Abstract
As part of the developmental process, municipalities are required to implement certain mechanisms to improve performance, and are legally bound to implement mechanisms “situated” within the programme of organisational development (OD). Unfortunately, due to the lack of capacity, municipalities apparently make use of professional OD consultants from outside. Therefore, thisarticle explores the manner in which relationship can be enhanced between municipalities and consultants. Furthermore, the article also highlights core aspects that municipalities should take into consideration during contract negotiations and drafting, and suggests some conditions required to promote skills transfer.
Highlights
Local government as a sphere of government that is placed strategically closest to the people should interact with communities in an endeavour to carry out the responsibilities of service delivery to ensure growth and development in a manner that promotes and enhances community participation and accountability (White Paper, 1998: ix).At the same time the White Paper (1998:17) puts it clearly that local government must have a powerful impact on reconstruction and development in South Africa
Reynolds (1997:23) indicates that entering and contracting is the first stage in the organisational development (OD) process, and it serves to establish a relationship between an organisation and the OD consultant or OD practitioner who could be internally appointed
The setting might as well be helpful to the professional OD consultant because additional information on the organisational culture may be observed during these interactions
Summary
Local government as a sphere of government that is placed strategically closest to the people should interact with communities in an endeavour to carry out the responsibilities of service delivery to ensure growth and development in a manner that promotes and enhances community participation and accountability (White Paper, 1998: ix). In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives of the White Paper, apparently municipalities in South Africa make use of consultants due to the lack of required skills. The lack of skills and expertise could mainly be due to the politically motivated appointments where skills and expertise are not considered Such cases tend to lead to waste of funds as the incumbents cannot deliver, resulting in appointments of consultants. The South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU), an integral role player in municipal governance, recently expressed dissatisfaction with the extent to which consultants are used and paid in municipalities. The Centre for Municipal Research and Advice revealed that consultants were not used only in the municipal financial departments, but were a “general practice” (Bailey and Hawker, 2012:2) This matter is exacerbated by the lack of capacity, especially.
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