The influence of organisational culture on service delivery in South Africa : a case of the Tshwane Municipality in Gauteng Province

Abstract

The New Public Management (NPM) movement brought about by the changes that occurred after the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994. The changes impact on how the three spheres of government; that is, National, Provincial and Local ought to operate when rendering services to the public. These imperatives inspired this research project. Furthermore, quality service is expected to meet acceptable service standards as promulgated in the Act of Parliament. One of them being the Batho Pele White Paper (White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service, 1997). Public Administration is governed by principles and values as enshrined in Chapter 10 of the Constitution, Section 195(1). These legislations and related regulations bring competitive public value approach in the running of local municipalities. Locals municipalities are considered drivers of service delivery in the local government sphere, one may call it the engine or heart of Public Administration. This study, therefore, seeks to highlight leadership challenges in South African municipalities from an organisational culture and leadership perspective, with the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality as a research site. This study is guided by the following research questions: Why is service delivery remaining a challenge amidst the existence of regulatory and institutional frameworks in South African municipalities? How can leadership be used to influence change in the municipalities? In South Africa, the local government has undergone numerous reforms, yet elements of bureaucracy are still highly prevalent. Bureaucratic structures like municipalities require leaders and employees with specific behaviours in a particular manner and according to a specific rule. Bureaucracy by its nature limits leaders from being flexible in making decisions that are suitable to address specific issues in different situations while at the same time being compliant with the legislation that governs them. Municipalities are then faced with a challenge of not having flexible and innovative leadership that is willing to boldly take calculated risks to address the challenges of service delivery within the legal framework. This leadership challenge makes it difficult to embed culture change in the public sector. This study posits that there is a need for a culture change to outgrow the outdated bureaucracies in an effort to allow for flexibility, innovation in leadership to ease the tension between these bureaucracies and have the desire to provide quality service while being compliant with the legislation.

This research argues that organisational culture is tied to leadership traits when attempting to address service delivery challenges in South African municipalities. A responsive and accountable culture should model the values and principles of the Constitution without fear or favour, and make realistic cost-effective and visible change that will address the imbalances of apartheid municipal system of government. This research has it that leadership influences culture and supports and operationalises it. As much as it acknowledges other theories of leadership in the context of the current diverse challenges that municipalities confront, this study perceives that the contingency theory stands out. The contingency theory allows innovation and flexibility for different situations. It is not rigid and allows for the internal and external adaptation of culture that is effective and suitable for different situations. One size does not fit all in the application of the contingency theory leadership approach. Municipalities and organisations need leadership that is open to change, encourage and support innovation for its competitiveness and survival. For the success of culture change, leaders of organisations need to change their leadership practices, behaviour, decision making, communicate, and create a conducive environment for new ideas, constructive criticism, responsive and accountable. Kanyane (2014:89) reminds us that “the need to improve performance was underpinned by the State’s acceptance of the municipal service delivery challenges that to access descent municipal services was no longer a privilege to be enjoyed by a few.” Leaders are agents and catalyst of change. As Schein,2004: 20 puts it, “Leadership and change are two sides of a coin, the one cannot exist without the other.” Further, leaders must walk the talk if they want to lead. Should they fail to manage the sub-cultures in the organisations they lead, those sub-cultures will end up managing the overall organisational culture. Municipalities and organisations need leaders who are keen to introduce effective culture change that is results-oriented. The stability of effective culture change comes through feedback from the environment and not from the leader because the recipient of service shall have experienced it (Kuppler & Schein, 2016