Implementing integrated strategic plans in Free State municipalities

[摘要] English: Local government in South Africa forms part of an overall state system also consistingof national and provincial government. Together their main objective is to promote thegeneral welfare of the populace through service delivery and development initiatives.For the purpose of delivering services and promoting development local government isof significant importance as it is the state agency that citizens firstly come into contactwith. The local sphere of government has undergone fundamental transformation, bothfrom a political and structural point of view. In addition to local government becomingdemocratic structures in line with the overall democratisation of South Africa, theapproach to and actual municipal structures also changed dramatically. Municipalities,the organisational units of local government, have the task of pursuing the new goalsof local government within this changed environment.One of the significant changes that have been introduced into municipal management isthe utilisation of an integrated strategic approach to organisational planning. This hasbeen facilitated by legislative reform that provides for municipalities to compileintegrated development plans (IDPs) and utilise it, together with budgets andperformance management systems, to promote service delivery and development intheir areas of jurisdiction. Therefore reference to the term integrated strategic planning.The introduction of this new system has, however, not been flawless with dissatisfactionabout the service levels of municipalities being expressed through negative reporting onmunicipal performance from a variety of public role-players as well as through localcommunities illustrating their dissatisfaction through protest action. A critical question

[发布机构] University of the Free State