The impact of local government restructuring on the functioning of the Kai !Garib Local Municipality

[摘要] English: The ultimate aim of government is to act on behalf of the citizens they serve. Indoing so, governments have to render basic services and create an environmentin which citizens can initiate endeavours to improve their living conditions.Government in South Africa was transformed in 1994 and the post 1994government has since had the challenging task of providing services to citizensand eradicating the legacy of a previous system, characterised by disparities./ As far as direct responsibility for service rendering is concerned, localJgovernment has a particularly meaningful role, because it is the sphere ofgovernment people relate to most easily. In order to be able to meet theincreasing challenges of governance, local government also underwentfundamental changes. 5 December 2000 heralded a new era for localgovernment in South Africa, with the transformation of local government leadingto the number of municipalities in the country being reduced from more than 800to 284. These changes meant that many formerly independent municipalitieshave amalgamated to form new municipal organisations. Change in organisations invariably leads to conflict that, if not sufficiently dealtwith can have a negative impact on the functioning of an organisation. Thepurpose of this study is to investigate the impact of local governmentrestructuring on municipalities with specific reference to the Kai !Garib LocalMunicipality in the Northern Cape. The study focuses on aspects such as thehistorical development of local government in South Africa, the legislativeframework for the new system of local government in the country as well as theneed for efficient organisational structures as a means to deal with potential illeffects of the restructuring of local government. Finally, empirical research isconducted at the Kai ! Garib Local Municipality in order to determine the views ofrole players in the Municipality, and finding solutions to potential problem areas.

[发布机构] University of the Free State