An evaluation on the participation sector departments in the integration development planning process for Mopani District Municipality

Abstract

Planning is central to service delivery especially at the local government level being supported by both national and provincial spheres. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa established three spheres of government which must work together in both vertical and horizontal manner in order to achieve aligned government programmes through integrated planning. Planning at the local government level requires all relevant stakeholders to participate such that all programmes and projects of government are implemented for communities without creating “white elephants” of completed projects which may result in poor community service delivery. It is on this basis that this study evaluated the participation of sector departments in the integrated development planning process of Mopani District Municipality. Sector departments have been selected from various other role players due to the huge impact they have on development initiatives at local level. Government is moving away from uncoordinated planning which results in uncoordinated implementation and causes communities to vandalise infrastructure as they do not benefit from the planned services at the time of completing the project. Thus, these projects become government liabilities with huge financial implications and might be directly linked to the wastage of tax payer‟s money in the main.

The objective of this study was to determine how sector departments participate in the IDP process of the Mopani district municipality. To that end, the study determined the impact of sector departments in producing a credible IDP for Mopani district municipality and also analysed the implementation of the IGR (Intergovernmental relations) framework Act. The study exposes the challenges facing municipalities in developing their integrated development plans.

The integrated development plan of a municipality serves as a tool for public participation where all stakeholders have to participate in the local planning processes. This study found out that non-submission of sector plans is one of the threats that affect Mopani District Municipality‟s IDP negatively. Failure to submit sector plans by sector departments denies the District Municipality an opportunity to integrate and align programmes and plans respectively as there will be nothing to consider. It is clear that the participation of sector departments is of paramount importance in the development of a Municipal IDP. The absence of sector plans in an IDP is the best recipe for implementing scattered and uncoordinated development without supporting the local economic development nodes of either the district or the local municipalities.

The study recommends that the issue of planning must find a proper cluster provincially so that both the Municipal Managers and the Heads of Sector Departments find a way of discussing this matter. For synchronization of plans, all the three spheres of government must cooperate and work together, as municipalities cannot on their own develop the underdeveloped areas without the support of both the national and provincial departments which bring financial aid through their programmes.