Abstract:
When the new government came in to power in 1994 it inherited dysfunctional
municipalities. In fact it inherited a country with high levels of
poverty, growing levels of inequality and also social dysfunctionality. As
such in an attempt to redress apartheid legacies, the new government
reformed previous legislation and policies to address issues pertaining to
segregation, inequity, inequality, discrimination, poverty and to establish
new transitional local authorities. Therefore new institutions have been
created with new principles, philosophies and support mechanisms to
make the transformation of local government a success. This is irrespective
of the government coming up with good policies and laws the South
African local government sphere is still rocked by poor service delivery
in the majority of the municipalities including the big metropolitan municipalities.
Since 2008, South Africa has witnessed many service delivery
protests by communities demanding better services. This article critically
analyses the role of the King III report on corporate governance in
improving poor service delivery in South African local government and
to assess if indeed these policies and legislations can improve service
delivery. The findings in this article indicates that corporate governance
principles are an effective instrument in improving municipalities in South
Africa and if adhered to by the municipal councils and management
of all municipalities then the challenges that are faced at the local government
will be minimised. This article further finds that the only way to
restore public confidence in South Africa is by first fixing the local government
as it is a test of the country as to whether it is able to manage its affairs
and providing services to the members of the communities (public).
Description:
Published in: Journal of Public Administration and Development Alternatives. Vol. 1, No.1, July 2016. p. 77-89
