Local Government capacity challenges in post apartheid South Africa: Lessons learnt

Abstract

South Africa’s-post apartheid-promise to its citizens of a better life for all has not yet materialized for many. The South African state had undergone an extensive modernization process to equip itself to deliver on its post apartheid election promise. The state was configured into three spheres, national, provincial and local government each with specific constitutional powers. The local level is viewed as the delivery arm of the state and mostly to blame for lack of service delivery. A well functioned local level is central to the local economic growth and meeting the socio-economic demands of society. This currently is not the situation at the local level which is characterized by inefficiency, maladministration and corruption. The inability of the local level to deliver on its constitutional mandate in the main is attributed to a lack of organizational capacity. The paper seeks to answer the question in what ways if any does the various dimensions of capacity influence the local operational efficiency. The paper commences with a discussion on the various capacity dimensions. The conclusion is drawn that the dimensions are inter-related and inter-dependent and the presence or absence of any of the components has an impact on the local level organizational efficiency.