ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES FACING FEZILE

DABI DISTRICT IN ACCELERATING SERVICE

DELIVERY

Affiliation: School of Management, University of the Free State,

Bloemfontein

Authors Names: Wosu Emeka; Ernest Mohlahlo

Email: emekaw@gmail.com; ernestm@nfsdc.co.za

 ABSTRACT

This paper provides a critical analysis of the standard of service delivery at Fezile Dabi

district of the Free State province, South Africa.

It begins with an introduction to the research, and the need for the research. The primary

and secondary objectives of the research were clearly stated.

The literature review served as a conceptual framework and as a point of departure for

the empirical investigation. It defined the core terms and discussed the various Acts and

working documents that impact on service delivery.

The eight design descriptors proffered by Cooper and Schindler (2006) was used to

explain the research design of the study.

The background to the case was extensively discussed, providing the shortcomings in

regards to service delivery within Fezile Dabi district. Succinct illustration of the

demographic composition of the district was provided.

The self-administered questionnaire focused on four main areas namely:

• Good governance and public participation;

• Financial viability;

• Basic service delivery and infrastructure;

• Municipal transformation and organizational development.

The findings are congruent with the literature in that the unveiled the relationship

between theory and actual data. Findings indicated that problems facing the municipality

ranged from insufficient funds to provide temporary services in informal settlements to

lack of qualified professionals (especially in accounting and engineering) to drive

programmes.

A detailed and comprehensive set of recommendations and implementation guidelines

was provided on each of the findings.

INTRODUCTION
Chapter 7 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 Act 108 0f 1996)
[hereinafter referred to as “the Constitution”] deals with the Developmental Local
Government and section 152 of the Constitution set out the objectives of local
government to be to:
• Provide democratic and accountable government for local communities
• Ensure the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner
• Promote social and economic development
• Encourage the involvement of communities and community organizations in
matters of local government.
The White Paper on Local Government (1998) identifies the “provision of household
infrastructure and services” as one of the developmental outcomes of local government.
While progress has been made over the past 10 years, many challenges face local
governments in their efforts to render service delivery.
Municipalities within Fezile Dabi district have made progress over the last eight years in
the delivery of basic services to its communities. These services range from water,
sanitation, electricity and waste removal. However, many residents within the district still
do not have access to basic services. This remains a key obstacle to achieving poverty
reduction and sustainable development. Provision of basic services to these residents
has to be accelerated in order to achieve the objectives of the White Paper on Local
Government.

Need for Research

Community survey by Statistics South Africa (2007:77) indicates that 8.7% of the
households within Fezile Dabi district uses pit latrine, 16.5% uses bucket toilets and
6.3% have no toilets. The survey further indicates that 8.2% of the households have no
water taps inside their yards, provision of these services including road infrastructure,
bulk water infrastructure, and bulk sanitation need to be accelerated in order for the
municipalities within Fezile Dabi to achieve the objectives of the White Paper on Local
Government.
This study is intended to benefit the councilors and senior management of Metsimaholo
Local Municipality, Mafube Local Municipality, Ngwathe Local Municipality and Moqhaka
Local Municipality (all within Fezile Dabi District) in identifying and addressing the
challenges they face in accelerating the provision of services to their communities.

Primary Research Objective

The objective of this research is to:
• Provide recommendations to the councillors and senior management of the local
municipalities in Fezile Dabi District on accelerating the provision of municipal
services to the community.

Secondary Research Objectives

In order to achieve the objectives of this study, the following issues will be investigated:
• To determine the current status quo of service provision by municipalities within
Fezile Dabi District.
• To identify the key constraints and challenges facing municipalities in
accelerating provision of service delivery.
• To recommend to councillors and senior management of these local
municipalities as well as Free State Provincial Government on how to address
these challenges.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Harker (1995:311) defines service delivery as an outcome, a result of a process, a series
of connected actions. However, the Municipal Systems Act (2000) defines service
delivery as municipal service that is acceptable and that can provide reasonable quality
of life. The proceeding statements are meant to introduce the reader into the process of
service delivery in order to understand the different problems that can hamper
acceleration of service delivery.
The South African Local Government Association (SALGA, 2004:27-28) defines
accelerating service delivery as:
• meeting the infrastructure for basic service backlog target
• putting in place the right institutional and financial arrangements to ensure the
ongoing provision of sustainable services; and
• making better use of existing delivery mechanisms and systems
A number of Acts, White Papers and Regulations were drafted in order for government
to provide effective and efficient service to South African citizens. A brief overview of
these Acts and Regulations is summarized below:

The White Paper on Local Government, 1998

The White Paper on local government (1998) is a policy document that established the
basis for a new developmental local government system committed to working with
citizens, groups and communities to create sustainable human settlements that provide
for decent quality of life and meet the social, economic and material needs of
communities. This developmental role for municipalities requires them to structure and
manage their administrations, budgeting and planning processes and to priorities the
basic needs of the community. Various Acts of parliament were promulgated to support
the principles adopted in the White Paper (SALGA, 2006:4).
In terms of the White Paper on Local Government (1998:2), the Local Government is
responsible for the provision of household infrastructure and service, an essential
component of social and economic development. This includes services such as water,
sanitation, local roads, storm water drainage, refuse collection and electricity.

Local Government Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act 32 of 2000)

The Local Government Municipal Systems Act (2000) sets out the internal systems that
enable municipalities to move progressively towards the social and economic up liftment
of local communities and ensure universal access to essential services that are
affordable to all. In terms of section 3(f) of the Systems Act, a municipality must exercise
its legislative and authority by providing municipal services to the local community, or
appointing appropriate service providers in accordance with the criteria and process set
out in section 78 of the Systems Act. (SALGA, 2006:4).
Legislation entrust the municipalities with the responsibility to ensure that services are
delivered to the public and also makes a provision for the services of service providers to
be procured if the municipality does not have the capacity to render the particular service
or part of the service. Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) are legislated in order to
facilitate and enhance quality public service delivery by being catalyst for efficient,
effective and value for money best practice solutions (Wiese, 2007:8-10).
Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003 (Act 56 of 2003)
The Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003 (Act No.56 of 2003) [herein after referred
to as the “MFMA”] regulates financial management and provides uniform treasury norms
and standards for the local sphere of government. Its objective is to secure sound and
sustainable management of the financial affairs of municipalities and other institutions.
The MFMA also requires the alignment between the municipal budget and the IDP
(SALGA, 2006:5). In terms of the MFMA each municipality is required to compile a
service delivery and budget implementation plan (SDBIP). The SDBIP is management,
implementation and monitoring tool that will assist the mayor, municipal manager,
councillors and community in realizing strategic objectives as outlined in the Integrated
Development Plan (IDP) of the municipality (Mahlatsi, 2005:10-12).

Public Service Delivery

There are five core key performance indicators that are used to assess the effectiveness
of the municipalities. These are institutional capacity and municipal transformation; basic
service delivery and infrastructure; local and economic development; financial viability
and management and lastly good governance. Madurai (2006:48) identified the following
challenges facing the municipalities in general with regards to the five core key
performance indicators:
• Institutional capacity and municipal transformation
Core municipal systems are not established or implemented and high
vacancy levels that compromise the acceleration of service delivery.
• Basic service delivery and infrastructure
Madurai (2006:48) identified main challenges with regard to service delivery
and infrastructure to be the slow pace and quality of service delivered and
also the backlog with regard to water and sanitation provision.
• Local and economic development(LED)
He identified high levels of poverty due to unemployment and poor quality of
LED plans to be the critical challenges with regard to local economic
development.
• Financial viability and management
Madurai (2006:48) identified inadequate billing and lack of financial capacity
to be the main challenges.
 • Good governance
Poor communication between the municipalities and the community was
identified as one of the main challenges.
The White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery, the “Batho Pele” White Paper
was published in 1997. It requires departments to improve their service delivery in terms
of eight service delivery principles. Public service delivery is also affected by problems of
concurrency that could lead to duplication of services, ineffective service delivery and
lack of accountability and thus residents’ dissatisfaction with service delivery (Steytler,
2003:9).
The Centre for Development and Enterprise undertook a study to understand why the
residents have engaged in the violent activities. The case studies focused on two local
municipalities namely, Phumelala Local Municipality in Free State province and
Khutsong which forms part of Merafong City Local Municipality in North West province.
Phumelela case study
The report was based on secondary research on socioeconomic conditions and
infrastructure provision, interviews with municipal councilors, municipal officials, security
personnel, business owners and eight focus groups sessions involving 60 people and
three groups comprised people who played prominent role in the unrest.
The interpretation of the report on the unrest was that there were governance problem,
lack of capacity in the administrative wing and poor intergovernmental relations
(Johnston and Bernstein, 2007:3-48).
The results of different studies are used during the process of policy reviews. On 31 July
2007 Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) started with the policy
review process that will result in a first White Paper on Provinces. The key question for
service delivery to be addressed by the review is: How can the political and
administrative components of municipalities work effectively to deliver services over long
periods of time irrespective of political transition? (de Visser, et al, 2007:3-5).

BACKGROUND TO FEZILE DABI DISTRICT

Fezile Dabi District municipality is the second smallest District Municipality in the Free
State covering 16.4% of the provincial area according to 2007 Community Survey
released by Statistics South Africa. The area of jurisdiction of Fezile Dabi District covers
four local municipalities, namely Metsimaholo, Moqhaka, Ngwathe, and Mafube.
According to Statistics SA Census 2001, the total population of Fezile Dabi District was
470 000 people in 130 000 households (see figure 1).
As depicted in figure 2, majority of the inhabitants have on average of one to four family
members of which majority are headed by females and single parents or adults. Most of
these households do not earn an active income due to the high level of unemployment
within the district.
As shown in figure 3, Moqhaka Local Municipality is the biggest local municipality in the
district with population of 257 788 people followed by Metsimaholo Local Municipality
with 173 448. The smallest municipality in the district is Mafube Local Municipality with
the population of 64 425 people. See table 1, 2, and 3 – F for the household income for
the four local municipalities namely; Moqhaka local municipality, Metsimaholo local
municipality, Mafube local municipality and Ngwathe local municipality. Figure 4 and
table 4 provide a number of connections yet to be done by the municipality for the period
as at March 2008. The table indicates that for all municipalities not much progress has
been made from one year to the other due to various reasons that will be discussed as
part of the findings in chapter 6 of this study. The statistics in this table clearly indicate
that the municipalities need to accelerate the speed at which they provide this service to
the residents.
Table 5 and figure 5 provides a summary of water and sanitation backlog as at June
2008. The statistics in this table indicate that the municipalities need to accelerate the
speed at which they provide this service to the residents because a noticeable number
of residents are without these basic services.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND DATA COLLETION METHODS

The research design in this study is described following the eight design
steps/descriptors taken from Cooper and Schindler (2006:138-158). Each of these
descriptors is discussed below:
Degree of Crystallization of the Research Question
Due to the loose structure of the research study, the study is therefore exploratory in
nature. According to Cooper and Schindler (2006:139), the immediate purpose of an
exploratory study is to develop hypotheses or questions for further research.
Overview of Data Collection Method
The method of data collection is communication. The communication method is chosen
because the responses to the research question will be collected by means of a self
administered structured questionnaire. Secondary data collection and monitoring will
also be used for inspection of the activities of service delivery. This includes the
inspection of minutes of council meetings and other official documents of the
municipalities.

Control of Variables
The study follows an ex post facto design because the researchers have no control over
the variables, therefore cannot manipulate them.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is causal in nature. The researchers are concerned with
understanding the problems facing councilors and senior managers in accelerating
service delivery to the community.

Time Dimension
The time dimension of the study is cross-sectional because the study is carried out once
and represents a snapshot of one point in time.

Topical Scope
The topical scope of this research is a case study. The case study will place more
emphasis on a full contextual analysis of fewer events or conditions and their
interrelations. The study will be conducted in four local municipalities hence making the
research a case study of specific municipalities.

The Research Environment and Participants Perceptions

The research will be conducted under modified routine environmental conditions as a

field study, in this way, a clear understanding of the problem is obtained.

Data Collection Strategy

The data collection strategy utilized is a qualitative technique. Qualitative technique is

characterized by exploratory investigative questions to be answered by means of
questionnaires. The questionnaires will be sent to different stakeholders and follow-up
interviews conducted telephonically were clarity is needed. Two types of questionnaires
are prepared, one for the local municipalities and the other for the district municipality.
Additional data for this study will be collected through the use of the secondary data
strategy from the following official local government sources: council resolutions,
management resolutions, circulars and regulations: these documents contain
information about the projects approved by council during the year and how these
projects should be implemented. Council policies and procedure manuals: these
documents contain information on how projects should be implemented. Municipal
budgets: municipal budgets contain financial information for the implementation of
municipal programmes of service delivery. Integrated Development Plans (IDP’s):
these documents contain information about the approved council projects and the
manner in which they will be implemented. Supply Chain Management Documents:
these documents contain information about the processes employed by the municipality
to procure goods and services. Auditor General and Audit Committee reports

Target Population
The targeted population is the Executive Mayors and Mayors, Councillors responsible for
infrastructure and finance, Speakers, Municipal Managers, IDP officers, Chief Financial
Officers and senior managers.

Sampling Method
Non-probability sampling method is used to obtain the following sample needed for the
study: Four (4) Mayors or Executive Mayors or Speakers; Eight (8) Councillors
responsible for infrastructure and finance of District and Local municipalities; Three (3)
Municipal Managers of District and Local Municipalities; Three (3) Chief Financial
Officers of Local Municipalities; Two (2) IDP officers of Local Municipalities; Six (6)
Senior Managers of the Local Municipalities; Three (3) Senior Managers of the District
Municipality

Ethical Considerations
The purpose and benefits of the study will be explained to participants and ensure that
they participate voluntarily. High degree of confidentiality and anonymity will be accorded
and the best ethical behavior will be demonstrated throughout the study.
Debriefing by means of post study sharing of information will be done with participants
who want results to be shared with them.

Research Limitations
The sample size selected for the study is not a representation of all the population as far
as the councillors are involved. Only the councillors who are involved in the day to day
management of the municipality were included in the sample. Availability of official
documentation for Ngwathe Local Municipality also limited the study to the extent that
such data could not be compared to the trends in other three local municipalities. Lastly,
there is inherent possibility that the participants may withhold information due to
confidentiality or physical and psychological harm that could occur if the information
could be made available.

Data Analysis Plan

An excel database will be used for capturing of data. Data is to be captured directly into
the excel spreadsheets manually by means of double entry.
Once data is received, it will be screened for accuracy. The screening entails; ensuring
that responses are legible and readable, whether all important questions were
answered, whether responses are complete and whether all relevant contextual
information is included. See figure 6 for data collection plan.

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Good Governance and Public Participation

A total of twelve (12) participants responded to the questionnaire and provided additional
information on challenges facing the councilors and senior managers in municipalities
within Fezile Dabi District. Challenges faced by these municipalities are to the great
extent similar.

Findings
• The local municipalities have functional ward committees, however the budget
allocated towards the functioning of the ward committees are insufficient. There
 is a need for training of the ward committees in order for them to contribute
positively toward accelerating service delivery.
• The responses from the questionnaires indicates that even though the district
municipality is involved in the development of the IDP’s of the local
municipalities, such involvement is not adequate in order to steer the district
towards achieving common objectives of the district.
• The responses from the participants indicated that there is unclear role
classification for the ward councilors and CDW’s.

RECOMMENDATIONS
• The ward committees should be allocated enough budgets for training and capacity
building. The capacity building programmes will clarify the role they should play in
accelerating service delivery and empower them to monitor provision of services in their
communities.
• The district municipality must be effectively involved in the IDP processes of the local
municipalities and guide them toward achieving the district service delivery targets. The
IDP steering committee of the municipality must play a major role in these processes.
• The policy process to review the current knowledge sharing structure needs to be
embarked upon to ensure not only effective knowledge sharing between the local
municipalities, but also between the local municipalities and the district municipality.

Financial Viability
A total of nine (9) participants responded to the questionnaire and provided additional
information on challenges facing the councilors and senior managers in municipalities
within Fezile Dabi District. Challenges faced by these municipalities are similar.

Findings
• Tariff systems are centralized for all services and there is often little relationship
between revenue collected and expenditure.
• Top-up funding for unplanned events are unaccounted for as national allocations
are made only once in a financial year and do not make provision for unforeseen
expenditure needs. For example unplanned and unavoidable informal
 settlements will not be funded in the financial year in question, even though
basic services are rendered, thus putting more burden on local municipalities.
• National allocation increases does not mirror the volumes of services required
by the municipality, for instance informal settlements are not taken into account.
This affects acceleration of service to these informal settlements.
• MIG funding cannot be spent on certain assets, such as refuse removal vehicles
that the municipalities consider as capital equipments for waste collection
services. Without these vehicles, the service will not be rendered at the required
pace due to the fact that the current fleet of vehicle are old and are on repairs
workshops more than they are being used. The municipal fleets of the
municipalities studied are very old with the average of more than 10 years. Most
of these fleets should have been replaced because they have been in use for
more than their useful lives. However due to financial constraints they are still in
use.
• The average revenue collection rate of the municipalities in Fezile Dabi is 67%
with an average of 40% of the households classified as indigents. This indicates
that there are serious challenges with regards to payment for municipal services.
The municipalities have to rely largely on government grants for operational
requirements.

Recommendations
• There must be a framework at the national government that offers the municipalities’
budgets for unforeseeable capital expenditure as a result of unplanned informal
settlements especially were the municipality is likely to formalize informal settlements as
formal settlement.
• The operational and maintenance costs of infrastructure development are not factored
into the calculation of the MIG nor equitable share. The expansion of the developmental
component of the equitable share is critical if local government wants to maintain the
gains of the MIG programme.

Basic Service Delivery and Infrastructure

A total of eleven (11) participants responded to the questionnaire and provided
additional information on challenges facing the councillors and senior managers in
municipalities within Fezile Dabi District. Challenges faced by these municipalities are to
the great extent similar.

Findings
• The local municipalities and the district municipality do not have a budget for the
provision of temporary basic services in informal settlements. As indicated under
financial viability findings, the national framework also does not make provision in
allocation of budget for unforeseen temporary informal settlement services.
• The assessment of 2009/10 municipal IDP by the Free State Department of
Provincial and Local Government indicate that the municipalities do not have
sector plans to support IDP development. This is a serious challenge in
accelerating service delivery.
• The national allocations of equitable share and MIG do not provide for the repairs
and maintenance of capital assets of the municipalities. This makes it difficult for
the municipalities to accelerate service provision due to financial constraints to
maintain and repair the assets used to provide services. This includes repairs of
municipal fleet, maintenance of reservoirs, pump stations etc.
• In the municipalities studied there is a financial constraint to maintain and
upgrade water and sanitation infrastructure. This clearly has a negative impact
on accelerating provision of these services.

Recommendations
• The national government should undertake and fund the compulsory section 78
processes to determine the optimum and efficient manner in which each
municipality can render basic services and accelerate provision of such services
to the communities.
• The senior managers should develop a fleet management plan that should be
taking into account when the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) is
drafted. In this way the municipality will ensure replacement and maintenance of
municipal fleets required to provide basic services to the communities.
Municipal Transformation and Organizational Development
A total of seven (7) participants responded to the questionnaire and provided addition
information on challenges facing the councilors and senior managers in municipalities
within Fezile Dabi District. Challenges faced by these municipalities are to the great
extent similar.

Findings
• All studied municipalities in the district have very few qualified engineers and
accountants within their staff compliments. For example Metsimaholo local
municipality has only 5 qualified professionals amongst its 222 infrastructure
work force and a vacancy rate of 50% of its workforce. The municipalities make
use of consulting services to provide these important services. These consulting
firms are being appointed for short period of time and therefore there is no
continuity. Lack of sufficient budget is making it difficult for these municipalities to
fill the vacancies resulting in the municipalities having insufficient staff to
accelerate provision of municipal services.
• There is constant competition with the private sector to attract and retain qualified
staff. Due to budget constraints the municipalities are not able to keep up with
the competition.
• The municipalities are not using all the methods provided for by the Supply Chain
Management Regulations in order to accelerate the rate of procurement of
municipal goods and services. The methods that are currently in use are
sometimes time consuming for the goods and services to be procured.

Recommendations
• The municipalities should partner with the private sector in order to recruit, train
and retain the required skills needed for the provision of basic service delivery.
These partnerships will reduce the turnover of staff leaving the public sector to
join private sector.
• The remuneration of the professionals employed by local and district
municipalities should be reviewed to be in line with those offered by the private
sector in order to curb the high turnover of staff at the senior management and
strategic levels.
 • The municipalities must utilize other methods contained in the Supply Chain
Management Regulation to speed up procurement of goods and services. If the
municipalities can utilize contracts secured by other organs of state, they will
shorten the period it takes for procurement of goods and services and thus
accelerate provision of basic services to the communities.

CONCLUSION
The main challenges facing the councilors and senior managers of the municipalities
within Fezile Dabi District are mainly financial limitation, insufficient personnel due to
budget limitation, as well as insufficient capital resources to enable the municipalities to
provide basic services. In order to address these challenges, the local municipalities,
Fezile Dabi District Municipality and South African Local Government Association must
work close in addressing these challenges.
This study can serve as a working document to the councilors and senior management

of the four municipalities in Fezile Dabi district in combating the challenges to effective

service delivery. The benefits can also extend to other sixteen local municipalities in the

Free State through information sharing.

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