the population. The concept of the sample arises from the
inability of the researchers to test all the individuals in a given population. Castillo
(2009) argues further that the sample must be representative of the population from
which it was drawn, because this provides validity and reliability in the research. The
main aim of the sample is to allow researchers to conduct the study of individuals from
the population so that the results of their study can be used to derive conclusions that
they will apply to the entire population. It is much like a give-and take- process ;the
population “gives” the sample and then it “takes” the conclusions from the results
obtained from the sample (Castillo:2009).
The boundaries of this study include the geographical location of South Africa and the
time limitation is 2013. The particular setting of the study is the National Human
Settlement Ministry. The Monitoring and evaluation system of South Africa
(GWM&E) from a broader perspective is presented, after which a firm focus was made
on housing development in two municipalities, namely: Lukhanji, and Malahleni. The
sample therefore was taken from these two local municipalities. In determining a
sample Gilgun (1990:11) suggests the following steps:
1. Identification of area under investigation
2. Literature review
3. Selection of parameters of study
4. Collection of data
5. Comparison of patterns of first case with those of second case
6. Development of working hypothesis as common patterns emerges across interviews
7. Formulation of additional questions and modification of questions, based on analysis
8. Continuation of theoretical sampling
9. Review of relevant literature when patterns appear to stabilize
10.Linking of relevant literature to the empirically grounded hypotheses
11.Testing of theoretical formulations derived from preceding step
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12.Revision of theoretical formulations as needed to fit empirical patterns in each
subsequent step.
4.4 DATA COLLECTION METHODS
Myers (2009) argues that qualitative research methods were developed in the social
sciences to enable researchers to study social and cultural phenomena and he further
gives examples of qualitative methods as action research, case study research and
ethnography and that qualitative data sources include observation and participant
observation (fieldwork), interviews and questionnaires, documents and texts, and the
researcher's impressions and reactions. A research methodology therefore is used to
derive meaning from the data collected (Leedy, 2001:100).
In the project various methods were used to gather data and information. Firstly
discussions and semi structured interviews were conducted as methods of data
collection. The cases of Lukhanji, and Malahleni, housing delivery were selected to
indicate how monitoring and evaluation of performance is conducted on a practical
level. Senior Managers were engaged to provide feedback. Robson (1993) defines
interviews as kinds of conversation, with a purpose and a flexible adaptable way of
finding things out. The interviews were free range conversations and discussions using
closed and open -ended questions. Semi-Structured interviews are more flexible than
structured interviews, allowing the interviewer to adapt an interview to a specific
situation.
The second method used was research observation, as the researcher observed the
phenomenon of interest in the environment and was able to draw information which
was not obtainable from other methods. The researcher who is a District Coordinator
and is with the provincial department of Human Settlements made significant
observations at strategic meetings. The researcher observed the performance measure
exercises that were conducted regularly within the department.
Lastly, using documents was important as they served as a strategic way to compensate
for the shortfalls of interviews, observations and the case study. Denscombe (2001:
222) argued that documents as data collection methods can involve tapes, photographs,
maps, documents, diaries, letters, websites, movies, photographs, objects, and that
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most documents have been generated for a specific purpose and are already the result of
some form of interpretation. He also felt that public documents are easily accessible
and researched and do not require an ethics application from the researcher. He further
argues that it is still important to choose documents well, as documents need to be
evaluated in terms of authenticity, representativeness, meaning and credibility. For this
study therefore data and information were collected from various universities, libraries,
the internet, journals, textbooks, articles, reports, and from various pieces of legislation.
4.5 DATA ANALYSIS, REPORTING AND VALIDATION
Data analysis is the body of methods that help to describe facts, detect patterns, develop
explanations, and test hypotheses. It is used in all sciences including business,
administration and in policy (Livine: 1996:1). Naidoo (2005: 52) asserts that data
analysis in qualitative research is best conducted through the reduction of the
accumulated data to a manageable size to allow summarising, comparing, and
synthesising in order to interpret the results in relation to the research problem.
Data and the information were collected from organization centres: libraries of various
universities, internet websites, printed materials, journals, text books conference
reports, articles, training materials, and relevant legislation. The data has been
presented in various forms such as tables, graphics and statements, to enhance
comparability and simplicity.
Validity
Most of the data collected presents hard, rigorous, credible and scientific information,
as it was gathered from official publications and reports from government agencies.
(Walcott: 1990) offers some tips in maintaining the validity of qualitative research.
They are to:-
Be a good listener: The subjects of the qualitative research should provide the majority
of the research input. It is researchers’ task to interpreted properly the responses of the
subjects
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Record accurately: All records should be maintained in the form of detailed notes or
electronic recording. The records should be developed during, rather than after the data
gathering session.
Initiate writing early: It is suggested that the researcher make a rough draft of the study
before ever going to in the field to collect data. This allows for records to vet made
when needed. The researcher is more prepared now to focus on the data gathering
phase; on the information that will meet the specific identified needs of the project.
Include the primary data in the final report: The inclusion of the primary data in the
final report allows the reader to show the exact basis upon which the researcher’s
conclusions were made. In short it is better to have too much detail rather than too little
Include all data in the final report: The researcher should not leave out pieces of
information from the final report because he/she cannot interpret that data. In such
cases the reader should be allowed to develop his/her own conclusions.
Be candid: The researcher should not spend too much time attempting to keep his/her
feelings and personal reactions out of the study. If there is relevance in the researchers
feeling to the matter at hand, these feelings should be revealed.
Seek feedback: The researcher should allow others to critic research manuscript
following the development process. Professional colleagues and research subjects
should be included in the process to ensure that the information is reported accurately
and completely
Attempt to achieve balance: The researcher should attempt to achieve balance between
the perceived importance and actual importance of the study. Often, the information
reveals a difference in the anticipated and the real areas of study significance.
The researcher was constantly guided throughout the study by the tips provided by
Wolcott (1990), to ensure the validity and reliability of the findings. The use of
multiple qualitative techniques for this case study research, i.e. triangulation enhances
the validity and reliability of the findings
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It is hoped that the recommendations obtainable in this study for revitalising current
performance monitoring and evaluation system in South Africa government sector will
promote sustainable service delivery to all its citizens and further assist in putting the
implementation of GWM&E on the map as a system of government.
4.6 SUMMARY
Chapter four has clearly detailed the research methodology to be followed and provided
a reasoning why the particular methodology was chosen. The case study approach was
deemed the most appropriate for the purpose of this study. The sample was defined.
The data and information collection methods were listed followed by data analysis and
reporting. The quest to maintain validity by adhering to sound advice provided in this
chapter was explained. The scope and limitations were explained given the research
problem and other constraints. The chapter concludes by highlighting the significance
and benefits of such research studies being undertaken.
Prior to the examination of performance monitoring and evaluation approaches of
Australia Chile and South Africa, it is critical to provide a conceptual framework of the
study, by examining the relationships between public administration, monitoring and
evaluation and service delivery. When dealing with the issue of public administration
focus will be placed on the financial management of the public sector. Chapter five will
be the summary of good practices studied in various countries.
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CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMATION OF THE STUDY: A MIXTURE OF GOOD PRACTICES
5.1 INTRODUCTION
Chapter four supra, dealt more with the experiences and the good practices both
Locally and World-wide. Mackay (2007) argued that substantive demand from the
government is a prerequisite to successful institutionalization and that an M&E system
must produce monitoring information and evaluation findings which are judged
valuable by key stakeholders; are used to improve government performance; and,
which will ensure the funding and continuation of the M&E system and that achieving
real demand for M&E is not easy as its important barrier can be a lack of knowledge
about what M&E actually encompasses, particularly where the buy-in of key officials is
necessary before a lot of effort is put into M&E. Mackay went further and advised that
the way around this challenge is to increase awareness of M&E, in particular, its range
of tools, methods, and techniques and, its potential uses.
The demand can be increased once key stakeholders in a government begin to
understand it better; are exposed to examples of highly cost-effective monitoring
systems and evaluation reports; and, when they are made aware of other governments
which have set up M&E systems which they value highly and that it can also be
persuasive to point to the growing evidence of very high returns to investment in M&E.
To him the supply side is also important including provision of M&E training, manuals,
and procedures and the identification of good M&E consultants for example and that
M&E expertise is certainly necessary if reliable M&E information is to be produced.
Mackay (2007) cautioned that those who view M&E in technocratic terms as a stand-
alone technical activity tend to focus only on these issues:
Incentives are an important part of the demand side.
There need to be strong incentives for M&E to be done well and, in particular, for
M&E information to be actually used. Simply having M&E information available does
not guarantee use, whether by Country-led monitoring and evaluation systems Better
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evidence, better policies, better development results programme managers, or by budget
officials responsible for advising on spending options, or by a Congress responsible for
accountability oversight. This underscores the dangers of a technocratic view which
sees M&E as a set of tools with inherent value.
Start with a diagnosis of what M&E functions
Currently exist and their strengths and weaknesses, on both the demand and supply
sides, when strengthening a government M&E system. The extent of actual utilization
of M&E information must be identified, as well as the particular ways in which it is
being used. Such diagnoses are themselves a form of evaluation. They are useful for the
information and insights they provide, and also because they can be a vehicle for
raising the awareness of the importance of M&E and the need to strengthen it.
Find a powerful champion. This can be a powerful minister or senior official who is
able to lead the push to institutionalize M&E; to persuade colleagues about its priority;
and, to devote significant resources to create an M&E system. A champion needs to
have some understanding of M&E, in terms of tools and methods, and an appreciation
of its potential usefulness for government. Government champions have played
important roles in the creation of some of the more successful government M&E
systems, such as those of Chile, Colombia, and Australia.
Stewardship by a capable ministry.
This related feature of successful government M&E systems is stewardship to drive the
design, development, and management of an M&E system. In many developed and
upper middle-income countries this has meant the finance ministry. It certainly helps to
have the institutional lead of an M&E system close to the centre of government, for
example, a president’s office or a budget office (Bedi : 2006). In Mexico, where the
Secretariat for Social Development (SEDESOL), a capable and respected ministry,
manages an M&E system that emphasizes both qualitative and impact evaluations.
These have included the well-known impact evaluations of the progress programme.
Although expensive, these have been highly influential on the government.
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The programme now covers some 21 million beneficiaries, and the evaluation can be
viewed as having been very cost-effective. Governments in other countries find such
including monitoring and evaluation systems to improve government performance
examples of highly influential evaluations to be quite persuasive in relation to the
potential usefulness of evaluation, and the merits of setting up a sound M&E system.
The success of M&E in SEDESOL has also helped persuade the powerful finance
ministry and the comptroller’s office to join the national evaluation council to create a
whole-of-government M&E system. This indicates the powerful demonstration effect a
successful sector agency can have.
A common mistake is to over-engineer an M&E system. This is more readily evident
with performance indicators. For example, Colombia’s M&E system, SINERGIA, had
accumulated 940 performance indicators by 2002. This number was unwieldy for the
government’s uses of the information for accountability purposes. It has subsequently
been reduced to around 500. The appropriate number of performance indicators also
depends on the type of performance indicator. Senior officials would tend to make use
of high-level strategic indicators such as outputs and outcomes. Line managers and
their staff, in contrast, would tend processes and services.
The need to build reliable ministry data systems.
A problem in African countries, and perhaps in some other regions, is that although
sector ministries collect a range of performance information, the quality of data is often
poor. Data are poor partly because they aren’t being used; and they’re not used partly
because their quality is poor. In such countries there is too much data, not enough
information. So, this lesson for the institutionalization of a government M&E system is
to build reliable ministry data systems to help provide the raw data on which M&E
systems depend. Data verification and credibility is partly a technical issue of accuracy,
procedures, and quality control. Related to this issue of technical quality is the need for
data to be potentially useful, for it to be available on a timely basis, easy to understand,
consistent over time, and so forth.
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Utilization is the measure of success of an M&E system.
The objective of government M&E systems is never to produce large volumes of
performance information, or a large number of high-quality evaluations per se. This
would reflect a success.
Provision of training in a range of M&E tools, methods, approaches, and concepts.
For an M&E system to perform well, it is necessary to have well-trained officials or
consultants who are highly skilled in M&E. Thus, most capacity-building plans place
considerable emphasis on provision of training in a range of M&E tools, methods,
approaches, and concepts. Governments that contract out their evaluations also need to
ensure that their need to understand the strengths and limitations (the relative cost-
effectiveness) of various types of M&E.
The structural arrangements of an M&E system are important from a number of
perspectives. One is to ensure the objectivity, credibility, and rigor of the M&E
information produced by the system. On the data side, governments can rely on external
audit committees to verify data. Some rely on the national audit office. Some rely
principally on internal ministry audit units. However, some have no audit strategy. On
the evaluation side, issues of objectivity and credibility are particularly important. Most
Latin American countries deal with this by contracting-out evaluations to external
bodies such as academic institutions and consulting firms. This achieves a certain
‘distance’ between the evaluators and the entities being evaluated, and this has
advantages and disadvantages. In contrast, most OECD governments rely on sector
ministries to conduct evaluations themselves, although this raises questions about the
reliability of self-evaluations.
Building an M&E system is a long-hall effort requiring patience and persistence.
This is the experience of countries that have built a government M&E system. It takes
time to create or strengthen data systems; to train or recruits qualified staff; to plan,
manage, and conduct evaluations; to build systems for sharing M&E information
among relevant ministries; and, to train staff to use M&E information in their day-to-
day work, whether that involves programme operations or policy analysis and advice. A
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handful of countries have been able to create well-functioning evaluation systems (in
terms of the quality, number and utilization of the evaluations) within four or five
years. In others it has taken more than a decade. Most countries with well-performing
M&E systems have not developed them in a linear manner according to a set plan.
Instead, incremental and even piecemeal approaches seem to be common. One reason
for this is the need to make mid-course corrections as the progress, or lack of progress,
with particular M&E initiatives becomes evident. External factors such as a change of
government can alter the direction of an M&E system and also, lead to it being
significantly strengthened or substantially run down or even abandoned.
The value of regularly evaluating an M&E system.
The frequency of mid-course corrections as M&E systems are being built leads to this
additional lesson from experience. Unsurprising, the objective of regular evaluation of
the system is to find out what is working, what is not, and why. Such evaluations
provide the opportunity to review both the demand and the supply sides of the equation,
and to clarify the extent of actual utilization of M&E information, as well as the
particular ways in which it is being used. This chapter therefore will follow the
following route: lessons learnt from Australia, lessons learnt from South Africa,
Implications of the Local and International experiences for South Africa, best practices,
approaches, and other approaches.
5.2 LESSONS LEARNT FROM AUSTRALIA
This section focus is on the lessons learnt from Australia, as been presented from the
preceding sections.
1. Centrally-Driven Evaluation Strategy (CDES): under the first generation reforms
was a centrally-driven initiative of the powerful finance ministry, linked closely to
its main area of influencing the annual budget process and the ministry’s influence
can be seen as the reason for the strategy’s success (Mackay:1998). There are
advantages and disadvantages of a centrally-driven approach and the main
disadvantage is that this led to a weak commitment by line departments (ANAO:
2011).
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2. Changes in the public sector: Changes in government always have negative impact
on the evaluation process. In Australia the results of the second generation reforms,
resulted into a challenge on the effects of the ‘let the managers manage’ reforms in
the mid-1980s. This scenario depicts Bemelmans-Videcet (1998) adage “balance of
‘carrots, sticks and sermons’ works best, rather than only one of these”. In
Australia’s case, the carrots refers to the advisory support provided by ADoF, as
well as possible access to resource agreements for line departments which put a
convincing case for up-front funding in order to help address underperforming
programs.
3. Stick here refers to ADoF’s on-going relationship with line departments and
ADoF’s ability to influence their budget Allocations. The sermons included
persistent advocacy by the permanent secretary of ADoF and his senior executives.
Finance ministries may not always be supporters of reforms designed to strengthen
the amount of information available on government performance. Before the
reforms, the Australian DoF was heavily involved in the detailed scrutiny of
departments’ spending activities. The danger is that this traditional focus on
spending can mean relatively little attention is paid to the results of that spending.
provided to Cabinet; and that advice increasingly drew on available evaluation
findings.
4. Policy and budget cycle: The experience of Australian shows that the policy
process, involving the annual budget cycle, presents dominant vehicle for achieving
a focus on government performance as a good quality policy advices are applied
within ministries, by central ministries, and by the Cabinet.
5. Reform effort led by the ministry: Efforts that were spearheaded by the ministry
seemed to have saved time and effort to making it a success. Simple advocacy of
evaluation as being has been found unsuccessful as per the principles-based
approach to evaluation in the second generation Australian reforms (Mackay 1998;
Schick 2001; Barrett 2001).
6. Demand for versus and supply of evaluation information: Knowing who need
information and when is critical and this can assist in designing a performance
evaluation and management system that will meet the need such a system will need
to answer the question: ‘what mix of performance information and evaluations will
meet the needs of key stakeholders?’ If the information generated is not fully
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utilized this situation will always be counter-productive as those responsible for
providing the M&E information will have no incentive to produce quality
information of a timely nature if they perceive the information is not being fully
used. A final issue which is difficult to resolve is that of the objectivity and
independence of evaluation (Feinstein 2003).
Use of external evaluations: External evaluations are viewed as providing objectivity,
but can be affected by inadequate program knowledge; and the level of ownership by
the agency being evaluated is often low and this can lead to poor internal utilization of
evaluation findings (ANAO: 2011). Self-evaluations are often viewed as lacking
objectivity, as being self-serving, and with insufficient evaluation. In Australian
departments, evaluations are conducted by specialist units within the department but
independent of the line areas responsible for program management and important
evaluations are often overseen by steering committees which include central ministries
and other line ministries these would be relied on to ensure objectivity, rigor, and those
difficult issues are addressed in the evaluation(ANAO:2009). This approach also
ensures a high level of ownership and utilization of the evaluation findings by the key
evaluation stakeholders.
5.3 LESSONS LEARNT IN SOUTH AFRICA
The overview of the policy framework provided in this chapter serves as an indication
of the sustained emphasis, interest and commitment of government to reform and
improves public sector performance over the last 11 years. The emerging GWM&ES,
together with the supportive policy frameworks from other role players, will set the
stage for a paradigm shift towards evidence-based policy and management decision
making. Public institutions in all three spheres will need to rethink and redesign (or
start to develop) their systems for monitoring and evaluating the results of policies,
programmes and projects. As the system is still emerging, the experience of other
countries in instilling M&E systems may provide useful guidelines and best practices
against which the potential success of the SA system may be judged.
Various countries that have embarked on the process of institutionalising M&E in
government vary widely in terms of their formalisation and focus. Ranging from the
formalised, legislated system driven by the UK Treasury or Chile’s strong legislated
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focus on financial management, to the decentralised, principle-based M&E system
within the national adopted outcome framework in Australia, it is clear that there is no
one right way to introduce M&E practices in government. The South African M&E
system emanating from the constitutional principles and the Batho Pele White Paper is
presented in several components as part of policy documents issued by the various role
players in the system. At national level, the Office of the President has issued the
Government-wide Monitoring and Evaluation System (GWM&ES) that seeks to instil
the systematic and coordinated monitoring and evaluation of public sector programmes
and policies to improve the general management of the public sector.
The National Treasury’s Framework for Managing Programme Performance clarifies
the concepts, standards, structures, systems and processes required to manage
performance information, while the Stats SA SASQAF strives towards improving
quality of statistics generated by different government agencies. The annual National
Performance Indicators of the Presidency try to integrate the results of various spheres
and sectors into a holistic picture of government outcomes and results with 76 national
performance indicators. The Green Paper on National Performance represents a move
towards a more formal institutionalised system geared towards delivering outcomes
within and across development sectors.
At the local government sphere, a legislative process for performance planning and
performance measurement is promulgated by the 1998 White Paper on Local
Government, which sets the stage for developmental local government, and the
Municipal Structures Act (1998), Municipal Systems Act (2000), the Performance
Management Regulations (2001) and the Municipal Finance Management Act (2003)
that provide the specific instructions for implementing developmental local
government. In comparing and analysing the best practice case studies for government-
driven M&E systems, the following elements are identified as critical to a successful
system:
1) The system should be driven from the top by a capable, respected ministry
2) The focus should be on outcomes or results
3) The system must be merged and institutionalised in core government processes such
as budgeting
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4) M&E results generated by the system must be used In addition to these guidelines,
the World Bank’s lessons in institutionalising M&E systems advise that:
5) substantive demand from the government is a prerequisite to successful
institutionalisation
6) Over-engineering of the system does not guarantee success
7) Structural arrangements, the place and champion of the M&E system should be
considered wisely
8) Existing monitoring and evaluation efforts should be investigated and strengths and
problem areas identified
9) The M&E system must be aligned to the strategic goals of the intervention it
evaluates
10) Incentives, including rewards, punitive measures and motivation, should be used to
encourage good M&E practices the use of generated information should be
encouraged
11) Reliable data systems should be established to ensure good quality M&E
information, and
12) The technical capacity of officials to apply M&E tools, methods, approaches and
concepts must be continuously enhanced.
In comparing South Africa’s emerging M&E system with the identified best practice
elements and guidelines, it is concluded that the system performs well on many of these
guidelines, but requires more detail and action in others to optimise the potential
success of the national M&E system. Strengths of the emerging system include the
championing of the system from the President’s Office and the establishment of the
new Ministry for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation. The GWM&ES and
Treasury Guidelines both depart from an outcome perspective, as do the Mid-Term
National Development Indicators. However, the documents are vague with regard to
providing guidelines for implementation of the outcome-based approach and in
enforcing the use of generated evaluation information in the planning, management and
reporting procedures of various departments.
No reference is made to the implications of good or poor performance results generated
by the M&E systems of departments, or how this will be communicated or used to
improve public sector performance.
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The GWM&ES is too vague in specifying how M&E should be used to inform the
planning and reporting processes of departments to ensure consistency across
departments. While some reference is made in the SASQAF document to using M&E
information to expand national statistics, there seems to be no direct benefit (or
negative consequence) for departments that fail to produce statistics at acceptable
quality levels. Within the context of M&E as an ‘add on’ activity secondary to the
‘core’ processes of government, it is concluded that M&E will only become instilled in
public sector management practices if enforced by definite rules and procedures (rather
than guidelines). Whilst the softer approach proposed by the GWM&ES may be an
appropriate starting point, it should be succeeded by a more formalised system that
stipulates consequences of noncompliance and non-performance.
The 2009 Green Paper on National Performance seems to indicate a move towards a
more strongly enforced approach and it would be interesting to see such an approach is
adopted in the final White Paper (that is, if it does not follow the same route as its
counterpart, the Green Paper on National Strategic Planning, that was adopted as a
Green Paper only). Against the guidelines presented by the World Bank, it may be said
that the SASQAF represents an example of over-engineering, especially given the
capacity constraints that currently prevail.
A phased implementation approach is recommended to bridge the gap between the
ideal situation presented in SASQAF and what is realistic, given the current statistical
capacity constraints. The 76 national indicators are reasonable when compared to other
international systems, though the content may be reconsidered to ensure the inclusion
of all development sectors. Whilst the Public Service Commission regularly surveys the
M&E capacity and practices of government, it is disconcerting that they found a decline
in the institutionalisation of M&E systems following the roll-out of the GWM&ES.
This alludes to a lingering lack of commitment to M&E as a strategic management
function.
While previous PSC reports highlighted pockets of M&E excellence in some
departments, integrated M&E systems linked to planning, decision making and
performance management systems are still largely absent. Similarly, management
information systems (MIS) are still lacking, fragmented and uncoordinated, which will
cause problems in implementing the data and statistics requirements proposed by the
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SASQAF. Finally, in creating the necessary expertise and capacity for M&E,
PALAMA designed an appropriate curriculum and adopted a ‘massification’ strategy
for the roll-out of required training, but the implementation thereof is still ad hoc and
insufficient in fulfilling the identified need in the public sector.
Whilst the positive aspects of the system presented here bodes well, the real test will
come during implementation, when the defined requirements of the 2009 Green Paper
and SASQAF will need to be enforced. Failure to specify and enforce the use of M&E
information in decision making and budget allocation may render M&E ‘toothless’ and
result in no or minimal compliance, with the full potential of evidence based policy and
public management left unrealised.
Finally, whilst it may be assumed that the performance management systems of local
government should generally be more in place, due to the earlier legalisation of the IDP
and PMS processes, this is seldom the case. The reality is that many local governments,
with the exception of the better resourced and capacitated municipalities, are barely
managing to develop and adopt indicators and performance management systems that
adequately track the implementation of their IDP, let alone the outcomes or results of
the IDP. Adopted and implemented performance management systems are often riddled
with technical errors, including poorly formulated or defined indicators; non-agreement
between the indicator’s unit of measurement and the unit of measurement of the target;
and over-focus on inputs and outputs, with few process and almost no outcome
indicators.
In comparison to the daily service delivery crises of some of these municipalities,
dedicating the required resources to improving internal monitoring and evaluation
systems is not regarded as a priority. The performance management systems are often
perceived as a threat that will accurately confirm the extent of existing problems, and
not as a tool that will assist to address the problems experienced in service delivery. In
addition to overcoming the existing problems, the sectoral perspective promoted by the
Presidency’s GWM&E system, the ‘what to measure’ guidelines from the Treasury or
the ‘how to measure’ guidelines from StatsSA will demand even greater sophistication
from municipal performance management systems. Municipalities will need to rethink
their performance management systems to adopt an outcome and sectoral focus and to
put in place the necessary measures to ensure the generation of quality information and
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statistics to populate the system. This is to be preceded by a mind-shifting change about
the importance and value of M&E systems for enhancing organisational performance.
Simultaneously, there should be a medium-term strategy to expand the capacity of local
governments to enable managers to adopt appropriate indicators, given unavoidable
resource constraints. This should be accompanied by a drive towards a more balanced
perspective of local government performance by including, in addition to input and
output indicators, also process and outcome indicators. It is within this focus that the
current research has developed improved output and outcome indicators for local
economic development to present local governments that have little capacity with
examples of appropriate indicators that they may incorporate into
5.4 IMPLICATIONS OF THE LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL BEST
PRACTICES FOR SOUTH AFRICA
Mackay (2007) noted that South African system is championed from the President’s
Office and this lends high-level priority to the system, especially through the 2009
restructuring that placed two new Ministers in The Presidency, namely the Minister of
the National Planning Commission and the Minister of Performance Monitoring and
Evaluation. Attaching the well-respected past minister of Finance, Mr Trevor Manual,
to this office will also serve to strengthen the credibility of the system. He further
argues that the system also relies on the Treasury and Stats SA, both recognised as
traditional depositories of performance information for implementation. These
champions according to Mackay will need to work together in creating awareness of the
system, and, more importantly, obtaining buying from all departments, to ensure the
successful institutionalisation of M&E practices in the South African public sector.
Both the GWM&ES and the Treasury Guidelines place emphasis on outcomes and
creating capacity to report on outcomes.
Mackay (2007) further stated that while the GWM&ES aims to improve the
monitoring of outcomes and impact across the whole of government; promote sectoral
and thematic evaluation reports, improve the M&E of national outcomes in relation to
the Constitution and government’s Programme of Action, provincial outcomes and
impact in relation to Provincial Growth and Development Plans, and municipal
outcomes in relation to Integrated Development Plans, it fails to give specific details on
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how this will be done and that in terms of institutionalising M&E in government
processes to ensure the generation and use of quality evaluation information, the South
African system is vague but most departments already conduct some programme
evaluation and all departments are required to report on performance to various
decision makers, the Treasury and the Auditor General. According to Mackay (2007)
GWM&ES is vague in specifying how M&E should be used to inform the planning and
reporting processes of departments to ensure consistency across departments and that
the Treasury’s Programme Performance Information guidelines refer to the “regular
audits of non-financial information where appropriate” but fails to specify in any detail
what this may entail.
Lastly, Stats SA states that information will be used to expand national statistics, but
there is no direct benefit (or negative consequence) to departments in failing to produce
statistics at the level required for incorporation into national statistics. The current
M&E system provides a softer approach to instilling an M&E culture in government,
which may be an appropriate starting point for a more formal system, in later years, that
draws on initial experiences and good practices. Within such a complex, adaptive
system (Cloete 2008:18-21), a decentralised, flexible system that acknowledges and
provides for the adoption of systems that fit individual needs and capacities of
organisations, such as is provided by the GWM&ES, is perhaps a good departure point,
rather than a more formalised system. This is especially true given the current capacity
constraints in terms of evaluation expertise in the public sector. The 2009 Green Paper
on National Performance seems to indicate a move towards a stronger enforced
approach and it would be interesting to see if a strong approach is affected in the final
White Paper and in the implementation of the final policy.
5.5 APPROACHES TO EVALUATION
A range of benefits are obtainable in the following approaches
Theory-Oriented Evaluation
Theory-based evaluations developed from perceived deficits of ‘black box’ evaluations,
where the focus of an evaluation is the measurement of the achievement of outcomes,
with direct attribution of this achievement to the inputs of a program (Stame: 2004).
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Theory-driven or theory-based evaluation is concerned with opening the ‘black box’
and claims to help explain the how and why programs achieve, or fail to achieve,
results (Birckmayer & Weiss, 2000). Program evaluations based on this approach begin
either with (a) a well-developed and validated theory of how certain programs, in
certain settings; operate to produce outcomes, or (b) an initial stage to develop such a
theory for further testing (Stufflebeam & Shinkfield, 2007).
According to Birckmayer and Weiss (2000) theory-based evaluation is generally an
approach that requires the surfacing of the assumptions on which programs are based in
considerable detail, linking what the program does (activities), the expected effect,
what happens next and so on to the expected or intended outcomes. So in this approach,
whilst questions are asked regarding the achievement of outcomes, the tracing of steps
along the way to assess whether foundational theories are realised in action also occurs.
Birckmayer & Weiss (2000) suggest that benefits of this approach include:
i) advantages for program planning and improvement: results of theory-based
ii) evaluation will show which chains of assumption/theory are well supported by the
data collected, and which assumptions break down and where advantages for
knowledge development: better knowledge of mechanisms of change will benefit
not only the specific program, but over time may be generalised to other change
efforts
iii) advantages for planning evaluation: use of the program’s assumptions as the
framework for the evaluation As Rogers, Petrosino, Huebner and Hacsi (2000)
state, interest in this style of evaluation has grown significantly in the last few
decades. The authors note, however, that despite the apparent popularity of program
theory evaluation, the formal evaluation literature still has relatively few examples.
As McLaughlin and Jordan (2004) argued that, the process of its development and the
resultant model can be very useful for “conceptualising, planning and communicating
with others about their program” and apart from helping to build shared understanding
and expectation within staff teams regarding their programs, the logic model can act as
a useful advance organiser for designing and planning evaluation and performance
measurement. The Smith Family (2006) outlines the use of logic modelling with the
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purposes of clarifying the program’s strategies, assisting in strengthening claims of
causality and estimating the effects of the program.
Realist Evaluation
Realist evaluation can be viewed as another type of theory-oriented evaluation (Stame:
2004). In realistic evaluation, emphasis is made on the importance of a program theory
that includes both context and mechanism, which accounts for the outcome (Pawson
and Tilley: 1997). Realistic evaluation seeks to address the question of why a program
works, and for whom and under what circumstance (Kazi: 2000). He felt that Realist
evaluation is pluralist with regard to choice of method, with the assertion it can be
carried out using many different methods depending upon the hypothesis being tested.
Participatory approaches to evaluation are increasingly used in community-based
programs and initiatives, with a growing acknowledgement of their value (Lennie:
2006). The main feature of these approaches to evaluation is the active engagement of
multiple stakeholders, with their various needs and interests generating the content and
form of the evaluation process (Mathie & Greene, 1997). King (2007) notes an
emergence of an array of collaborative or participatory approaches to evaluation, going
by various names such as action research and empowerment evaluation. Cousins and
Whitmore (1998) reviewed many contrasting instances of participatory forms of
evaluation and compared and contrasted examples to identify their similarities and
differences. In the process the following were identified:
i) Practical participatory evaluation is centrally concerned with the utilisation of
evaluation findings for supporting decisions, education and learning, and to support
persuasive and political agendas.
ii) Transformative participatory evaluation depicts the use of participatory principles
and actions to democratise social change (for e.g. empowerment evaluation), with
the primary function of empowering individuals or groups.
Utilisation-Focussed Evaluation
According to Patton (1997: 20) the focus of utilisation-focussed evaluation should be
on “intended use by intended users” and is geared to ensure program evaluations make
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an impact. Stufflebeam and Shinkfield (2007) discuss utilisation-focussed evaluation as
a leading exemplar of what they term an eclectic evaluation approach. The authors note
the use of evaluation findings in this approach for assessment of merit and worth,
program improvement and generation of knowledge. In this approach the evaluator is
seen as a technical assistant and facilitator whilst the primary intended users determine
the program to be evaluated, the information required how and when it will be
conducted and how the results will be used. Here the evaluator balances the concern for
utility with assuring validity and this utilisation-focussed approach is seen as having
“universal applicability” (Stufflebeam & Shinkfield, 2007:233), with an ability to be
tailored to meet the needs of any program evaluation.
Empowerment Evaluation
Cousins and Whitmore (1998) argue that empowerment evaluations are sitting within
their transformative participatory evaluation stream. This form of evaluation therefore
sees the program participants conducting their own evaluations with an evaluator
serving as a coach or facilitator, depending on the program’s available internal
resources or capabilities (Fetterman: 2002) This approach is designed to help people
help themselves and improve their programs via self-evaluation and reflection
(Fetterman,2002). Empowerment evaluation has been criticised for a number of reasons
including theoretical or conceptual ambiguity, lack of concordance in practice that
readily distinguishes it from other participatory approaches and a lack of documented
evidence of success. For example, Miller and Campbell (2006) present an empirical
review of case examples of empowerment evaluation from 1994 to 2005 to analyse how
closely theory and practice align.
5.6 OTHER APPROACHES TO MONITORING AND EVALUATION
Mrosek (2006) argues that monitoring and evaluation has become an important tool
within global efforts toward achieving environmental, economic and social
sustainability and that at national and international levels, sustainability criteria and
indicators for monitoring and evaluation are important tools for defining, monitoring
and reporting on ecological, economic and social trends, tracking progress towards
goals, and influencing policy and practices (United Nations: 2000-2008). At regional
and sub-regional levels M&E is important for assessing the sustainability of local
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practices, and can be an important tool to assist with management planning
(Montaño:2006). Monitoring and evaluation as a tool for learning and continual
improvement has been viewed as key to the success of the sustainable management of
resources (Meffe: 2002). Continual improvement approaches to M&E include
performance management frameworks (Behn, 2003) designed to maximize the
effectiveness of projects or programs. Results-based management (Swiss, 2005) is one
such performance management approach commonly used in government and
nongovernmental organizations.
The fore-mentioned part of the research outlined the new monitoring system in South
(GWM&E) as well as its similarities with the experiences of other countries. Gaps in
the implementation process of the system were identified and analysed. This would be
useful in case study at hand, as this section dwell much about the South African
experience. The said experience will be used to examine the upcoming case in the
following chapter.
5.7 MOTIVATION FOR PERFORMANCE AND EVALUATION
INFORMATION
Evaluation and the public budget and policy
The Budget process in Australia is designed to enable the executive Government to
formulate fiscal and policy priorities which are delivered through the budget. The
outcome of the budget process is a set of decisions which, in order to implement,
generally involve enabling Australian government entities to spend money. It is through
the Budget process that the executive gains parliament’s authority to spend public funds
through the passing of annual appropriation Acts. The executive government then
allocates this money to its departments of State and other Australian government
entities so they can undertake activities on behalf of the executive government.
(mailto:[email protected]: accessed on 9th
November 2012). A bottom-
line issue is the extent to which evaluation results are actually used. If their use is
patchy or poor then there really is little point in conducting evaluations. It is important
to appreciate the realistic limits to the influence of evaluation on ministers’ or the
Cabinet’s decision making.
175
Banks (2009:3) argued that policy decisions will be influenced by much more than
objective evidence, orrational analysis values, interests, personalities in short,
democracy determine what actually happens, but evidence and analysis can play a
useful, decisive, role in informing policy makers judgments and that they can also
condition the political environment in which those judgements need to be made. He
further argues that without evidence, policy-makers must fall back on intuition,
ideology, or conventional wisdom or, at best, theory alone. As the evaluations were
used in the budget process they provided a contribution to the development of policy
options and their consideration by the Cabinet (ANAO: 1996) and as such many
surveys were conducted by ADoF.
5.8 SUMMARY
As the phenomenon of Monitoring and Evaluation seemed of recent of origin, it is good
that Nations share with one another both the good and bad experiences. There is no
Country that is more perfect than the others, but those that excelled in both designing
and implementing the process should commended and acknowledged by the other
Countries. The next chapter therefore will focus on the methodology through which the
study was conducted.
176
CHAPTER SIX
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS OF THE CASE STUDY: THE CASE OF LUKHANJI AND
MALAHLENI LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES IN THE EASTERN CAPE
6.1 INTRODUCTION
The preceding chapter dwell much on the findings and lessons learnt from both the
local and international approaches on performance monitoring and evaluation and these
cases present a yardstick against which the cases of the above-mentioned municipalities
(i.e. Lukhanji and Malahleni) will be measured. These lessons will help in providing
recommendations and informed suggestions in order to fast-track low- cost housing
delivery. This chapter therefore will start with the general overview of municipalities,
their Constitutional mandate and objectives. The performance of these municipalities as
well as their budget performance will then be examined for the 2010/11 financial year
as well as the current performance monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.
The next item will be to analyse and report the findings of the case study, followed by
comparing the findings of the case study with the lessons learnt from the local and
international experiences in order to give important recommendations for the three
spheres of government in the last chapter of the project and will then end with a
summary brief.
6.2 CASE STUDY: LUKHANJI AND MALAHLENI LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES
6.2.1 Historical overview of Lukhanji municipality
The Lukhanji Municipality came into being on 5th
December 2001, and is made up of
four administrative areas such as:
1) Mlungisi,
2) Whittlesea,
3) Lesseyton, and
4) Illinge
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All these areas except for Mlungisi were under both the former Ciskei and Transkei.
Mlungisi was the part of greater Queenstown. Lukhanji is one of 8 Local Municipalities
which falls under the jurisdiction of Chris Hani District Municipality. These areas are
reflected on figure 6.1 below:
Figure 6.1: Map showing the locality of Lukhanji and Malahleni municipalities in Chris Hani (IDP:
2010/11)
Lukhanji is landlocked by the municipalities of Tsolwana and Inkwanca to the west,
Malahleni and InsikaYethu to the north, and Amahlati to the east. It covers
approximately 4231 km2 of space under Chris Hani District Municipality. Its largest
urban centre is Queenstown (Lukhanji IDP: 1996). In 2001, the above-mentioned areas
were amalgamated and new priorities emerged. Houses that were built by government
are few and of poor quality.
When the new government came into being, these areas were combined and became
Lukhanji. In their first IDP, housing has been a priority as there were many homeless
178
people in the area and since housing has been one of the Freedom Charter
pronouncements which say “There shall be houses, security and comfort for all”. The
new Constitution (Act 108 of 1996) also provide for adequate housing. In 1997 the
National Housing Act (107 of 1997) was adopted and many saw it as the solution to the
housing problem. Whereas it outlines roles and responsibilities of municipalities with
regard to housing development, bottlenecks within housing development programme
are still visible and housing development was moving in a very slow-pace. This slow-
paced housing development also took place in Lukhanji municipality. The inherited
pre-1994 housing development was largely characterised by the following features:
1) Fragmented housing machinery, for instance three public service administrations
created along with racial and ethics lines;
2) Not transparent ; and
3) Highly bureaucratic
That is the reason why the Chris Hani Rural Development forum (1994) argued that
many people still live in shacks or informal settlements where there is no water,
electricity, and infrastructure and that both the national policy framework and National
Housing Act (107 of 1997) did little to address the housing problem. Figure 6.2 below
shows housing demand in Lukhanji:
Figure 6.2
Figure 6.2: housing demand at Lukhanji (Depicted from IDP: 2010/11)
Housing demand at Lukhanji
Back yard shacks
Renting
Stay in family house
Informal settlement
Own property
179
6.2.2 Constitutional Mandate and objectives of Lukhanji
1) The Constitution of the Country lays down the following functions as the
responsibility of the local municipality:
2) Sufficient water
3) Basic sanitation
4) Refuse removal in denser settlement
5) Environment health
6) Basic energy
7) Health care
8) Housing and food and clothing
6.2.3 Legislative framework
1) The following statutes constitute the primary legislative housing mandate of local
municipalities:
2) Batho Pele White Paper, Demarcation Act. Government
3) Consumer Protection Act (95 of 1998).
4) Growth Employment and Redistribution Strategy(1995)
5) Municipal Structures Act (117 of 1998),
6) Municipal Systems Act (32 of 2000),
7) National Housing Act (107 of 1997)
8) Prevention of eviction Act (1998)
9) Prevention of Illegal Eviction Act (19 of 1998)
10) Promotion of access to Information Act (2 of 2000),
11) Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (3 of 2000),
12) Public service regulations (1999)
13) The Public Finance Management Act (No.1 of 1999),
14) White paper on reconstruction and Development programme (1994)
15) White paper on transformation of public service delivery (1997)
6.2.4 Vision
“A municipality of choice that seeks to work closely with its people to promote good
governance, economic growth, and sustainable delivery of services”
180
6.2.5 Mission of Lukhanji is to:
“Strive for financial and administrative stability while constantly providing effective,
affordable, sustainable, quality services and also promoting sustainable integrated
development in order to achieve socio-economic uplifment, stability and growth”
6.2.6 Values
In addition to Batho “Pele” Principles Lukhanji commits itself to upholding the
following sets of values”
1) Good governance
2) Accountability
3) Public participation
4) People development
5) Teamwork
6) Integrity
7) Tolerance
8) Honest
9) Responsibility
10) Trust
6.2.7 Programmes and measurable objectives
In terms of the legislative imperatives of government, Lukhanji adopted five
programmes. In order to make these programmes easily assessable, measurable
objectives were identified for each programme. That means budget allocations were
made to fund these programmes.
Table 6.1
MUNICIPAL
PROGRAMME
OBJECTIVE SUB-
PROGRAMM
E
Financial viability
and Governance
1) To achieve a clean audit by June 2011
2) To improve turnaround time for completion of budget:
adjustment by 14 February, DRAFT 10/11 budget to 31 March
1) CFO
2) IGR + Restorative
Justice Renaming
181
2010
3) To improve turn around for dealing with disciplinary cases
brought before the DC to less than 60 days from date of initial
charges by end 2010
4) To have all the employees signing a pledge to anti-corruption
programme by beginning 2010/11
5) To develop clear policy for restorative justice processes and
renaming
3) Clean Audit
4) Budgeting and
Revenue
improvement
Institutional
Development &
Transformation
1) To revise and automate and cascade performance
management
2) To adopt a HR retention strategy
3) To adopt revised EEP with specific targets for women,
youth and disabled in top three levels of management
4) To apply for accreditation as a housing delivery agent of
the department
5) To fill all critical budgeted vacancies in the organogram
6) To facilitate accredited training officials and councillors
1) Performance
Management
2) Capacity
Building
3) HRM
4) Organizational
Development
Basic Services &
Service delivery
1) To ensure households have safe places to dispose of their
refuse and waste
2) To facilitate construction of low cost houses with support
from EC department of Housing
3) To facilitate supply of electricity
4) To construct new gravel road network in our rural areas
5) To facilitate increase household access to water and
sanitation
1) Roads and
Storm-water
2) Housing
3) Free Basic
services
4) Planning
5) Customer
services
Local Economic
development
1) To improve Agric contribution to economy
2) To support Local Tourism Agency
3) To adopt an Agriculture and Rural development plan
4) To create jobs through implementation of municipal
5) public works programme
1) LED
2) Local Tourism
and Heritage
3) EPWP
Rural
Development
1) To redress decades of poor land use control and unwise land
use practices; and
2) To institute a spatial planning and institutional platform for
extending land use management to these areas on a systematic
basis.
1) Land use and
Spatial Planning
Table 6.1: KPAs for Lukhanji local municipality: (Depicted from Annual report: 2010/2011)
Lukhanji is faced with various housing challenges and they are:
1) Current housing backlog (40 000 household);
182
2) Informal settlements are growing fast and the scarcity of accommodation remains a
challenge;
3) Shortage of funding for existing planning and survey project;
4) Land turner, some land not owned by the municipality but under the state ;
5) Slow finalization of transfers of certain portions of land in Whittlesea;
6) Transfer of land in lesseyton, Gwatyu farms and individual beneficiaries;
7) Beneficiaries sell their RDP houses as well as;
8) Sell their shacks when they are moving to the RDP houses ;
9) Slow rate of construction of temporal structures for rectification programme;
10) Unserviced sites and
11) Former TBVC state planning ordinances and different pieces of legislation for
planning making it difficult to deal with the land use (Lukhanji,IDP:2008/09)
As much as housing is not a primary competence of the local municipality, it is a key
priority for Lukhanji, the municipality had huge backlog. The municipality is in terms
of the National Housing Act (1997) expected to build adequate houses for homeless
people. In order to deal with the current backlog, the municipality had to implement the
Provincial housing strategy. The new strategy aimed at addressing two aspects i.e.
housing quality and backlog in all municipalities. The municipality again had to
develop Turn Around Plan (TAP). It becomes key therefore to demonstrate whether
Lukhanji managed during the said financial to achieved targeted goal. Figure 6.3 below
shows service delivery backlog at Lukhanji:
Figure 6.3
Figure 6.3 Service delivery backlogs: Depicted from Lukhanji annual report (2010/11)
Electricity Backlog
Sanitation Backlog
Water Backlog
Refuse Backlog
Housing Backlog
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14%
Service delivery backlog
Electricity Backlog
Sanitation Backlog
Water Backlog
Refuse Backlog
Housing Backlog
183
In terms of figure 6.3 the service delivery backlog statistics are as follows:
1) Electricity = 12%
2) Sanitation = 13%
3) Water = 7%
4) Refuse 8%
5) Housing 8%
In order for Lukhanji municipality to discharge its mandate, a process- flow-diagram
which will show basic steps during the three phases on annual basis, and these phases
are planning (a period before the beginning of the financial year), implementation phase
(during the year) as well as reporting (i.e. at the end of the financial year). The process
of utilising these steps before examining reported actual results by the municipality is
prudent as well as to consider what priorities and targets were set for the municipality
before the beginning of the financial year. A comparison between actual against the set
targets must therefore be made. Figure 6.4 below shows the process flow the basic steps
during the three phases of performance in municipalities and public organizations.
Figure 6.4: Process flow Chart
Figure 6.4 Basic steps during the three phases of performance in various organizations (DHLTA: 1994).
Phase 3(Step 1)
Anual report
Phase 1(Step 1)
State of the nation address
Phase1(Step2)
Annual performance report
Phase 2(Step 1)
Implementation of performance report
Phase 2(Step 2)
Monitoring and Evaluation
184
The reporting made here is in line with performance of Lukhanji and Malahleni local
municipalities for the 2010/11 financial year. The report on the performance of these
municipalities will be done based on the above-mentioned three phases (i.e. planning,
implementation, and reporting in order to provide the State President’s call to the
Department of Human Settlements during the State of the National Address which
involves details of what priorities and programmes were planned for all municipalities
in terms of housing delivery, as well as the achievements made at the end of the
reporting period.
6.3 PHASES AND STEPS OF ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE
6.3.1 PHASE 1: PLANNING PHASE
STEP 1 (State of the Nations Address 2011).
In 2011, in his State of the Nation Address, President Zuma put forth the need to build
adequate houses and said “The construction industry is a known driver for work
opportunities, there are 1.2 million households living in the country’s 2 700 informal
settlements, by the year 2014, 400 000 of the said households should have security of
tenure and access to basic services, we will also improve the delivery of rental
accommodation as some people coming to urban areas do not intend to settle
permanently, this should be welcome news to citizens such as Portia Busisiwe
Mrwetyana who wrote on our Facebook page about inequalities in Bekkersdal, where
an informal settlement which has no services, lies alongside a suburb across the road
with all amenities. She asks: “What I wanna know is why treat us differently, but we
give you the same vote, WHY?”
“Government will spend R2, 6 billion on water services this year. Among the priority
areas are the provinces of Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape where there
are still high numbers of people without safe drinking water. We noted the requests
from many contributors to this address, for government to fix potholes. That means
both of the SONA put emphasis on building houses” (Jacob Zuma: 2011).
185
PHASE 1: PLANNING PHASE
Step 2 (Preparation and submission of an annual assessment report)
In terms of the Municipal Systems Act (as amended), municipalities are required to
prepare an Annual Performance Report that is to form part of the Annual Report to be
prepared in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act. The report is closely
aligned to Performance Management System (PMS) which is in turn linked to the
Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and Budget in order to ascertain that developments
are related to the strategies, objectives of the IDP and budget available. It encourages
accountability and transparency because the annual results must be published as
prescribed by Section 121(3) c of the MFMA in accordance to the Municipal Systems
Act, 2000 (Act, 32 of 2000). It also helps the municipality to establish future priorities
and allocate budgets accordingly and more appropriately to achieve desired results.
Most importantly, annual performance reporting can lead to improved service delivery
because it focuses on results and how effectively and efficiently resources are being
used.
Section 38 of the Act and the regulations requires a municipality to establish a
performance management system that is best suited to its circumstances and which is in
line with its priorities, objectives and targets, as contained in its IDP. The MSA further
provides a mechanism to ensure that performance processes and system are effectively
implemented, continually monitored and improved upon. The report is compiled in
order to comply with the following legislation: Local Government:
1) Municipal Finance Management Act, Act 56 of 2003,
2) Section 121 Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, Act no 32 of 2000,
3) Chapter 6 Local Government Performance Regulations for Municipal Managers and
Managers directly accountable to Municipal Managers, 2006 (Regulation no 805of
2006) Local government: Municipal Planning and Performance Management
Regulations, 2001 (Regulation no 796 of 2001).
4) Performance Information Public Audit Act Directive, General Notice 646 of 2007,
issued in Government Gazette No. 29919 of 25 May 2007 (General Notice 646)
186
This document serves to report on the actual implementation of the Strategic Goal of
the Municipality as defined in the various plans of respective Directorates. The nature
of the report will thus be on the outcomes and the impact of the various Directorates of
the Municipality. It is envisaged that the Annual Report for the 2011/12 Financial Year
will encompass both the Financial and the Performance reporting requirements as per
Chapter 12 of the MFMA and Chapter 6 of the Municipal Systems Act. Table 6.1 above
shows key municipal programmes as well as their purpose and will show the following
issues per programme
1) Sub-programme;
2) Priorities ;
3) Output;
4) Service delivery indicators and
5) Targets
The information will then be compared against the actual performance as been made
available by the municipality (Phase 3) during analysis and findings of the case study.
Functional areas for Lukhanji include:
1) Good Governance
2) Institutional Development & Transformation
3) Financial viability (Clean Audit, budgeting and Revenue improvement)
4) Local Economic development
5) Service delivery
Functional area 1: Financial viability and Good Governance
Sub-programme Priorities Output Service delivery indicator Target
CFO
Internal
Audit
To achieve a
clean audit
opinion
Clean
audit
opinion
Extent to which
municipality achieves
clean audit
To achieve a clean
audit opinion by June
2011
187
CFO
Legal
Corporate
Services
PMS and
IDP
Mayor
/Speaker
Corporate
Services
HRM
Mayor
Council
Municipal
Manager
To improve
turnaround
time for
completion
of budget
Timeou
s
complet
ed
budget
Extent to which
turnaround time for
completion of budget
adjustments by 2014
To improve turnaround
time for completion of
budget: adjustment by
14 February, DRAFT
10/11 budget to 31
March 2010
To improve
turn around
for dealing
with
disciplinary
cases
brought
before the
DC
Reduce
d
discipli
nary
cases
Number of disciplinary
cases resolved by the
end of 2010
To improve turn
around for dealing with
disciplinary cases
brought before the DC
to less than 60 days
from date of initial
charges by end
2010
Municipality
- IDP
Review
2010/11 84
Credibl
e IDP
Extent to which a
credible IDP has been
developed
Lukhanji Local
Municipality IDP
Review 2010/11 84
To have all
the
employees
signing a
pledge to
anti-
corruption
Signed
pledge
on anti-
corrupti
on
Extent to which
employees sign pledge
to anti-corruption
programme by 2011.
To have all employees
signing a pledge to
anti-corruption
programme by
beginning 2010/11
To develop
clear policy
for
restorative
justice
processes &
renaming
Policy Extent to which the
municipality developed
the policy on
restorative justice
To develop clear policy
for restorative justice
processes and renaming
by the end of 2010
Table 6.2: Annual performance planning information for functional area 1: depicted from Lukhanji IDP
2010/11
188
Functional area 2: Institutional Development & Transformation
Sub-
programme
Priorities Output Service
delivery
indicator
Target
PMS
Corporate
Services
Corporate
Services
Basic
service
Customer
Services
Corporate
To revise and
automate and
cascade
performance
management
Cascaded
and revised
performance
management
Extent to
which
performance
management
has been
cascaded
To revise and
automate and
cascade
performance
management
To adopt a HR
retention strategy
Adopted HR
retention
strategy
Extent to
which HR
retention
strategy has
been
developed
and adopted
To adopt a HR
retention strategy
by the of 2010/11
financial year
To adopt revised
EEP with
specific targets
for women,
youth and
disabled in top
three levels of
management
Adopted
EEP with
specific
targets for
PDIs in top
levels of
management
Extent to
which EEP
has been
developed
and adopted
To adopt revised
EEP with specific
targets for
women, youth and
disabled in top
three levels of
management by
the end of 2010
To apply for
accreditation as a
housing delivery
agent of the
department
Lukhanji as
an
accredited
housing
delivery
agent of the
department
Extent to
which
Lukhanji
becomes
accredited
housing
delivery
agent of the
department
To apply for
accreditation as a
housing delivery
agent of the
department by end
of 2010/11
financial year
To fill all critical
budgeted
Manned
organogram
Extent to
which
To fill all critical
budgeted
189
Service
HRD
Corporate
Services
Speakers
office
DLGTA
Corporate
Services
Speakers
office
DLGTA
vacancies in the
organogram
on critical
posts
critical post
are filled by
the
municipality
vacancies in the
organogram by
June 2010
To facilitate
accredited
training for
officials and
councillors
Trained and
capacitated
officials and
councillors
Extent to
which
councillors
and officials
are
capacitated
To facilitate
training for 8
councillors and 40
officials
To facilitate
training and
capacity building
for ward
committees
Trained and
capacitated
ward
committees
Extent to
which ward
committees
are
capacitated
To facilitate
training and
capacity building
of all ward
committees
Table 6.3: Annual performance planning information for functional area 2 (Depicted from Lukhanji IDP
2010/11)
Functional area 3: Service delivery
Sub-
programme
Priorities Output Service
delivery
indicator
Target
Free Basic
services
To ensure
households have
safe places to
dispose of
their refuse and
Households
with safe
places to
dispose of
their refuse
and waste
Extent to
which
municipality
provides
communities
with safe
places to
To ensure that
90% of our
households
have safe
places to
dispose of
their refuse
190
Free basic
services
Housing
Customer
Care
Estate
department
Free Basic
services
Infrastructural
Development
and MIG
Free Basic
service
waste
dispose of
their refuse
and waste
and waste by
end 2010/11
To facilitate
construction of
low cost houses
with support
from EC
department of
Housing
People
access to
adequate
low cost
houses with
the support
from
Lukhanji
municipality
Extent to
which
municipality
provides
shelter to the
people
To facilitate
construction of
2000 low cost
houses with
support from
EC department
of Housing
To facilitate
supply of
electricity to the
Electrified
people
dwellings
Extent to
which
Lukhanji
supply
electricity to
the people
without
electricity
To facilitate
supply of
electricity to
85% of
households by
June 2011
To construct
new gravel road
network in our
rural areas
New gravel
road
network
Extent to
which gravel
road network
has been
constructed
by the
municipality
To construct
50km of new
gravel road
network in our
rural areas by
June 2011
To maintain
and or upgrade
at least 25km
of road surface
(Tarr +
Gravel) by
June 2011
To facilitate
increase
household
People
access to
clean,
Extent to
which the
Lukhanji
To facilitate
increase
household
191
Customer care
access to water
and sanitation
services
running
water
municipality
provides
people with
clean,
running water
access to water
and sanitation
services to
about 95% for
water and 90%
for sanitation
by June 2011
Table 6.4: Annual performance planning information for functional area 3 (Depicted from Lukhanji IDP
2010/11)
Functional area 4: Economic Development
Sub-
progra
mme
Priorities Output Service
delivery
indicator
Target
To improve Agric
contribution to
economy
Improved
Agricultural
contribution
to the local
economy
Extent to
which
Lukhanji
improved
agricultural
contribution
to the
economy
To improve Agric
contribution to
economy by
between 1% and
2.5%
To support Local
Tourism Agency
Improved
support to
the Local
Tourism
Agency
Extent to
which
Lukhanji
supported
the Local
Tourism
Agency
To support Local
Tourism Agency
To adopt an
Agriculture and Rural
development plan
An adopted
agricultural
development
plan
Extent to
which
municipality
adopted
Agricultural
Developmen
t Plan
To adopt an
Agriculture and
Rural
development plan
To create jobs
through
Increased
number of
Extent to
which
To create at least
2500 jobs through
192
implementation of
municipal
public works
programme EPWP
(LED unit function
is to collate data from
other sections)
job created
through the
implementati
on of EPWP
Lukhanji
municipality
created jobs
through the
implementati
on of EPWP
implementation of
municipal
public works
programme and
EPWP by June
2010 (LED unit
function
is to collate data
from other
sections)
To pilot Liberation
Heritage Route at
Sada and
Ntabelanga/Bulhoek
Heritage
route at Sada
and
Ntabelanga
Extent to
which the
municipality
piloted
Liberation
Route at
both Sada
and
Ntabelanga
To pilot
Liberation
Heritage Route at
Sada and
Ntabelanga/Bulho
ek
Table 6.5: Annual performance planning information for functional area 4 (Depicted from Lukhanji IDP
2010/11)
Summary of information: Tables 6.2 to 6.5
The above-mentioned tables outline the pre-determined objectives as well as the targets
the municipality had set for itself before the beginning of 2010/11 financial year per
each programme. All the information contained here constitute part of phase 2 of the
above-mentioned flow chart. i.e. Figure 6.2. Most of the time targets set may not be
achieved due to certain barriers. That means therefore focus must be given to those
barriers when measuring the organizational performance at the end of the financial
year. The clients however do not care about that circumstance. They only need
adequate services. That means people must think strategically and put mechanisms in
place in order to deal with such barriers, during the implementation of the strategic
issues as reflected on the strategic plan of the organization. The next phase (Phase 2
193
step 1) of the flow diagram will display mechanisms the Lukhanji municipality put in
place in executing strategic imperatives reflected on the strategic plan.
6.3.2 PHASE 2 – INPLEMENTATION PHASE
(Step 1 – Actual implementation of plan)
This phase includes the implementation of municipal functions. The whole process will
automatically include implementation strategies in order to guide the process. The
Lukhanji municipality developed a plethora of strategies for the period of 2010/2011
and they are as follows:
Macro development strategy
The strategy was developed in order to identify new priorities for 2010/11 as well as
strategies to deal with them (IDP review 2010/11). In terms of the Lukhanji IDP
2010/11 the municipality is committed to revising institutional design in line with
Macro Strategy which encourages people to focus on assigned powers and functions
mandate before one can do all other functions that are not assigned to one. The
municipality prioritized good governance and are committed to ensuring a culture of
good governance and corruption free environment and that they also aim to improve
our capacity to perform regulatory functions by developing and adopting together with
communities relevant by-laws and policies in the critical areas of pound management,
street trading, environment, business compliance inspections and public nuisance
control. The intention is to continue to engage communities on all aspects of our
planning and service delivery via IDP representative forum, Mayoral Imbizos and Ward
committee support as well as CDWs. The plan also is to revitalize intergovernmental
relations by fostering strong links between municipality and other government levels
via the IGF.
Macro Development strategy informs the approach to any potential interventions
towards addressing the challenges is essential. The macro strategy represents a
deliberate commitment by the council to leap towards the vision. The vision of the
municipality was to do the following in order to change situation and implement the set
targets: To reduce poor households by 3%;Improve HID up to 0.60;Maintain HIV
194
prevalence by low than 30%; Reduce water backlog to 0%’; Reduce sanitation backlog
by 10% as well as electricity by 10%.
Cluster based implementation strategies
In responding to the various challenges the municipality is faced with, various
strategies per cluster were developed. The strategies are based on the Key functional
Areas of the municipality. Table 6.5 below shows strategies mentioned supra:
Table 6.6: Cluster based management strategies
Functional
Area
Cluster
name
Strategy Strategy
objective
Financial
viability and
Good
Governance
Finance,
Governance
& Admin
Developing and implementing
effective municipal code of
good governance procedure’s
manual and implementing
restorative justice processes
By developing and
Implementing effective revenue
raising and collection strategy
By developing asset
management policy and plan
To maintain
reputation of the
organisation and
ensure good
governance
practice
To ensure sound
financial systems
and compliant
practices at all
times
Local
Economic
Development
Local
Economic
Development
Implementing LED strategy and
investment framework to guide
municipal interventions in
economic development 1 ED&P
Establishing partnerships with
strategic institutions in order to
mobilise needed resources for
economic development and
capacity building
Implementation of poverty
alleviation programmes by
sector departments and other
To support and
promote
SMMEs
development and
co-operatives
To diversify
local economy
and improve
value chain
195
agencies
Promoting value chain activities
in the agricultural, rural
development and manufacturing
products
Institutional
Development
and
Transformation
Finance,
Governance
& Admin
Cluster
1) By drafting and adopting the
strategy by December 2010
1) To develop and
implement a
work place
skills plan
Table 6.6 Implementation strategies developed by Lukhanji municipality (IDP: 2010/11)
Turn Around Strategy for Local Government (LGTAS)
The National office of Local Government and Traditional Affairs came up with a
strategy to assist municipalities to turn around the manner in which they used to do
things, and was in line with National goal of government of ensuring that people as the
voters get better services. Each municipality was expected to develop a plan (MUTAS)
in order tell how is it going to implement change through the Local Government Turn
Around Strategy. The objectives of the LGTAS are to:
1) To restore the confidence of the majority of our people in municipalities, as the primary
delivery machine of the developmental state at a local level.
2) To re-build and improve the basic requirements for a functional, accountable,
responsive, effective, efficient developmental local government
3) To ensure that the municipality meets the basic needs of communities;
4) To build clean, effective, efficient, effective responsive and accountable local
government;
5) To improve performance and professionalism in municipalities;
196
6.4.2 PHASE 2: IMPLEMENTATION PHASE
Phase 2 Step 2(Performance monitoring and Evaluation)
Step 2 in Phase 2 includes various monitoring and evaluation strategies, which seek to
establish whether municipal performance is being monitored and evaluated when the
annual municipal plan is being implemented. This is done in order to improve the
performance of the municipality thereby bettering service delivery. Lukhanji
municipality has put in place monitoring and evaluation framework. The section below
outlines the framework for guiding the implementation of performance management in
Lukhanji. It provides a decision making reference for agreed processes, mechanisms
and procedures that must be followed when implementing performance management in
the municipality. It ensures a system that complies with the requirements of local
government legislation relating to performance management. The process of M&E in
Lukhanji is reflected in figure 6.5 below:
Figure 6.5 Lukhanji performance monitoring and evaluation cycle : Depicted from IDP ( 2010/11)
In terms of Lukhanji IDP (2010/11) the performance cycle takes the following route:
1) Developing performance scorecards (three levels - Strategic and Departmental) and an
appraisal tool for all staff below a section 57 managers.
Evaluation Planning &
Budgeting
Monitoring
Auditing Reviewing Reporting
KPAs, Objectives, KPIs and Targets to
be set as part of IDP
Audited
report to the
public and
AG
197
2) Setting of clear objectives, indicators and targets for performance(Based on IDP)
3) Determining baseline levels for indicators before finalizing targets.
4) Gathering of measurement information to determine progress against set indicators and
targets.
Apart from the Framework the municipality has developed a Performance Management
Model that according to them will do the following was developed:
Simplicity: A good model should organise simply, what would otherwise be a long list of
indicators attempting to comprehensively cover performance, into a set of categories
sufficiently covering all key areas of performance. Models differ most significantly in what
they assert are the key aspects of
performance.
Mapping of Inter-relationships: A good model will map out the interrelationships between
different areas of performance. These interrelationships relate to the extent to which poor
performance in one category would lead to poor performance in other related areas and the
converse. These inter-relationships help in both the planning stage and the review stage,
particularly in the diagnosis of causes of poor performance.
Alignment of resources to strategy: A good model will align the processes of performance
management to the Integrated Development Plan & budgeting processes of the organisation. It
will ensure that the Integrated Development Plan is translated into performance plans that will
be monitored and reviewed. The categories of key performance areas provided by a model
should relate directly to the identified priority areas of the Integrated Development Plan.
International experience in both the private and public sectors has shown that traditional
approaches to measuring performance that tends to be heavily reliant on financial measures are
severely lacking.
Treasury regulation 5.3 of 2005 and Section 27 of PFMA (1999) provides for the
monitoring of performance information through quarterly reports, in order to ensure
good planning, budgeting and implementation of the performance plan. That is the
reason why Lukhanji in their PM framework showed steps and levels of reporting as
follows:
198
Figure 6.6
Strategic level
Management
Level
Figure 6.6 Reporting cycle (depicted from Lukhanji IDP: 2010/11)
The next session is about the final phase of performance management, and that is
reporting phase.
6.5 PHASE 3 – REPORTING
Step 1: Reporting on actual results in the annual report (Functions/activities, and
budget performance).
As been indicated in Figure 6.6 supra that reporting at Lukhanji happens in two levels
and they are namely the Management and Strategic levels. Reporting at management
level will start departmentally (weekly and chaired by HoD). The report is then
cascaded to management level (receive monthly management reports and chaired by
municipal manager), thereafter, a bi-monthly report will be tabled to Mayoral
committee by management. This report will be consolidated with comments of Mayoral
committee into a quarterly report to be tabled to council. Two six monthly reports will
Council
report
annually
MayCo Report
quarterly
Management report monthly
AG /Treasury
PDLG&TA
Committee
Management Audit
committee
Portfolio Heads
Management
IDP cluster
Department Department Departmen
t Department
Department Department
Audience
Audience
Audience
199
be forwarded for auditing by the audit committee during January and June of each year.
At the end of the year, an annual performance report will be produced and summarized
for public reporting by the Mayor via Imbizos, and outreach programmes, and by the
manager to auditor general and PDLG&TA.
This section will talk specifically about the achievements of Lukhanji municipality as
reflected on the annual report against the targets set out in annual performance plan and
IDP as reflected in Phase 1: Step 2 above. That means therefore a comparison will be
made between the set target and actual achievement, which will determine whether the
municipality succeeded in achieving the set targets or not. The comparisons will then
be made on figures from 6.8 – 6.11 below. The report also will use information from
LGTA report.
Functional area 1: Financial viability and Good Governance
Sub-
programme
Output Service
delivery
indicator
Target Actual results
2010/11
CFO
Internal
Audit
CFO
Internal
Audit
Legal
HR and
Clean audit
opinion
Extent to which
municipality
achieves clean
audit opinion
To achieve a clean
audit opinion by
June 2011
There is no audit
committee, no clean
audit opinion
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
Timeous
completed
budget
Extent to which
turnaround time
for completion
of budget
adjustments
To improve
turnaround time for
completion of
budget: adjustment
by 14 February,
DRAFT 10/11
budget to 31 March
2010
Budget adjustments
were not made on time,
and the draft was not
complete
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
Reduced
disciplinary
cases
Number of
disciplinary
cases resolved
by the end of
To improve turn
around for dealing
with disciplinary
To improve turn
around for dealing with
disciplinary cases
200
Admin
IDP
HR and
Admin
Mayor
Council
Municipal
Manager
2010
cases brought
before the DC to
less than 60 days
from date of initial
charges by end
2010
brought
before the DC to less
than 60 days from date
of initial charges by
end
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
Credible
IDP
aligned to
budget
Extent to
which a
credible IDP
has been
aligned to
budget
To align IDP and
budget in 2010/
To align IDP and
budget in 2010/
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
Signed
pledge on
anti-
corruption
Extent to
which
employees
sign pledge
to anti-
corruption
programme
by 2011.
To have all
employees
signing a pledge
to anti-
corruption
programme by
beginning
2010/11
To have all
employees
signing a pledge to
anti-corruption
programme by
beginning 2010/11
TARGET
ACHIEVED
Policy
Extent to
which the
municipality
developed
the policy
on
restorative
justice
To develop clear
policy for
restorative
justice processes
and renaming by
the end of 2010
The policy was
developed and
adopted by the
council
TARGET
ACHIEVED
Table 6.7: Annual performance planning information for functional area 1: depicted from Lukhanji IDP
2010/11
201
Functional area 2: Institutional Development & Transformation
Sub-
programme
Output Service
delivery
indicator
Target Actual results
2010/11
PMS
HR and
Admin
HR and
Admin
Housing and
Land
Cascaded and
revised
performance
management
Extent to which
performance
management
has been
cascaded
To revise and
automate and
cascade
performance
management
Performance
management was
automated and
cascaded
TARGET
ACHIEVED
Adopted HR
retention
strategy
Extent to which
HR retention
strategy has
been developed
and adopted
To adopt a HR
retention
strategy by the
of 2010/11
financial year
The retention strategy
not available
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
Adopted EEP
with specific
targets for PDIs
in top levels of
management
Extent to which
EEP has been
developed and
adopted
To adopt revised
EEP with
specific targets
for women,
youth and
disabled in top
three levels of
management by
the end of 2010
To adopt revised EEP
with specific targets for
women, youth and
disabled in top three
levels of management
TARGET
ACHIEVED
Lukhanji as an
accredited
housing delivery
agent of the
department
Extent to which
Lukhanji
becomes
accredited
housing
delivery agent
of the
department
To apply for
accreditation as
a housing
delivery agent of
the department
by end of
2010/11
financial year
The municipality is not
accredited housing
delivery agent
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
Manned
organogram
on critical
Extent to
which
critical post
To fill all
critical
budgeted
To fill all critical
budgeted vacancies
in the organogram,
202
HR and
Admin
DLGTA
HR and
Admin
posts are filled by
the
municipality
vacancies in
the
organogram
by June 2010
there were financial
constraints
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
Trained and
capacitated
officials and
councillors
Extent to
which
councillors
and officials
are
capacitated
To facilitate
training for 8
councillors
and 40
officials
To facilitate
training councillors.
There was conflict
between the
councillors and the
official
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
Trained and
capacitated
ward
committees
Extent to
which ward
committees
are
capacitated
To facilitate
training and
capacity
building of
all ward
committees
Ward committee
were trained
TARGET
ACHIEVED
Table 6.8: Annual performance planning information for functional area 2 (Depicted from Lukhanji IDP
2010/11)
Functional Area 3: Service delivery
Sub-
programme
Output Service
delivery
indicator
Target Actual
Results
2010/11
Free Basic
services
Households
with safe
places to
dispose of
their refuse
and waste
Extent to which
municipality
provides
communities with
safe places to
dispose of their
refuse and waste
To ensure that 90% of
households have safe places
to dispose of their refuse
and waste by end 2010/11
To ensure that
90% of
households have
safe places to
dispose of their
refuse and waste
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
203
Housing and
Land reforms
Technical
services
Storm-water
and roads
Technical
Services
People
access to
adequate
low cost
houses with
the support
from
Lukhanji
Extent to which
municipality
provides shelter to
the people
To facilitate construction of
2000 low cost houses with
support from
EC department of Housing
To facilitate
construction of
2000 low cost
housing
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
Electrified
people
dwellings
Extent to which
Lukhanji supply
electricity to the
people without
electricity
To facilitate supply of
electricity to 85% of
households by June 2011
To facilitate
supply of
electricity to
85% of
households
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
New gravel
road
network
Extent to which
gravel road
network has been
constructed by the
municipality
To construct 50km of new
gravel road network in rural
areas by June 2011.To
maintain and or upgrade at
least 25km of road surface
(Tarr + Gravel) by June
2011
To construct
50km of new
gravel road
network in rural
areas
TARGET
ACHIEVED
People
access to
clean,
running
water
Extent to which
the Lukhanji
municipality
provides people
with clean,
running water
To facilitate increase
household access to water
and sanitation
services to about 95% for
water and 90% for sanitation
by June 2011
To facilitate
increase
household access
to water and
sanitation
to about 95% for
water and 90%
for sanitation
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
Table 6.9: Annual performance planning information for functional area 3 (Depicted from Lukhanji IDP
2010/11)
204
Functional area 4: Local Economic Development
Sub-
programme
Output Service
delivery
indicator
Target Actual Results
2010/11
IDP and
LED
IDP and
LED
IDP and
LED
IDP and
LED
Improved
Agricultural
contribution to
the local
economy
Extent to
which
Lukhanji
improved
agricultural
contribution to
the economy
To improve
Agric
contribution to
economy by
between 1%
and 2.5%
To improve
Agric
contribution to
economy by
between 1%
and 2.5%
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
Improved
support to the
Local Tourism
Agency
Extent to
which
Lukhanji
supported the
Local Tourism
Agency
To support
Local Tourism
Agency
To support
Local Tourism
Agency
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
An adopted
agricultural
development
plan
Extent to
which
municipality
adopted
Agricultural
Development
Plan
To adopt an
Agriculture and
Rural
development
plan
To adopt an
Agriculture and
Rural
development
plan
TARGET
ACHIEVED
Increased
number of job
Extent to
which
To create at
least 2500 jobs
To create at
least 2500 jobs
205
created through
the
implementation
of EPWP
Lukhanji
municipality
created jobs
through the
implementation
of EPWP
through
implementation
of municipal
public works
programme and
EPWP by June
2010
through
implementation
of EPWP by
June 2010
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
Heritage route
at Sada and
Ntabelanga
Extent to
which the
municipality
piloted
Liberation
Route at both
Sada and
Ntabelanga
To pilot
Liberation
Heritage Route
at Sada and
Ntabelanga/Bul
hoek
To pilot
Liberation
Heritage Route
at Sada and
Ntabelanga/Bul
hoek
TARGET
ACHIEVED
Table 6.10: Annual performance planning information for functional area 4 (Depicted from Lukhanji IDP
2010/11)
Summary of information table (6.6 - 6.10)
The above-mentioned tables provide the research a picture of the actual results that the
municipality has achieved in 2010/11 financial year per each financial programme the
targets reported in tables 6.6 - 6.10 were used as the point of reference. The extent to
which the Municipality achieved its set targets will however be discussed under
analysis and the findings of the research. In the flow chart mentioned earlier this
information forms part of Phase 3 step 1(Reporting). The targets set will not always be
achieved due to various barriers that that prevent them from being achieved. The
above-mentioned tables i.e. 6.6 – 6.10 show this scenario. The next session will be on
comparisons between Lukhanji and Malahleni municipalities. Malahleni was chosen in
order to compare the achievements and failures of these two municipalities on their
KPA. That is possible because in terms of the law all local municipalities have to
perform the same KPAs. Table 6.11 below will be used as the will reflect on the
programmes of Malahleni municipality and objectives per each programme:
206
PROGRAM
ME
OBJECTIVE SUB-
PROGRAMME
Financial
viability
1) To improve billing and payment levels - Financial
System maintained / Effectiveness of Electronic Data
Management System /Upgrades effected /Back-up
Generator/ Server Upgrade/Computers
2) To build capacity to comply with LG legislation and
financial controls - Implement GRAP and update asset
register
3) To provide financial oversight and support to the
departments - implement strict financial control
measures
4) To provide financial oversight and support to the
departments -
5) To achieve clean audit outcome by 2011/12
6) To implement effective revenue management strategies
1) Income
2) Expenditure
3) Accounting
4) Financial Control
5) Budget &AFS
6) Procurement &
Supply Chain
7) Information
Technology
Institutional
Developmen
t &
Transforma
tion
1) To develop staff retention strategy
2) To develop strategies to address Scarce Skills in critical
areas;
3) To ensure OHS compliance
4) To improve leave management and control
5) To control overtime
6) To facilitate policy development and education staff to
ensure effective application; and
7) To develop a fully functional electronic records
management system
1) Administration
2) Records &
Archives
3) Human Resources
Skills
development
4) Labour Relations
5) Organisational
Development
6) Occupational
Health & Safety
Basic
Service
delivery
1) To provide clean running water to the people
2) To provide people with electricity and alternatives
3) To provide people with sanitation
4) To maintain all municipal roads
5) To ensure that people have enough space to dispose of
their waste
6) To provide adequate houses to the people
7) To develop and implement indigent policy
1) Water Services
2) Electricity s
3) Sanitation
4) Roads
Maintenance
5) Waste
Management
6) Housing and
Town Planning
207
7) Spatial Planning
Local
Economic
development
and Growth
1) Facilitating implementation of programmes by DEAT
and DEDEA
2) Implement Bathembu cultural calabash cultural village
project
Utilizing out Tourism potential to enhance employment
and income generating opportunities - Western
Thembuland Cultural Village
3) Developing an investment framework for attracting new
partnerships and resources for Economic development -
mobilize resources for development of investment
framework
4) Facilitating implementation of projects by Department of
Agriculture + Rural Development - Support of
mushroom project
1) LED
2) Tourism
3) SMME
4) IDP
5) Town Planning
6) Agriculture
Development
Table 6.10: KPAs for Malahleni local municipality: (Depicted from annual report: 2010/2011)
Table 6.10 above shows the four main municipal programmes of Malahleni. The next
session will focus on determining whether the above-mentioned municipality succeeded
or not in performing its functions. Table 6.11 – 6.14 will reflect on the performance of
Malahleni through a simple task of comparing the set target with the actual
performance.
Functional area 1: Financial viability
Sub-
programme
Output Service
delivery
indicator
Target Actual
results
2010/11
Revenue
management
Effectiveness
of Electronic
Data
Management
Extent to which
billing and
payment levels
–financial
To maintained
SEBATA
Financial
System /
The target
has been
achieved.
TARGET
208
Financial
management
Financial
management
Financial
Management
Financial
management
System
/Upgrades
effected
/Back-up
Generator
systems are
maintained
Effectiveness of
Electronic Data
Management
System
ACHIEVED
Completed
GRAP
conversions/
update asset
register
Extent to
which GRAP
conversions
and asset
register has
been updated
To implement
GRAP by June
2011/ and the
asset register
update
Service
Provider
failed to
complete the
project
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
Implementable
strict financial
control
measures
Extent to which
strict financial
controls are
implemented
To provision of
financial
oversight and
support to the
departments -
Implement
strict financial
control
measures
Memo to all
managers
issued for
compliance
TARGET
ACHIEVED
Clean audit
opinion
Extent to which
Leave and
suspension of
employees
policies have
been developed
To develop and
implement
policies -
Develop leave
and suspension
of employees
policies
Clean audit
outcome by
2011/12 has
been
achieved
TARGET
ACHIEVED
Revenue
management
strategies and
implementable
revenue and
credit control
strategies
Extent to which
revenue
management
strategies exist
and the extent
to which
revenue and
To implement
effective
revenue
management
strategies -
implement
existing
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
209
credit control
strategy are
implemented
revenue and
credit control
strategy
Table 6.11: Annual performance planning information for functional area 1: depicted from Malahleni
IDP 2010/11
Functional area 2: Institutional Development & Transformation
Sub-
program
me
Output Service
delivery
indicator
Target Actual
results
2010/11
Organiz
ation
Develop
ment
Organiz
ation
Develop
ment
Spent 80 % of
training budget
on
implementation
of WSP
Extent to which
training budget
was spent
To achieve target
by spending 100
% of training
budget spent by
30 June
2010.&/report on
% of
officials/councillo
rs trained Budget
(R318 300)
Target
Achieved as
training
budget was
spent.
TARGET
ACHIEVE
D
Continuous
implemented
and monitored
collective
agreements and
% of resolved
labour cases,
developed % of
resolved
litigation cases /
All collective
agreements
implemented
and monitored
Extent to which
collective
agreements and
% of resolved
labour cases
have been
resolved,
developed % of
resolved
litigation
cases/all
collective
agreements
implemented
and monitored
Collective
agreements were
implemented and
monitored and
80% of labour
cases resolved,
not all litigation
cases were
resolved
About 80%
of labour
cases have
been
resolved
TARGET
ACHIEVE
D
Reviewed
Safety Policy
Extent to which
developed
To develop
structure of OHS
Not achieved
210
Health
and
Safety
Organiz
ation
Develop
ment
Archives
and
records
and applied
/Developed
structure of
OHS & OHS /
Safety
Committees
meetings/ safety
procedures
implemented
and Report on
implementation
structure of
OHS & OHS
Policy reviewed
/ Safety
Committees
meetings/ safety
procedures
implemented
and Report on
implementation
& OHS Policy
reviewed / Safety
Committees
meetings/ safety
procedures
implemented and
Report on
implementation
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVE
D
Developed and
implemented
leave and
suspension of
employees
policies
Extent to which
leave and
suspension of
employees
policies have
been develop
and
implemented
To develop and
implement
policies - Develop
leave and
suspension of
employees
policies
Financial
constraints
NOT
ACHIEVE
D
Fully functional
electronic
records
management
system /
Functional
electronic
records
management in
order to capture
80% of ELM
records.
Extent to which
a fully
functional
electronic
records
management
system /
Functional
electronic
records
management
have been
developed in
order to capture
80% of ELM
records.
To develop fully
functional
electronic records
management
system /
Functional
electronic records
management in
order to capture
80% of ELM
records.
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVE
D
Table 6.12: Annual performance planning information for functional area 2 (Depicted from Malahleni
IDP 2010/11)
211
Functional Area 3: Service delivery
Sub-
program
me
Output Service
delivery
indicator
Target Actual
Results
2010/11
Water
Sanitatio
n
Housing
Communities
with clean
water
Extent to
which
people
receive
access to
clean water
Water
To provide access
to water to 1200
households.
Water access
was provided
to more than
5 villages
TARGET
ACHIEVED
Implemented
DM Sanitation
project
Extent to
which
Malahleni
facilitate
implementati
on of
sanitation
project by
the DM
Sanitation
To facilitate
implementation of
sanitation project
by the DM
/facilitate increased
provision of basic
sanitation. /Four
monitoring reports
presented to
EXCO.
The project
was to kick
start by the
end of 2010
TARGET
ACHIEVED
Facilitated
Reviewed
draft plan
Extent to
which
Malahleni
facilitates
revision and
update of
Sector Plan
Housing and land
reforms
To facilitate
Revisions &
updating of Sector
Plan / Facilitate
implementation of
approved housing
projects in line with
sector plan
/collaborate with
DHLG & DLA
/progress report
projects
Sector plan
reviewed /
draft plan
available
Aug 2011/
housing
projects in
line with
sector plan
TARGET
ACHIEVED
212
Technical
Service
Technical
Services
Munic
Constructed
564 housing
unit
Extent to
which
Malahleni
facilitated
rectification
construction
of 564 units
Housing and Land
reforms
To facilitating
Rectification the
construction of 564
Units completed /
Lady Frere new
(ward 5)
405 houses
completed
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
Monitored
progress on
road
maintenance
Extent to
which
Malahleni
monitors
Road
Road and storm
water
To monitor
progress of Roads
maintenance/e DoR
&T /Area wide
maintenance of
access roads
/Quarterly
progress/Budget
expenditure report
R 12,000,000
Not
achieved/ in
progress
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
Employed
people on
EPWP
Extent to
which
Malahleni
ensures
EPWP
benefits
people
EPWP
To ensure on-going
participation in
EPWP
About 37
participants
appointed
TARGET
ACHIEVED
Localised DM
Waste
management
plan
Extent to
which the
local
municipality
localise
existing DM
Waster
management
plan
Waste
management
To localize existing
DM waste
management plan
by reviewing &
customization
Table final draft to
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
213
EPWP
Waste
managemen
t
Exco /Council
/commence with
implementation
Table 6.13: Annual performance planning information for functional area 3 (Depicted from Malahleni
IDP 2010/13)
Functional area 4: Local Economic Development and Growth
Sub-
program
me
Output Service
delivery
indicator
Target Actual
Results
2010/11
LED
Drafted
Business plan
Extent to
which
Business plan
has been
developed and
implemented
To facilitate the
project / Business
plan drafted and
implemented fully /
Project implemented
according to business
Financial
constraints
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVE
214
Agricultur
e and
Rural
Developm
ent
Agricultur
e and
Rural
Developm
ent
LED
Agricultur
e and
Rural
Developm
ent
plan D
Report on
Xonxa Dam
implementatio
n progress
Extent to
which the
report on the
Xonxa Dam
implementatio
n progress has
been
developed
To report on Xonxa
Dam development
project
implementation
Progress/ of
implementation based
on BP milestones /
Co-operative
launched and
registered to manage
project
implementation
TARGET
ACHIEVE
D
Provided
support to the
projects by the
Department of
Agriculture
Extent to
which Projects
by the
department of
Agriculture
have been
developed and
supported
To facilitate
implementation of
projects by
Department of
Agriculture + Rural
Development -
Support of mushroom
project
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVE
D
Launched
dairy project
Extent to
which the
Dairy project
has been
launched
To launch Dairy
project with
management
structure appointed /
Registered legal
entity to manage the
initiative and
business plan
implemented
accordingly
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVE
D
Facilitated
project
implementatio
Extent to
which project
report on
To facilitate project
report on Project
Progress
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVE
215
Agricultur
e and
Rural
Developm
ent
Tourism
n based on BP
milestones
Project
progress
implementatio
n has been
facilitated
implementation based
on BP milestones /
Completion of project
in accordance with
BP milestones
D
Facilitated and
implemented
Sorghum
plantation
Extent to
which
Sorghum
plantation
project has
been
facilitated
To facilitate Sorghum
plantation project
implemented/Comple
tion of project in
accordance with BP
milestones
PROJECT
ACHIEVE
D
Supported
SMMEs and
implemented
SMMs
Development
Support
Programme
Extent to
which
SMMEs are
supported
Support to SMME`s /
progress with training
&
implemented/SMME'
s / SMME's
Development Support
Program
PROJECT
ACHIEVE
D
Table 6.14: Annual performance planning information for functional area 4 (Depicted from Malahleni
IDP 2010/11)
6.4 SUMMARY OF THE CASE STUDY
The study followed a methodological approach. The study started with the historical
overview of Lukhanji local municipality. The Constitutional mandate and objectives of
the municipality were then presented. The study adopted a three-phase approach i.e.
planning, implementation and reporting. The planning phase included the SONA and
the publication of IDP by the municipality. The second phase was implementation
where a plethora of implementation strategies were presented, followed by the
assessment of performance of Lukhanji. The last phase i.e. reporting took the following
route:
216
1) Presentation of the municipal local government programmes, functions and the
objectives
2) Presentation of the annual report on functions of the municipality during the
financial (2010/11)
3) Assessment of the annual report in terms of failures and achievements of Lukhanji
on the programmes
The information presented here therefore in terms of the three-phase approach will then
be analysed and the findings reported in the next part of this chapter of research. All the
phases then will be encapsulated in order for the researcher to conduct a comparative
study analysis. After the analysis has been done on Lukhanji municipality further
integration will be done between Lukhanji and Malahleni municipalities in order for the
researcher to conduct a comparative study analysis in the following manner:
1) Performance targets (at the beginning of the year) versus actual performance results
(at the end of the financial year)
6.5 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS OF THE CASE STUDY
The analysis and findings of the data that were gathered in the above section will be
presented systematically. The three-phase approach used earlier will also be employed
during this section of study. Through this approach recommendations will be given in
the following chapters. The lessons learnt from both Local and International
experiences outlined in the study were also part of analysis process.
6.5.1 Phase 1 (Planning (SONA)
The SONA presented by President Jacob Zuma in 2011 was analysed as follows:
2) Firstly: specific reference was made to the housing situation in the Country. The SONA
by the President obvious necessitates urgent attention on homelessness in South Africa.
This resulted to a Minister of Human Settlement and Accounting Heads to sit down and
identify various strategies in order to deal with the matter of poor housing development,
thereby reducing housing and service delivery blockages.
217
Secondly: the need was felt that in order to deal with housing challenges amicably,
local municipalities to be given developers’ status. The National Government gave
power and capacity to the local municipalities with view to speed up housing delivery
in their respective areas. The Provinces were given as clear mandate of facilitating the
process and provide hands support to the needy municipalities.
Thirdly: the President acknowledged that building adequate housing was moving in a
very slow pace, considering housing backlogs in the whole Country versus the manner
in which mucipalities are dealing the problem.
6.5.2 Lukhanji local municipality
6.5.2.1 Phase 1 (Planning) Annual Performance Plan versus Phase 3 (Reporting)
Here the analysis of the actual performance results and the annual report against the set
targets in the annual performance plan was made, and the following findings were
reported:
6.5.2.2 Programme 1 (Financial viability and Good governance)
Of the six (6) output areas, targets were not achieved in the following financial viability
indicators as derived in table 6.7 above.
Sub-
programme
Output Service
delivery
indicator
Target Actual results
2010/11
CFO
Internal
Audit
Budget
Clean audit
opinion
Extent to which
municipality
achieves clean
audit opinion
To achieve a clean
audit opinion by
June 2011
There is no audit
committee, no clean
audit opinion
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
Timeous
completed
budget
Extent to which
turnaround time
for completion
of budget
adjustments
To improve
turnaround time
for completion of
budget:
adjustment by 14
February, DRAFT
Budget adjustments
were not made on
time, and the draft
was not complete
TARGET NOT
218
HR and
Admin
Mayor
Council
Municipal
Manager
10/11 budget to 31
March 2010
ACHIEVED
Reduced
disciplinary
cases
Number of
disciplinary
cases resolved
by the end of
2010
To improve turn
around for dealing
with disciplinary
cases brought
before the DC to
less than 60 days
from date of initial
charges by end
2010
To improve turn
around for dealing
with disciplinary
cases brought
before the DC to
less than 60 days
from date of initial
charges by end of
2010
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
Credible IDP
aligned to
budget
Extent to which
a credible IDP
has been
aligned to
budge
To align IDP and
budget in 2010/11
To align IDP and
budget in 2010/
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
6.5.2.3 Programme 2 (Institutional Development & Transformation)
Of the six (6) output areas, targets were not achieved in the following indicators as been
highlighted in table 6. 8 above.
Adopted
HR
Extent to which
HR retention
To adopt a HR retention
strategy by the of
The retention strategy
not available
219
retention
strategy
strategy has
been developed
and adopted
2010/11 financial year TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
Lukhanji as
an
accredited
housing
delivery
agent of the
department
Extent to which
Lukhanji
becomes
accredited
housing delivery
agent of the
department
To apply for
accreditation as a
housing delivery agent
of the department by end
of 2010/11 financial
year
The municipality is not
accredited housing
delivery agent
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
Manned
organogram
on critical
posts
Extent to which
critical post are
filled by the
municipality
To fill all critical
budgeted vacancies in
the organogram by June
2010
To fill all critical
budgeted vacancies in
the organogram, there
were financial
constraints
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
Trained and
capacitated
officials
and
councillors
Extent to which
councillors and
officials are
capacitated
To facilitate training for
8 councillors and 40
officials
To facilitate training
councillors. There was
conflict between the
councillors and the
official
TARGET NOT
ACHIEVED
6.5.2.4 Programme 3 (Service delivery)
Of the five (5) output areas, targets were not achieved in the following service delivery
indicators as reflected in Table 6.9 above.
Sub-
programme
Output Service
delivery
indicator
Target Actual
Results
2010/11
Free Basic
services
Households
with safe
places to
Extent to
which
municipality
To ensure that 90% of
households have safe
places to dispose of their
To ensure that
90% of
households
220
Housing
and Land
reforms
Technical
services
Storm-
water and
roads
dispose of
their refuse
and waste
provides
communities
with safe
places to
dispose of
their refuse
and waste
refuse and waste by end
2010/11
have safe
places to
dispose of
their refuse
and waste
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
People
access to
adequate
low cost
houses
with the
support
from
Lukhanji
Extent to
which
municipality
provides
shelter to the
people
To facilitate construction
of 2000 low cost houses
with support from
EC department of
Housing
To facilitate
construction
of 2000 low
cost housing
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
Electrified
people
dwellings
Extent to
which
Lukhanji
supply
electricity to
the people
without
electricity
To facilitate supply of
electricity to 85% of
households by June 2011
To facilitate
supply of
electricity to
85% of
households
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
People
with
access to
clean,
running
water
Extent to
which the
Lukhanji
municipality
provides
people with
clean,
running
water
To facilitate increase
household access to
water and sanitation
services to about 95%
for water and 90% for
sanitation by June 2011
To facilitate
increase
household
access to
water and
sanitation
to about 95%
for water and
90% for
sanitation
TARGET
NOT
221
ACHIEVED
6.5.2.5 Lukhanji programme 4 (Local Economic Development)
Out of five (5) output areas, targets were not achieved in the following indicators as
shown in table 6.10 above.
Sub-
programme
Output Service
delivery
indicator
Target Actual Results
2010/11
IDP and
LED
IDP and
LED
Improved
Agricultural
contribution to
the local
economy
Extent to
which
Lukhanji
improved
agricultural
contribution to
the economy
To improve
Agric
contribution to
economy by
between 1%
and 2.5%
To improve
Agric
contribution to
economy by
between 1% and
2.5%
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
Improved
support to the
Local Tourism
Agency
Extent to
which
Lukhanji
supported the
Local Tourism
Agency
To support
Local Tourism
Agency
To support
Local Tourism
Agency
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
Increased
number of job
created through
Extent to
which
Lukhanji
To create at
least 2500 jobs
through
To create at
least 2500 jobs
through
222
IDP and
LED
the
implementation
of EPWP
municipality
created jobs
through the
implementation
of EPWP
implementation
of municipal
public works
programme and
EPWP by June
2010
implementation
of
EPWP by June
2010
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
6.5.3 Malahleni local municipality
6.5.3.1 Phase 1 (Planning) Annual Performance Plan versus Phase 3 (Reporting)
The analysis of the actual performance results and the annual report against the set
targets in the annual performance plan was made, and the following findings were
reported on Malahleni municipality:
6.5.3.2 Malahleni programme 1 (Financial viability)
Out five (5) output areas, targets were not achieved in the following indicators as
shown in table 6.12 above.
Sub-
programme
Output Service delivery
indicator
Target Actual
results
2010/11
Completed
GRAP
conversions/
update asset
register
Extent to which
GRAP
conversions and
asset register has
been updated
To implement
GRAP by June
2011/ and the
asset register
update
Service
Provider
failed to
complete the
project
TARGET
NOT
223
ACHIEVED
Revenue
management
strategies and
implementable
revenue and
credit control
strategies
Extent to which
revenue
management
strategies exist
and the extent to
which revenue
and credit
control strategy
are implemented
To implement
effective
revenue
management
strategies -
implement
existing
revenue and
credit control
strategy
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
6.5.3.3Programme 2 (Institutional Development & Transformation)
Out of five (5) output areas, targets were not achieved in the following indicators, as
reflected in table 6.13 above.
Sub-
program
me
Output Service
delivery
indicator
Target Actual
results
2010/11
Reviewed
Safety Policy
and applied
/Developed
structure of
OHS & OHS /
Safety
Committees
meetings/ safety
procedures
implemented
and Report on
implementation
Extent to which
developed
structure of
OHS & OHS
Policy reviewed
/ Safety
Committees
meetings/ safety
procedures
implemented
and Report on
implementation
To develop
structure of OHS
& OHS Policy
reviewed / Safety
Committees
meetings/ safety
procedures
implemented and
Report on
implementation
Not achieved
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVE
D
Developed and
implemented
leave and
suspension of
employees
Extent to which
leave and
suspension of
employees
policies have
been develop
To develop and
implement
policies - Develop
leave and
suspension of
employees
Financial
constraints
224
policies
and
implemented
policies
NOT
ACHIEVE
D
Fully functional
electronic
records
management
system /
Functional
electronic
records
management in
order to capture
80% of ELM
records.
Extent to which
a fully
functional
electronic
records
management
system /
Functional
electronic
records
management
have been
developed in
order to capture
80% of ELM
records.
To develop fully
functional
electronic records
management
system /
Functional
electronic records
management in
order to capture
80% of ELM
records.
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVE
D
6.5.3.4 Programme 3 (Service delivery)
In table 6.14 above out of seven (7) output areas the following targets were not
achieved
Sub-
programme
Output Service
delivery
indicator
Target Actual
Results
2010/11
Constructed
564 housing
unit
Extent to
which
Malahleni
facilitated
rectification
construction
of 564 units
Housing and
Land reforms
To facilitating
Rectification the
construction of
564 Units
completed / Lady
405 houses
completed
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
225
Frere new (ward
5)
Monitored
progress on
road
maintenance
Extent to
which
Malahleni
monitors
Road
Road and storm
water
To monitor
progress of Roads
maintenance/e
DoR &T /Area
wide maintenance
of access roads
/Quarterly
progress/Budget
expenditure
report
R 12,000,000
Not achieved/
in progress
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
Localised
DM Waste
management
plan
Extent to
which the
local
municipality
localise
existing DM
Waster
management
plan
Waste
management
To localize
existing DM
waste
management plan
by reviewing &
customization
Table final draft
to Exco /Council
/commence with
implementation
TARGET
NOT
ACHIEVED
6.5.3.5 Programme 4 (Local Economic Development and Growth)
Out of five (7) output areas, targets were not achieved in the following indicators, as
reflected in table 6.13 above:
226
Sub-
program
me
Output Service
delivery
indicator
Target Actual
Results
2010/11
LED
Agricultur
e and
Rural
Developm
ent
Agricultur
e and
Rural
Developm
ent
LED
Drafted
Business plan
Extent to
which
Business plan
has been
developed and
implemented
To facilitate the project /
Business plan drafted
and implemented fully /
Project implemented
according to business
plan
Financial
constrain
ts
TARGE
T NOT
ACHIE
VED
Provided
support to the
projects by the
Department of
Agriculture
Extent to
which Projects
by the
department of
Agriculture
have been
developed and
supported
To facilitate
implementation of
projects by Department
of Agriculture + Rural
Development - Support
of mushroom project
TARGE
T NOT
ACHIE
VED
Launched
dairy project
Extent to
which the
Dairy project
has been
launched
To launch Dairy project
with management
structure appointed /
Registered legal entity to
manage the initiative and
business plan
implemented accordingly
TARGE
T NOT
ACHIE
VED
Facilitated
project
implementatio
n based on BP
milestones
Extent to
which project
report on
Project
progress
implementatio
n has been
facilitated
To facilitate project
report on Project
Progress implementation
based on BP milestones /
Completion of project in
accordance with BP
milestones
TARGE
T NOT
ACHIE
VED
When analysing the findings the following questions were used to guide the process:
227
1) Why in analysing housing development the other issues like basic services (Water,
electricity Sanitation) land, LED, financial viability etc. were considered?
2) To what extent is Lukhanji been able to achieve its targets compared to Malahleni?
3) Are the achievements reported a realistic picture of homelessness on the ground?
In addressing the first question: It must be understood that the meaning of adequate
housing means a lot. In terms of the Housing Act 107 of 1997, adequate housing means
a situation where housing unit are built in areas where, there is clean running water,
electricity, and flushing sanitation. As the research is all about low-cost houses, the
housing units must in terms of the law be built closer to economic centres and where
there are other amenities. On Sunday Times the President of the Country Jacob Zuma
(2001) also highlighted the fact that even in the rural areas need water, electricity,
sanitation, schools and the other amenities. Housing cannot be built in the air, there is a
need for the availability of land, roads, schools, health services and finance are key.
Section 26 (1) of the Constitution provides that everyone shall have the right of access
to adequate housing. Accessibility means that the State must create conducive
conditions for all its citizens, irrespective of their economic status, to access affordable
housing. Furthermore in Government of the Republic of South Africa vs. Grootboom
the Constitutional Court interpreted the right to have access to adequate housing as
follows:
Housing involves more than bricks and mortar. It requires available land, appropriate
services such as the provision of water and the removal of sewage and the financing of
all these, including the building of the house itself. For a person to have access to
adequate housing all of these conditions need to be met: there must be land, there must
be services, and there must be a dwelling. The right of access to adequate housing also
suggests that it is not only the State that is responsible for the provision of houses, but
that other agents within society, including individuals themselves, must be enabled by
legislative and other measures to provide housing. As long as the municipality is able to
plan, as well as to spend allocated funds by the National Office correctly, more
adequate houses can be built and the issue of housing backlog can be easily mitigated.
The understanding therefore is that for a house to be referred to as being adequate it
must have all the above-mentioned requirements. Furthermore the Constitution (Act
228
108 of 1996) says everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing not to any
house. In his State of the Nation address the President pronounced that the government
will spend R2, 6 billion on water services this year especially in the provinces of
Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape where there are still high numbers of
people without safe drinking water as well as to fix potholes. The State President when
talking about houses had also mentioned the need for the running water as well as
fixing the roads (President Zuma: 2011). The argument therefore centres on the broader
meaning of housing development as a combination of the above-mentioned aspects, and
the failure of Government to provide water, electricity, and sanitation counts severely
on the same vision and the Constitutional mandate of Government to provide people
with adequate houses.
The National Housing policy of 1994 puts forth the need to build adequate houses
closer the areas where there is economic vibe, and closer to the industrial areas. This
requirement of the policy talks direct to a need to consider Local Economic
Development wherever the low-costs houses are being built as well as land availability.
As far as financial viability is concerned, also when the Government of the Eastern
Cape Province offered to rebuild the poorly build houses, a lot of money was involved
and that means therefore a lot of money is involved in the housing development
industry. It is clear that analysing housing development in isolation of the above-
mentioned issues will not help the process of getting to the bottom of the problem; the
next section therefore will try to respond to the extent to which each municipality
between the two i.e. Malahleni and Lukhanji, has managed to succeed in satisfying the
set targets.
Secondly: The extent, to which the municipalities managed to achieve the set targets
comparatively, is shown through the use of the given information supra. In responding
to that question table 6.16 below shows the achievements and failures for both Lukhanji
and Malahleni municipalities.
229
Table 6.15
ACHIEVEMENT %
LUKHAN
JI
MALAHLEN
I
LUKHAN
JI
MALAHL
ENI
Financial
viability
2/6 3/5 30% 60%
Institutional
Development
2/6 2/5 30% 40%
Service
delivery
1/5 4/7 20% 51%
Local
Economic
Development
2/5 3/7 20% 40%
Table 6.15: Performance of Lukhanji and Malahleni municipalities
In terms of table 6.15 supra Lukhanji municipality achieved only 30% of their targets
under the financial viability, and Malahleni achieved 60%. That means Malahleni did
better compared to Lukhanji, and that resulted in them getting a clean audit opinion.
Secondly: Lukhanji did the same under Institutional Development and Transformation
as they achieved only 30% of their total target whilst Malahleni managed to get 40%. In
service delivery, it was worse with Lukhanji where their target was 5 indicators and
they achieved only 1 and Malahleni out of 7 they achieved 4 (51%). The 20% the
Lukhanji municipality received has more to do with their unclear targets and the
missing records especially housing records. The researcher had to rely more on other
reports such OCA reports, budget performance and the annual report. The question one
has to ask is whether the results provided are the true reflection of municipal
performance. Lastly again the Malahleni municipality in the economic development
achieved 20% more than Lukhanji.
Lastly: To respond to the last question that seeks to establish whether the achievements
reported a realistic picture of homelessness on the ground. The answer to that is yes or
no. The demand for adequate houses in Lukhanji is nowhere registered. But in terms of
230
various reports the municipality is having huge housing backlog. In terms of Statistics
South Africa, both these municipalities are faced with 8% backlog especially in the
rural areas. That means the majority (80%) of the people do not have adequate houses,
and yet in these municipalities housing is not a priority issue. In the Lukhanji 2010 IDP
they did not have a chapter on housing development, as results in the 2011 annual
assessment report there is no information on housing.
Analysis: Phase 2: Implementation (Performance Monitoring and Evaluation)
In the first part of this chapter, it was mentioned that both municipalities do have
Performance Management framework. Further than that Lukhanji is has also adopted
Performance Management Model. The municipality however in their annual report
indicated that the system is not fully utilised, but at Malahleni, in their report they
indicated that they have managed to cascade the process to all levels of the
organization. The municipality in their annual report conceded that as far as
monitoring and evaluation is concerned they are still in the learning curve.
6.6 SUMMARY
Chapter six (6) started with the historical overview of the Lukhanji municipality, its
mandate and the objectives. In order to present the performance of both municipalities,
a process-flow diagram was used. The diagram had six basic steps that are involved
during the three- phased process that is normally used annually. The three phases of the
process include planning, implementation and reporting. During the first phase
(planning) that is normally done immediately before the start of the financial year. The
SONA forms part of the planning phase. During the SONA, President Zuma passed a
clear message that housing is one of government priorities. After that tabular
presentation of the Municipality’s annual performance report was done which forms
part of step (2)
Secondly: the chapter went to phase (2), which is the implementation phase. Phase 2 is
the implementation phase of chart. Here the activities were actually executed. For the
Lukhanji municipality a plethora of implementation strategies for 2010/11 was as
followed: Macro Development strategy, LGTAS, Rectification strategy, and Cluster
based implementation strategies. The last part of the Chapter six (6) was the
231
presentation of the analysis ad findings of the case study. A Three-phase approach was
used during the process, in order for the researcher to be able to make
recommendations. The lessons learnt from local and international experiences
presented in the early chapters would also be used of the research. As the study has
been broken down into pieces such as: local and International experiences, case study
where analysis and findings were presented, the study will culminate into summary,
recommendations as well as concluding remarks in the next
232
CHAPTER 7
SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
7.1 INTRODUCTION
The study analysed the following question: To what level can monitoring and
evaluation of performance provide quality and sustainable services delivery through
the public sector.
The background given supra, warranted that the study to first examine approaches that
were used by Australia, Chile and well as South Africa. Comparison between both the
Local and International experiences was conducted. The level of service delivery was
analysed by studying housing delivery in South Africa. After studying South Africa’s
housing development, it became apparent that a variety of factors influence the process.
One of those was monitoring and evaluation. Although housing delivery improved
nationally, there were still backlogs in the whole Country. It was also revealed that,
performance and evaluation framework fell short to achieve its goal of satisfying
service delivery hopes and needs. The case study analysis clearly showed this anomaly.
The experiences of other Countries are crucial and relevant to South Africa as a new
democratic Nation. The research showed the need to uphold monitoring and evaluation
as a hope to help in speeding up housing delivery thereby satisfying needs of homeless
people and its constitution mandate of building adequate houses equitably for all. The
culture of monitoring and evaluation in South Africa is an International requirement,
but is still not seen as an important thing by the government departments. It has never
been fully implemented in housing delivery. The research therefore emphasises the
need to improve performance monitoring and evaluation system in the all departments
and government agencies.
7.1 SUMMARY
Chapter One presented the introduction and background of the study, starting with the
historical overview of South Africa from 1652 to date, outlining culture, and politics.
Overview of the relevant legislation which governs service delivery machinery that
233
delivers services to the people. The chapter would be nothing without talking about the
evolution of monitoring and evaluation practices locally and internationally. Various
relevant key concepts were then defined and they were namely: monitoring, evaluation,
service delivery, performance measurement, accountability, economy, effectiveness and
efficiency, followed by the motivation for the study, as well as problem statement and
research question. Lastly, the objectives of the study and chapter outline were included.
Chapter Two presented the place of performance assessment in Public Administration,
starting immediately after the introduction and background with the broader definition
of Public Administration. Various authors and writers gave different definitions of the
concept, followed by developmental public administration and public management;
where a brief history and evolution of public administration was given. Phases of
evolutionary Public Administration were mentioned. A brief comparison between
Public Administration and management as well as Public Administration and
management was made. The background given supra resulted into the examination of
Public Administration as an academic discipline and an activity, followed by a brief
comparison between both public and private sector.
This was done to promote benchmarking on the lessons learnt from the private sector.
Financial management in the public sector was then examined in order to demonstrate
that monitoring and evaluation has a direct impact on the performance of any institution
or organization, followed by the policy and legal framework in South Africa. Lastly,
general overview and evolutionary stages of monitoring and evaluation were also
outlined.
Chapter Three presented literature review and the overview of evaluation approaches
locally and internationally in order to get more knowledge of the concept of evaluation.
Firstly, the cases of Chile and Australia were discussed, followed by the case of South
Africa where the new GWM&E system was discussed, followed by building evaluation
culture in South Africa in order to show how serious is the Country about the process
wherein various pieces of legislation were passed and mentioned in the study in order
to show the extent of commitment, followed by the implementation of GWM&E
strategy. Comparison between GWM&E of South Africa with the World experiences
was then made, followed by the process of encapsulating the experiences of these three
countries, in order to fuse together good practices.
234
Chapter Four presented the research methodology which was used in the research and
the rationale behind using the methodology was given. In presenting the research
methodology, the qualitative cases study approached was chosen, and the results of the
case study were encapsulated into the thesis. In order to increase the scope of the study
a triangulation approach was used. The two municipalities i.e. Lukhanji and Malahleni
were chosen for the case study. Data collection methods were also identified and were
followed by data analysis, reporting and validation. The reason to maintain validity was
explained in this chapter. The scope and limitations of the study was presented based on
the research problem and other barriers. Lastly the chapter ended by presenting the
significance of the study.
Chapter Five presented the research findings and policy lessons, in order to isolate
lessons learnt and findings obtained from the case studies mentioned supra. After the
introduction lessons learnt in Australia were presented, followed by lessons learnt from
Chile and South Africa. The implications of the learnt best practices for South Africa
were also presented as this would give South Africa a clearer picture of the best
practices with the view to influence their policies, followed by range of approaches and
their benefits. The other approaches refer to those which were not part of the findings
and lessons learnt. They were also presented in order to widen up the scope. Lastly the
motivation for monitoring and evaluation was presented in order to show the
importance of the process.
Chapter Six presented analysis and findings of the case of Lukhanji and Malahleni
local municipalities in the Eastern Cape. The chapter started with the historical
overview of Lukhanji Local municipality, where the legislative programmes of all local
municipalities should performance were presented, in order to show that all
municipalities in the Country should perform similar functions and this would assist in
assessing the performance of both municipalities. The chapter proceeds by showcasing
phases of organization performance cycle. The cycle would assist in analysing the
performance of the two municipalities, followed by the analysis of findings of the case
of Malahleni and Lukhanji. Analysing the performance of both municipalities
mentioned supra was to do comparison in order to check whether there is difference in
the performance of these municipalities. Chapter six ended up with a presentation of
analysis and findings of the case study. As been mentioned earlier the analysis would
235
help the researcher to present recommendations in line with the lessons learnt from the
Local and Global experiences from the early chapters.
Chapter Seven presents a clear summary of the research, outlining summary,
conclusions and recommendations. The chapter also brings forth ways and means to
improve service delivery by the two municipalities mentioned above. The study will
also advise the municipalities of the best mechanism to adopt as they both mentioned
that they did not pursue performance assessment and evaluation properly. Their
systems if there is any therefore failed to deliver the good results in terms of building
adequate houses. Chapter seven therefore is meant to concentrates on filling those gaps.
Based on the housing backlog in these municipalities (8%) as well as on the other
services like running clean water, electricity, flushing sanitation and the other socio-
economic problems, the country and the municipalities should adopt a working tool.
Housing is no more a privilege but a human right issue and that is an international
standard to measure the development level of each country.
7.2 CONCLUSIONS
The fact that both Lukhanji and Malahleni both have monitoring and evaluation
framework, they are aware that for a sustainable, quality service delivery, performance
monitoring and evaluation is key. The study also highlighted various contributory
factors to poor housing delivery, and part of which is monitoring and evaluation.
Malahleni has managed at least to perform and achieve most of its targets compared to
Lukhanji who were unable to be about 50% of their targets for 2010/11. Let alone their
failure to produce and provide data on the annual performance report.
The study has also identified lack of understanding on the part of management about
the importance of the process as well as the management of data. Involving various
stakeholders was found to be the most important thing to do, as this allows government
institutions to be on their toes and begin to prioritise monitoring and evaluation. The
study however has put forth Participatory Housing Delivery Monitoring Model
(PHDMM), as it became clear that the existing monitoring and evaluation framework
falls short in addressing service delivery issues.
236
The PHDMM will help both municipalities firstly to identify misnomers in housing
development in time. It will assist in correcting the gaps after being identified during
monitoring and evaluation. As the people will be consulted and be feedback as well as
to be given space in the process, this will promote accountability on the part of
municipalities, and that the strategies developed will specifically deal with the
problems. Training leaders and officials on various housing and service delivery issues
was also the recommendation of the study. This will assist in producing knowledgeable
leadership that is willing to go an extra-mile in establishing the problems surrounding
housing delivery in order to correct them.
Australia puts forth institutionalization of the monitoring and evaluation. Thais exactly
what needs to happen in South Africa. The study suggests participatory evaluation and
monitoring approach with the view to speed up service delivery, thereby achieving the
National goal of building adequate houses to all the needy South Africans.
7.3 RECOMMENDATIONS
The research suggests a multifaceted approach in resolving the current situation in both
Lukhanji and Malahleni. One of the reasons for the backlog mentioned supra is the
current monitoring and evaluation system that is not properly used. The understanding
is that monitoring and evaluation is key in accelerating service delivery. It is therefore
advisable that the municipalities to devise means in order to ensure that the process
works for them too. The Three-phase approach used supra assisted in identifying the
number of recommendations to address the challenges that are having detrimental effect
on their ability to deliver quality housing services and is as follows:
7.3.1 Establish National Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Centre
(NPMEC)
In 2010 and 2011, the National Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation
was developed. This was the good sign from the Government to make sure that through
its performance there is change in people’s lives. The law however warrants that all
spheres of government to develop systems on the process of monitoring and evaluation.
All government departments and municipalities therefore have a duty to create these
platforms. Accordingly the analysis of the world experiences in the study revealed that
237
all nations advocated for the process of monitoring and evaluation and as such Australia
established the Australia National Audit Organization (ANAO) which its work was to
provide the parliament with an independent assessment of selected areas of public
administration as well as assurance about public sector financial reporting,
administration and accountability. Chile however respondent to a need to develop a
centre for monitoring and evaluation differently as they centralised the process in the
Ministry of Finance. They externally commissioned consultants and academics and
provide them with standardised Terms of Reference and methodologies.
It is recommended therefore that National Department of Planning in the office of the
Presidency establishes the National Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Centre
(NPMEC), with both Provincial and Local sub-centres. The roles of the centre will be
to:
1) Ensure that monitoring and evaluation centres are operational in all spheres of
government and this will be judged through the improved outcomes in both local
and provincial levels using Outcome-Based approach where the impact of inputs
have significant improvement on service deliver and people’s lives.
2) Create a platform where the performance information and data is used to determine
the management decisions in the future, and this will be done by continuously
reviewing performance information.
3) Create space for the performance information generated to be a standing item in all
strategic processes (i.e. budget planning, strategic planning, Integrated
Development planning).
4) Promote a participatory monitoring and evaluation process, as this will clearly
show a clear implementation of the Outcome Based Approach, where all stake-
holders and the customers will participate in the process.
5) Build capacity on the participants. People must have an insight about the process, as
monitoring and evaluation is a bit tricky.
6) Develop National Consequence Mechanism (NCM). This will be used as a tool that
will determine the course of action to the transgressors and defaulters.
Lessons learnt from Chile and Australia will assist in the functioning of the centre
(NMPEC), as the evaluation experiences from the other countries are encouraged. The
situation of South however is unique based on various factors alike socio-political
238
factors that that must be considered in the functioning of the centre. The most important
feature in this regard is to forge relations with various stakeholders such as universities,
traditional leaders, and the civil society. The support from all Heads of provincial and
local government departments much needed in order for the process to be
institutionalised.
The centre with no doubt will bring forth hope and revival of performance and
evaluation culture in the housing development environment. As long as the unit is given
powers to operate independently of anybody or organization, it will assist all structures
of government to improve their performances.
7.3.2 Pursue a meaningful transformation
Transforming people’s mind sets in South Africa has been a lip-service from the very
word go. People want to do things in their own way since the apartheid regime, as
there were no measures in place to monitor and evaluate the performance of
government institutions especially those whose tasks was to render services to the
poorest of the poor. The National government must therefore make sure that
transformation of mind-set is the primary requirement for all who render services to the
people and make sure that their performance is frequently measured. At Lukhanji for
instance, the statically report on housing does not appear on their annual report for
2010/11). That clearly shows that there is no performance monitoring and evaluation
that was done on housing during the year mentioned supra.
7.3.3 Build Government Leadership Academy (GLA)
Leadership academy must be built as a matter of urgency. Most of the problems around
monitoring and evaluation and the inability of the government institutions successfully
implement monitoring and evaluation policy and strategy of government is due to
leadership vacuum. There are no capable people to lead the processes. Leadership is all
about guiding, directing, deciding and taking responsibility on the course of action to be
followed to rich the desired goal. That means therefore the inability of government to
effectively implement policies is related to the lack leadership. Leaders in public
administration are built over the years, but there is no proper tool to keep them focussed
and be willing to do what is right. There is a need therefore to shorten the period of
building leaders over years, by bringing forth the idea of second alternative that is
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opening up GLA. The role of this institution will be clear and that is to “cook” and train
leaders from the public sector. Government therefore to own the programme and run it
in conjunction with academic institutions. The institution overtime can yield good
results.
7.3.4 Build Provincial/Municipal Performance Supporting layer (PP/MSL)
This layer will coordinate the support from various stakeholders on the process and will
be based in the National Office. Its role is to specifically provide support to the needy
municipalities. It will be full of professional people who are knowledgeable. They will
advise municipalities and departments about all processes of monitoring and evaluation,
and develop reports for the National office and Provinces.
7.3.5 Develop National Performance Evaluation Authority Determining Bill
(NPADB)
This will give power to all the monitoring and evaluation structures under NMPEC to
have authority over all the public institutions as well as to all centres in order to
reprimand other institutions on the failure to implement government policy. That means
NMPEC will be given power and delegate some duties to the Provincial and Local
centres across the country. The understanding is that no lower level institution can
monitor or evaluate performance of higher – level institution.
7.3.6 Develop National Performance Evaluation Dynamics Management
Strategy (NPEDMS)
The finding of analysis in the case of South Africa Government Wide Monitoring and
Evaluation strategy (GWM&E) is that it is un- implementable because of various
challenges and intergovernmental complexity. The envisaged strategy will assist in
bridging those gaps as well as assisting to determine roles and responsibilities of
various stakeholders in the process. In a way Presidency developed a policy that
specifically outlines the role of various people in the process.
7.3.7 Develop National Backlog Assessment and Mitigating Strategy (NBAMS)
Backlogs are the true reflection of incompetency and un-monitored performance.
Backlogs are most felt by the beneficiaries of services, and in this case by the homeless
people. A strategy therefore will specifically involve the beneficiaries of services. That
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means in the process of wanting public institutions to promote monitoring and
evaluation, there must a way to measure the performance of these institutions on the
existing backlogs. If allowed people will know that they have a role to play in the
monitoring and evaluation of government institutions performance. This however needs
people to be capacitated so that they know the process in order to make valid
suggestions. This is the living example of a participatory monitoring and evaluation
process based on the outcome approach. In terms of the outcome approach the services
designed for the people by the state must make impact. This strategy therefore will
enable people and government a platform to engage on the issues of common interest.
7.3.8 Embrace “Single window of coordination”
Uncoordinated coordination between the state institutions can create havoc in the
resources, time and quality of services directed to the communities. This disjointed
approach can result into the failure of the process of monitoring and evaluation. There
is a need therefore that the process of district coordination is prioritised. For the single
window of coordination to work the following processes are critical as been suggested
by the Presidency (2010):
1) Determine the scope of the process (District coordination). The stakeholders must
know the scope of work. They must part of processes of district coordination early.
2) Improve communication with stakeholders. If the information is not clear to the
other people they feel neglected and desert the process.
3) Get a political will or mandate. There is nothing that one can do without the
mandate form the politicians
4) Promote the Strong-Agency Coordination. The entire sister department and the
other agencies must be properly coordinated. They are the ones that provide
support to the municipalities
5) Continuously engage with the stake-holders
7.3.9 Utilising Stake- Holder Management Strategy (SHMS) in order to improve
policy implementation
Although South Africa is known of having very good policies, they are in most cases
difficult to implement. The housing policy for instance gave hope to the many people in
the country, but today there are people who are still living in shacks. The most serious
241
part of the problem is that the most affected people are those who are staying in rural
areas. Various questions were raised about the inability of government to implement its
policies. The most of the above cited recommendations centred on developing strong
measures in order for the people to account for their actions. The recommendation is
that a joint venture between the homeless people, government, service providers and
land owners be created. That means therefore a platform be created for all the
stakeholders to converge and not only to be told about the programmes of government
but to be equitably afforded an opportunity to raise and make meaningful suggestions.
An improved monitoring policy implementation the stakeholder management strategy
can bring good results for housing delivery by the municipalities.
7.3.10 Develop Participatory Housing Delivery Monitoring Model (PHDMM) to
speed up housing service delivery
In the last chapters the following questions were raised:
1) What makes it difficult for government to implement its policies
2) Are the beneficiaries aware of the challenges that are facing government in
implementing policies
3) Who must be blamed for the backlogs
Based on the questions mentioned supra, the researcher felt that it is imperative to
attempt to give answers to the above questions, as the public servants are in terms of the
law expected to give feedback to the communities (Batho Pele principles). The research
therefore puts forth the following model as an alternative service delivery backlog
monitoring tool.
Participatory Housing Delivery Monitoring Model (PHDMM)
Benefits of the model are as follows:
1) Strengthens stake holders participation in all phases and steps of monitoring and
evaluation (Planning, implementation, and monitoring)
2) The beneficiaries will come face to face with government and tell them what they
want
3) There will be an instant feedback from government to the communities
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4) Unnecessary people’s demonstrations which inhibit development will obviously
decrease and lastly
5) Skills development is the eminent outcome
The Participatory Housing Delivery Monitoring Model (PHDMM)
The model takes a symbolic form of representation. The development of the PHDMM
was based on the levels of public participation offered by Arnstein (1969). Arnstein
(1969) summarises the levels of public participation as follows:
1) Communities participate by taking initiatives independent of external forces for the
resources and advise they need
2) Community Members gets some powers, but the government runs decision-making
process
3) Community forge partnership with the administration
4) Communities are asked for advice to make token changes
5) Communities get information about project through meetings or surveys. Their
decision may not appear on the final decision
6) Government informs people about the decision and do not listen to their responses
7) People participate and government tell people about what has happened already
8) People’s representatives sit in the boards but do not have power to change things
PHDMM is outlined in a document format, on a Microsoft Word document as follows:
1) Development of Housing Coordinating Team between, stakeholders, communities
reps, and sister departments for the other services
2) Identification of homeless people and ask them for their opinions
3) Identification of suitable land for development
4) Engage land owners, government department and municipalities
5) Feedback the communities on each step of engagement with the departments
243
6) Develop participatory evaluation and monitoring tool and monitor the project
continuously
7) Allocate adequate houses to the qualifying beneficiaries
Figure 7.1 below shows the 7 steps of the PHDMM
Figure 7.1: 7 steps of PHDMM (Gomomo: 2013)
Before the completion of the document, the following “completion guidelines” were
given:
1) The National constitution provides for access to adequate houses to all the homeless
people, hence the need to decrease backlog as much as possible.
2) Other services like water, electricity and flashing sanitation must also be priority
3) Housing budget to be set aside and housing must be standing item in the IDP of the
municipality
4) A demand for houses must the budget allocation
5) Demand adequate houses must be weighed against supply
6) Continuous outcome-based and inclusive monitoring and evaluation process must
be conducted jointly.
1. Develop
Housing Coordinating
Team
2 . Identify homeless people
3. Indetification of suitable land
4. Engage all stakeholders
5. Feedback the communties and
beneficiaries
6. Develop a Monitoring and Evaluation tool
and monitor the performance
7. Allocation of house to the benefsiciaries
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STEP 1: DEVELOPMENT OF HOUSING COORDINATING TEAM (HCT)
A coordinating team that is made up of various stakeholders and beneficiaries must be
developed. The main role of the team is to share views and discuss issues affecting
housing development. Here the tasks and roles will be allocated to the members. Each
member will represent his or her organizational views. He or she must have been the
active mandated member. This will alleviate advancement of self-interest issues to the
detriment of the broader national problem. The members will be trained further to
understand the process and the rights of the homeless people.
STEP 2: IDENTIFICATION OF THE REAL HOMELESS PEOPLE
Here the identification of the real homeless people must be jointly done. It must not
only be the matter of the muncipalility to identify the beneficiaries based on the
applications submitted. The application forms must therefore be issued to the
communities by the or via the team. The survey must therefore be conducted in order to
get a scientific view on the livihood of the people. This must be done using the profiles
and the other report part of baseline information.
STEP 3: IDENTIFICATION OF SUITABLE LAND FOR DEVELOPMENT
Land has been the major problem in the housing development. The assumption
however that is there is no development that can take place in the air. There must be
land. The question is if the land has been the problem or the barrier in the housing
delivery, why we must remain with the same problem for more than two decades. The
processes somewhere somehow must have been stalled deliberately. The team therefore
must work hard in resolving land issues. Review housing policy is one of its tasks
STEP 4. ENGAGE ALL STAKEHOLDERS AND LAND OWNERS
Most of the land in South Africa is the hands of individual people. This makes it
difficult to use the land. Section 25 of the National constitution (Act 108 of 1996) made
things works as it warrants that the land owners to be consulted in the event that the
state wants to use land for development. The “Willing buyer willing seller”
arrangement did not work to speed up land distribution. It is unlikely that the ruling
245
party can change the constitution any soon. The purpose of the committee therefore
must be to engage all stakeholders, and land owners. Traditional leaders must also be
part of the committee.
STEP 5: FEEDBACK COMMUNITIES AND BENEFICIARIES
Most of the unrests pertaining to service deliver emanate from the inability of
governments to feedback communities about the progress and the type of services
available. One the Batho Pele principles are that people must be given feedback on the
discussions and decisions of government. Such activities we see today in the other parts
of the country are caused by the lack of feedback. People must know what to expect.
STEP 6: DEVELOP A PARTICIPATORY EVALUATION & MONITORING
TOOL
Many nations put forth the use of participatory monitoring approach to assess the
performance of government institutions. The approach is all about involvement of the
ordinary people in planning, implementing and monitoring process. A joint venture
must also be made in various types of projects. Poor housing development project are
the result of a non-inclusive monitoring and evaluation processes.
STEP 7: ALLOCATE HOUSING UNIT TO THE QUALIFYING
BENEFICIARIES
The municipality is having a duty to allocated houses to the beneficiaries. Many
problems emanated from this exercise. Wrong people are given houses. This created
more problems and stress to the relevant beneficiaries. When they go to the municipal
offices, they sent from pillar to post. The joint housing allocation committee must be
developed to look into that. People are always fighting against the manner in which the
councillors and the municipality allocate housing unit to the beneficiaries, and this
makes the situation worse (Daily Despatch dated 28/06/2013). It means therefore the
model will assist in dealing with such behaviours and brings back people’s dignity.
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246
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