Managerial skills and institutional capacity for municipal service delivery

English: Since the early nineteen nineties a number of social and political changes emanated from the transformation process in South Africa. These changes had an effect on all spheres of government. The local sphere of government has particularly been affected by the changes since it is the sphere closest to the people and directly responsible for municipal service delivery. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996) has furthermore outlined values and principles for public officials to comply with, pertaining to service delivery to inhabitants. It is therefore necessary to have skilled and competent public officials in order to comply with constitutional requirements. The purpose of the study is to identify and analyse the status and relevance of managerial skills in the local sphere of government as well as its influence on municipal service delivery. Managers in municipalities should exhibit particular skills and competencies in order to fulfil their developmental role and provide quality municipal services to inhabitants. The study focuses specifically on the Nokeng Tsa Taemane Municipality which is categorised as a category B municipality in terms of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996). The government of South Africa has promulgated legislation and official policies to assist managers in municipalities pertaining to their roles, functions and responsibilities towards municipal service delivery. Managers in the local sphere of government are compelled to implement the legislative directives in order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of municipal service delivery and to fulfil their mandate. This study furthermore investigates the institutional capacity in the Nokeng Tsa Taemane Municipality as well as its influence on municipal service delivery. The institutional capacity of a municipality should support managers in the exercising of their duties. It investigates the ability of the necessary resources, systems, procedures and managerial tools at the municipality in order to determine whether it could provide adequate support to managers. It became evident that the majority of systems and procedures at the municipality are not in place or not used to its fullest potential, which reflects on the substantial lack of institutional capacity. Not only are inadequate human resources a restricting factor to municipal service delivery, but financial impediments are the single most important obstacle to the delivery of municipal services of quality. The government of South Africa has furthermore committed itself to the improvement of the skills levels of public officials and to establish a culture of learning in the public service. For these purposes legislation and policies pertaining to skills development and training have also been promulgated. This study outlines the various legislative requirements pertaining to skills development and training, and furthermore make recommendations in this regard. It became evident that managers of the Nokeng Tsa Taemane Municipality, especially on middle management level do not possess the required skills and competencies to provide quality municipal services to inhabitants. It is therefore recommended that municipalities should make use of training opportunities for senior and middle managers to improve the skills levels of managers. The Nokeng Tsa Taemane Municipality should in conclusion make it a priority to improve not only its managerial skills, but also the institutional capacity of the municipality. It is imperative for the municipality to increase its revenue-base as a means to improve the financial situation of the municipality which could result in the eventual improvement of municipal service delivery.