Keywords

Governance, Mnquma Municipality, Public Administration, Rural Development, Service Delivery.

Introduction

According to Cotteril (2020) ever since the present South African government acquired power in 1994, improved governance and service delivery was prioritized by the government, further making promises to transform the quality of citizens’ livelihood through effective and efficient service delivery. Rural development was then prioritized post-1994 as a key objective to develop citizens’ livelihood (Batory & Svensson, 2019; Thebe, 2017). Thus, local governments’ mandate is to provide quality service delivery to citizens, more specifically those in rural areas. Majid et al. (2019) confirm that rural development has continuously remained a prevalent challenge in Eastern Cape in South Africa given the previously racially inscribed service delivery. Thus, pertinent to this study’s purpose, is a need to enhance services delivered to rural communities within Mnquma Municipality considering the dawdling pace of rural development.

According to Zonke & Matsiliza (2015), “the socio-economic and political activities of the government should take into cognizance the importance of service delivery and strong administration that will promote public participation in the decision-making process and developmental issues”. This is given how efficient and effective delivery of goods and services largely depends on organizational structure and administration. Moreover, when South Africa gained independence in 1994, apartheid continued in the current government “characterized by fragmented population, poor governance, and administration which affects the smooth distribution of goods and services to meet the demands of the people”. This implies that municipalities formed during that time were mostly centered on delivering goods and services to urban areas at the expense of rural communities. Thus, most rural communities were left underdeveloped and resulting in most citizens struggling to then make ends meet. Due to these inequalities and poor governance in local municipalities, service delivery protests have become prone (Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs–COGTA, 2016). These protests are largely influenced by a shortage of resources and the prevailing incapacity of municipalities to deliver goods and services to their people. In addressing the challenges being faced by the municipalities, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs–COGTA (2016), emphasizes the need to strengthen the developmental state of municipalities and good governance to move local governments forward. This commitment was a result of many interventions that had been made in various municipalities including Mnquma Municipality to steer good governance practices when dealing with municipality affairs.

Literature Review

Eastern Cape Annual Report (2016) confirms that in 2013 Mnquma Municipality was placed under Section 139 for the second time in 4 years due to poor governance. In support of this, (Eastern Cape Performance, 2015) highlighted that in 2009 the then Minister dissolved the municipal Council although the Councilors challenged the declaration in court and were reinstated, after-which governance of the municipality remained unstable. Again, in 2013 the province sent another administrator to the municipality noting poor governance amongst others, as the reason for the intervention. Humby (2019) pointed that service delivery in Eastern Cape municipalities is affected by poor integration and coordination within the local government structures and lack of capacity of public officials to implement projects that cater to the needs of the communities.

The argument borders around how Mnquma Municipality is characterized by poor administration and service delivery challenges that compromise the living standards of the majority. Resultantly, the dire situation in the municipality can be attributed to poor policy and institutional structures within the organization thereby contributing to poor service delivery (Eastern Cape Annual Report, 2016). Thus, practicing good governance is central to effective and efficient service delivery in improving the livelihood of citizens in Mnquma municipality and other municipalities in the Eastern Cape Province and the greater South Africa. Given how important adhering to good governance practices is communities will hopefully receive goods and services efficiently and effectively. The above challenges experienced in the Municipality hinge on the aim of the study of how Mnquma Municipality can improve its governance to improve service delivery to its communities. This background reflects on the pertinence of this study to the field of Public Administration as it creates awareness for public officials to realize and adopt good governance practices to ensure effective and efficient service delivery. This thereby minimizes corruption and fraud in the provision of service delivery in municipalities.

Theoretical Foundations: Transformational Leadership Theory

Burns (1978) defines transforming leadership as, “a practice where leaders and their supporters work together to achieve the goals of the organization”. The transformational theory was developed by Burns in 1978, in conceptualizing how leaders are important in organizations in encouraging other employees to work collectively to achieve the goals and vision of the organization (Burns, 1978). Transformational leaders must have the organization at heart, be able to influence other employees to implement administrative structures that are conducive to increasing organizational output and attain organizational goals (Kotlyar & Karakowsky, 2006). Transformational leaders should be able to lead and encourage employees to work extra miles for the accomplishment of organizational goals (Burns, 1978). The theory applies to the study in Mnquma Municipality by encouraging it to promote good governance by involving the public in processes or activities related to the development of the municipality, provisioning of essential services, and transforming the lives of the public. The role of transformational leaders further transcends, the responsibility to raise morality in the organization by designing rules and policies that improve the administration and functioning of the organization thereby paving way for the goals and mission of the organization to be accomplished (Albritton, 1998). The theory is applicable in this study in the sense that the municipalities need to redesign the administrative structures and operations that will encourage citizens to meet their developmental needs.

Good Governance and Service Delivery

Good governance principles provide opportunities for citizens to obtain accountability from public administrators. Moreover, Pieterse (2018) also confirm that good governance enables service providers to be centered on a tolerable governance framework and the participation of larger citizens through decentralization. Herman (2018); Maramura et al. (2020) say this method calls for good management and coordinated governance that has accountability systems in place. This means that effective service delivery requires control systems that ensure collaborative work between private and public entities. Institutions like the Auditor-General Office, Public Protector Office, and the Anti-Corruption Commission Office ought to effectively support accountable administration while averting public resource mismanagement (Lewis et al., 2018). This implies that the formation of structures that ensure good governance practices at the local level is important for service delivery. Such structures enable the citizenry to be involved in the decision-making process to smoothly implement government policies and programs. According to Sewpersadh (2019), governance structures essentially describe how things are determined and understood in an organization, whether private or public. Moreover, the consequent argument is that governance is an important tactical issue for loyal counties as it regulates how they are managed, directed, controlled (Campbell, 2016; Waweru, 2020). Good governance does promote public participation that allows citizens to contribute to local development initiatives, thus increasing municipal transparency and accountability in service delivery (Puni & Anlesinya, 2020). Additionally, good governance recommendations from this study encourage the implementation of effective administration leading to improved service delivery patterns.

The State of Service Delivery in Mnquma Municipality

According to Cotteril (2020), local government is governance that is closer to the citizens, carrying responsibility for initiating community development. Wagner (2018) argues that the South African Constitution (1996) specifies that local government structures are purposed to promote socio-economic growth throughout the country. However, this study is arguing how local municipalities are failing to deliver services to residents thus raising questions about municipal efficiency. Crocker (2019); Sibanda et al. (2020) argue that local government experiences a lot of challenges, stretching from skills shortages that facilitate the increase of poverty due to financial misconduct, fraud, corruption, political interference, and nepotism. In the same manner, a sluggish transformation has been experienced in implementing policies and distributing resources in local municipal areas like Mnquma Municipality. According to Mnquma Annual Report in 2017, people engaging in long-distance travel to access public services through health services have significantly improved since the apartheid government era. Moreover, the financial problems in Mnquma cause suffering to rural residents due to the sluggish economic development in Mnquma Municipality.

Sibanda et al. (2020) confirms that a shift from government to governance has been realized whereby different role players are involved in government activities such as participating in decision making and government politics. Bassett (2016) even argues that governance has become a popular discourse for its central role in influencing social well-being. Waweru (2020); Chaskin & Greenberg (2015) confirm that this modern interpretation of governance helps to portray the diverse role of civil society in guiding and managing public resources while increasing confidence in deliberation rather than representation in issues of democracy. These diverse players include ministers, departments, civil servants, political parties, civil society, media, urban rich and poor, rural rich and poor, religious groups, traditional groups, international and regional organizations (Chaskin & Greenberg, 2015; Crocker, 2019).

The Conceptual Framework for Good Governance

The diagram below represents a chronological approach to good governance practices and service delivery in Mnquma Municipality (Figure 1). The introduction of good governance practices is mainly rooted in the government’s legitimacy. The Constitution 108 of (1996), Municipal Systems Act, White Paper on Public Service, 1995, Promotion of Access to Information and other legal policies that will promote efficient and effective service delivery. This framework exposes how public administration must offer the best services to the public; imperatively the Mnquma Municipality must abide by the Constitution 108 of (1996) and other relevant laws that promote good governance. Chirlesan (2015) notes that the government does not operate in isolation, hence the need for civil society and stakeholder participation to improve the functionality and administration of the local government.

Furthermore, good governance practices advocate for government accountability, integrity, responsiveness, transparency, effective, efficient, and active public participation (Bassett, 2016; Campbell, 2016). Additionally, this study also argues that Mnquma Municipality needs to develop strong governance structures, institutional capacity and implement decision making that would benefit every citizen in different communities within the municipality. The ideal is that strong governance structures would lead to proper planning, control, and continuous project and program evaluation. Langa et al. (2016); Lewis et al. (2018) added that good governance practices involve the features of democratic government whereby all citizens are recognized and appreciated. Thus, good governance practices must emphasize enhancing socio-economic development. Good governance practices contribute to public service execution and quality-of-service delivery.

Research Methodology

research paradigm is a perspective grounded on a set of standards, assumptions, and practices, held by researchers. Kivunja & Kuyini (2017) define it differently as a frame or model of position used by researchers to observe and understand the phenomenon, which shapes what they see and how they see it. In essence, paradigms are common methods of interpreting how the world functions and how to gain knowledge of the world. Furthermore, Kumar (2015) argues that researchers commonly start their research with a positioning or perspective or certain beliefs guiding their research. For this study, the researcher adopted the constructivist paradigm as it is centered on constructing suitable solutions to poor service delivery in Mnquma municipality. Alshenqeeti (2014) argues that meaning is ideally invisible at face value and should therefore be constructed through thorough reflections, attainable upon interactions between the researcher and participants. To obtain a deep reflection on the role of good governance practices in enhancing service delivery in Mnquma Municipality, the researcher ought to interact with municipal officials and members of the community (participants).

Target Population

The sample of this study included ten (10) members from the communities and five (5) officials from the directorate of community services. Therefore, the total sample size for the study was (n) = (15) participants. To sample the study used the purposive/judgmental sampling technique which is a non-probability sampling method. In purposive sampling, the researcher judges the suitability of participants according to the purpose of the study. Thus, participants were selected according to their occupation, knowledge, and experience that will be beneficial in examining the good governance practices in Mnquma Municipality. According to Kumar (2015), the main aim of purposive sampling was to produce a sample that fairly represented the total population since they could provide comprehensive information to help answer the study aim. In purposive sampling, the study deliberately chose each participant based on the qualities that the participant has for the total research.

This qualitative study employed semi-structured interviews and reviewed secondary data as data collection methods. This study adopted semi-structured interviews to enable the interviewees to probe into the responses given by participants willingly and freely. This approach is akin to Sedikides’s (2017) interpretation that semi-structured interviews are a method of data collection grounded on a mixed framework which includes the use of ready questions as well as probing techniques to follow up on emerging themes and matters of interest. Various techniques have been used to analyze qualitative data; this study employed content analysis. The content analysis exposes the content in the text but fails to understand the content’s significance. The study concluded that the shortcomings of content analysis, do not affect the outcomes of this study, thus found it very useful to use it as the main data analysis technique of this study.

Data Entry

Data collected from respondents was simplified, reduced, sorted, and categorized under emerging themes and sub-themes. The researchers used interview tape recordings as well as field editing which (Creswell & Poth, 2017) defined as a systematic way of organizing data. Data from interview tape recordings were transcribed to improve the quality and accuracy of the notes. Data collected from respondents was simplified, reduced, sorted, and categorized under emerging themes and sub-themes. Coding helped to organize and interpret descriptive data, such as that of open-ended questions. Adhering to the University of Fort Hare policy guidelines in human research, the researchers employed the ethical requirements by obtaining an Ethical Clearance Certificate from the University Research and Ethics Committee (UREC) and the researchers abided by this requirement before, during, and after conducting fieldwork.

Findings and Discussion

Interviews recorded via digital voice recorder were transcribed for interpretation under themes. The transcripts were accurately edited and analyzed through content analysis techniques to systematically decode and categorize data to easily make inferences. Responses relating to objectives were kept and considered and irrelevant data was ignored. The useful data were categorized and unitized. The transcripts were edited by the researcher and confirmed their accuracy to the transcriptions. The interview guide clarified the extent to which good governance practices enhance service delivery in Mnquma Municipality.

The Table 1 shows maximum co-operation from the community members and officials from community services. Five (5) community officials were approached and four (4) were interviewed with one having gone for a meeting. Seven (7) community members from the rural areas were interviewed whilst two were admitted to the hospital and the other one was reported to be attending a funeral. As shown in the table above, of the fifteen (15) participants approached, eleven (11) were interviewed while the rest were busy and unavailable. Because the study focused mainly on the extent of how good governance practices enhance service delivery in Mnquma Municipality. Only officials from the Mnquma Municipality were selected which produced a small qualitative sample.

Table 1 Analysis Interviews
Interviews	Approached	Responded	Percentage
Community Members	10	7	70
Officials from the Directorate of community services	5	4	80
Total	15	11	73

Status of Service Delivery in Mnquma Municipality

The research findings established that Mnquma Municipality is experiencing poor service delivery which has resulted in strikes and service delivery protests in various communities in the municipality. Service delivery is a problem in the rural areas especially of Mnquma Municipal where rural areas are under development and there are high levels of poverty. The issues of service delivery, negatively impact the socio-economic development of rural areas. The Mnquma Municipality expands services very slow as compared to urban areas thus, increasing the development gaps between rural and urban areas. One respondent stated that:

“In Mchubakazi location, there is no access to water sources and sanitation, and this may result in health problems affecting the whole community. Several complaints have been lodged to the municipality and nothing has changed which is a worrying matter to the inhabitants of the municipality. The transformation has been very slow when it comes to the implementation of policies and distribution of resources in Mnquma municipality”.

Mnquma Municipality is dominated by rural areas and still suffers poor service delivery. Thus, poor service delivery in Intsika Yethu Municipality has raised several questions about the incompetence of the councilors in their wards. According to Mnquma Annual Report (2018), citizens still walk long distances to access public services. However, services such as health have improved in comparison to how they were in the apartheid era. The government has been injecting money for the development of rural areas and awarding grants to local municipalities, but there is very little that has been achieved at Mnquma Municipality. Alluding to this, Campbell (2016) noted that a few programs are offered for community empowerment, and these are mostly found in town and a few villages closer to town. Moreover, Macanda (2014) says that such services are not available to the wider communities and currently there is nothing taking place to make sure that community development programs are instigated to the deep rural spaces. In rural communities of Mnquma municipality, when the South African government started rolling-out services, there was little consultation of people in rural areas. Like recent toilet projects yet community members need clean hygienic water and good roads (Mnquma Annual Report, 2018). Houghton (2017) emphasized that people in rural areas need to be close to health services, welfare, and educational services to reduce the cost of traveling long distances to get services.

Transparency

Transparency expresses decisions taken and enforced to abide by rules and regulations. In the same manner, (Maramura et al., 2020) argue that transparency guarantees the availability of information about institutions by stakeholders and that adequate data is given to comprehend and observe them. The research findings established that in Mnquma municipality there is a lack of transparency in statutory structures and stakeholders that participate in the decision-making and implementation of some developmental programs. In support of the above, one participant pointed out that:

“Transparency has never existed in practice even in post facto reports if questions are fielded on a particular transaction or for an appointment of an employee. Everything in the municipality is done behind closed doors. Employment is done on merit, corruption, favoritism, and cadre deployment instead of qualifications and experience. The municipality is awarding its relatives some tenders. The political-administrative interface also overrides transparency in Mnquma municipality”.

Transparency ensures the availability of free information as well as access by those affected by certain decisions and how they are enforced. When the community is kept informed about the municipal activities for example the municipal budgets and projects to improve service delivery. Transparency in municipalities eliminates corruption and improves service delivery. Although Chirlesan (2015) argued that transparency can help inhibit corruption, Eastern Cape municipalities overlooked this transparency by being involved in corrupt procurement activities, thereby compromising economic development. According to the Eastern Cape Performance (2015), about 56% of the quotes were accepted from potential service providers in Mnquma municipality who were not on the list of qualified potential service providers and did not meet the listing requirements of Supply Chain Management (SCM) regulations in 16(b) and 17(b). Moreover, the Supply Chain Management Review (2015) argued that in several municipalities, unqualified suppliers were used, and bids were passed for incorrect reasons. This shows the lack of transparent activities in various municipalities such as Mnquma Municipality. Sibanda et al. (2020) confirms that this results in flouting proper procurement procedures and thus the contracting of unqualified suppliers who compromise service delivery and contribute to stagnant local economic development.

Consensus Oriented

Good governance needs the intervention of different societal stakeholders to reach an extensive consensus with regards to what is serves in the best interest of the wider community (Zonke & Matsiliza, 2015). According to Campbell, (2016), consensus-oriented also involves a long-term and wide-ranging outlook on the requirements for workable human development projects and ways of achieving the goals of such development. This happens when a society’s historical, cultural, and social contexts are understood. Consensus is achieved when various views and perceptions are collated to identify the community’s best interests. When such an approach is achieved, the national public policy ought to express community interests as governments implement structures that enable public participation in policy-making processes. Moreover, public participation gives public officers a chance to understand citizens, and this helps in solving complex social problems (Zonke & Matsiliza, 2015). Implementation of good public participation to improve public administration is therefore important in Mnquma Municipality and the greater South Africa.

Accountability

Accountability is central to good governance practices and it demands public accountability from government decision-makers, private sector, and civil society organizations. The research findings have established that accountability assists in curbing corruption. One official from the directorate of community services stated that:

“Municipal officials are entrusted with important responsibilities to satisfy the needs of the community. The council body should ensure that officials account for the management of municipal resources. It must be stated that officials usurp the space that the councilors neglect their oversight role and thus results in lack of accountability by the management”.

Officials in democratic states ought to be accountable to the public in issues of development and public resources. The principle of accountability is contributing positively to the good governance of the municipalities thereby minimizing corruption. “Officials of municipalities are given more flexibility and empowerment to carry out their tasks; in return, there is a greater degree of accountability for the outcomes they achieve”. Accountability gaps disadvantage efficiency and equity goals. In South Africa, citizens prefer equity and accountability, and institutional activities can either promote or hinder accountability, thus the need to constantly monitor and evaluate institutions to ensure accountability.

Political Administrative Interface Challenge

The findings from the study reviewed that the Mnquma Municipality lacked clearly defined duties and responsibilities which also affect the running of the activities in the municipality. The Political administrative interface affects service delivery in many municipalities. When there are unclear responsibilities of each group, the executive institution cannot provide the services required, thus damaging the good governance of the public sector. There is a huge challenge in separating politics and administration which also affects service delivery. There should be a clear difference between administrative roles and political office bearers in the municipality. The Code of Conduct for Councilors includes a provision that prohibits incongruous administrative practices. Section 118 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) 56 of 2003 takes a harder line on the separation between politics and administration. It prohibits councilors from taking part in tender decisions. It also has provisions that seek to separate the council from the administration. Schedule 1 of the Code of Conduct of the Municipal Systems Act, (Act 32 of 2000) limits undue political interference, forcing councilors to disclose and excuse themselves from tender proceedings. However, despite these laws, the definition of roles remains a challenge.

In Mnquma Municipality there is a need to take stronger measures to restore pride and professional work ethic in public administration or else the political-administrative dichotomy will be a continuing debate till infinite, resulting in political interference in public administration which continues to hinder public administration and good governance. According to Thebe (2017), there is a lack of a clear vision for change due to the absence of well-defined roles and responsibilities for the key role players responsible for steering the transformation process at all levels such as the national, provincial, and local levels. These can be rectified by ensuring that roles and responsibilities are not rigidly defined as in the past, as well as increasing the scope for flexibility and innovation. The contrast between politics and administration suggests a division between the role of elected representatives and the administrators. Moreover, this contrast supposes an authoritarian hierarchy between these groups.

High Increase in the Unemployment Rate

Unemployment rates in South Africa have raised annually causing most of the people to live in pools of poverty. According to ninety percent (90%) of the participants who were interviewed, they agreed the unemployment rate keeps on rising is a great challenge thereby putting much pressure on the municipality. In addition, the country has a low labor absorption rate of approximately 43.8%. Though employment opportunities fell across productive sectors of the economy according to the South Africa Reserve Bank–SARB (2015c), the rate of the unemployed remained high. Due to a lack of employment opportunities, many youths are involved in crimes such as murder, theft, and robbery to make ends meet. The government should create job opportunities and reduce the unemployment rate in the country.

High Levels of Bureaucracy in Community Development Projects

According to the collected data, fifty-five percent (55%) of the respondents who were interviewed in different wards in Mnquma Municipality stated that most projects and programs fail because there are many hierarchies to be followed to approve certain projects in the municipality. Furthermore, seventy percent (70%) of the participants from the directorate of community services argued that various community development projects were affected by bureaucratic municipal processes, and it takes time to approve them. As much as cooperatives are situated nearer to the citizens, they often face strict bureaucratic procedures that usually stall service delivery. The escalating rate, at which development projects are dwindling, attributed to the high level of bureaucracy leads to a failure in promoting entrepreneurship and skills development. Waweru (2020) emphasize that the major challenge faced in community development programs in South Africa is that public autonomy is denied. Though government interferences seem to inhibit sound community development, there is a vulnerability cooperative pioneered by the government that fails whenever state protection and financial support are discontinued.

Lack of Revenue to Support Implemented Programmes

According to the data collected, 80% of respondents argued that Intsika Yethu Municipality experienced a poor revenue base caused by national, provincial, and local spheres resulting from poor revenue collection strategies related to underpricing on services rendered for the public. More importantly, sixty-seven percent (67%) of the officials from the directorate of community services hinted how these cooperatives are the center of community development projects and they experience financial shortages resulting from an inability to access equity capital from members. Banks rarely support cooperatives for their lack of collateral security thus a risk they cannot afford. This lack of funding has crippled numerous cooperatives in Mnquma Municipality calling for municipalities to increase their revenue collection while finding diverse financial strategies to finance community development projects to improve service delivery (SA Local Government Research Centre, 2014a). Moreover, fifty percent (50%) of the participants from the directorate of community services noted that community development programs can potentially develop third-world economies after flourishing in an enabling environment. Proper financing of community development projects helps the vulnerable and marginalized societies to obtain much-needed self-determination and economic empowerment.

Conclusion

The objective of this study was to critically scrutinize the impact of good governance practices in enhancing service delivery in Mnquma by looking at the grassroots to identify gaps, investigate the challenges that impede good governance practices, and suggest possible strategies that can be used to enhance good governance and. Interviews were conducted and it was not an easy task, some were afraid to speak, some were just not willing because they have given up because of the situation around them. Some were eager to speak looking at these interviews as something that can take them out of their misery. Most did respond to be interviewed though. The infighting amongst municipal officials and municipal council results in minimal involvement of the third leg of the municipality which is the community in the affairs of the municipality. Effective and efficient service delivery, access to basic services such as clean water, electricity, houses, employment, and access to education and educational facilities were promised but it remains a challenge. Citizens of Mnquma are still battling to gain access to these. If good governance practices when dealing with municipal affairs can be practiced, this can be overcome, and community members would access quality services at the right time.

Recommendations

Based on the discussion of these findings, Mnquma Municipality must implement training and development workshops and programs to improve the skill of its employees. Additionally, globalization and technological changes reveal the need to continuously acquire new skills in both private and public sectors to compete in the industrialized world. Bayo argues that development and training are also a crucial part of human resource development involving planning and employing organized activities designed by institutions to give their employees a chance to gain skills and knowledge to meet current and future work demands.

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Received: 05-Nov-2021, Manuscript No. ASMJ-21-9528; Editor assigned: 10-Nov-2021, PreQC No. ASMJ-21-9528(PQ); Reviewed: 01-Dec-2021, QC No. ASMJ-21-9528; Revised: 22-Jan-2022, Manuscript No. ASMJ-21-9528(R); Published: 01-Feb-2022