Browsing by Author "Monakedi, Tshepo Albia"

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Consolidating developmental local government through the local government turnaround strategy: The case study of Makhuduthamaga Local Municipality.
(2013-07-22) Monakedi, Tshepo Albia
In 2009 the State of Local Government Report (SLGR) found that municipalities across were struggling to deliver the developmental objective of the White Paper on Local Government. The goal to build Developmental Local Government (DLG) has not been achieved despite the numerous interventions that have been introduced over the years to support local government. Following the diagnosis by the SGLR the Local Government Turnaround Strategy (LGTAS) was introduced as an intervention to support and complement municipal programmes. In this report, the case study of Makhuduthamaga Local Municipality (MLM) was used to investigate the impact of the LGTAS on the aspirations to deliver on the objectives of DLG. MLM is situated in the Sekhukhune Region (southern region) of Limpopo Province and is one of the poorest municipalities in South Africa. Thus, the study investigated the impact of the LGTAS in a ‘distressed’ municipality that does not have the capacity to execute its developmental mandate. One of the main factors that is often cited to explain South Africa’s inability to deliver DLG is that municipalities tend to focus more on institutional building and thus sideline the issue of community participation. In this regard, the influence of the New Public Management is pointed out. Although the South African Constitution provides for a decentralised developmental planning system that is ‘bottom- up’ in approach, evidence suggest that community participation in municipal programmes has been minimal. Instead of a ‘bottom-up’ approach, the development planning system is characterised by a ‘top- down’ approach wherein municipal programmes are formulated by national and provincial government. The lack of citizen participation is acknowledged by the LGTAS. In fact, the LGTAS attempts to create a platform where both community participation and institutional building can occur simultaneously. The study reveals that the impact of the LGTAS in the case of MLM has not been significant in improving community participation and service delivery which is a key indicator of a municipality that is able to deliver on its developmental mandate. The minimal impact of the LGTAS in MLM has been due to a number of factors which include the ‘top-down’ process followed to formulate Municipal Turnaround Strategy. To improve community participation, the report suggests that MLM should seek new ideas that have the potential to accentuate the existing measures. In this regard the ideas of presented by Gaventa (2002) are pivotal. Importantly, the report also outlines institutional building as a prerequisite for a good function municipality.
Understanding the Contribution of Informal Non-State Actors in the Governance of Cities of the Global South through Informal Institutions: The Case Study of Informal Car Guarding in Johannesburg, South Africa
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Monakedi, Tshepo Albia; Karam, Aly
The re-emergence of coproduction to explain service delivery initiatives by ordinary citizens has transcended different scholarship disciplines, including urban planning. The governance of cities of the global South is characterised by coproduction initiatives that are either unnoticed, overlooked or disregarded because they occur outside the formal institutions of the State. This thesis uses the case study of informal car guarding in Johannesburg, South Africa, to highlight the coproduction contribution of informal non- state actors in the governance of cities of the global South, thus arguing for urban theory and policy agenda that is informed by the realities of the global South. This thesis makes an original contribution to knowledge by arguing for the scope of non- state actor coproduction in governance to include informal non-state actors. Moreover, the idea is part of the scholarship to understand informality as a site of critical analysis thus moving beyond seeing informality as a function of people experiencing poverty. Informality in cities of the global South must be broader than livelihood debates or housing needs for the needy. Studies must be comprehensive and acknowledge the contribution of informality to how the cities function. In addition to the original contribution, this study generated empirical data about informal car guarding, which still needs to be studied further. The data was generated using in- depth interviews, which were largely unstructured, and participant observation. In total, 75 respondents informed this thesis across four study sites in Johannesburg: Maboneng Precinct, Maponya Mall, Parktown Office Park and Noord central business district. The study sites are representative of the localities typically associated with informal car guards in cities of the global South. Twenty themes were generated to answer the research sub-questions. The findings of the thesis are wide-ranging, pointing to the contribution of informal non-state actors and associated challenges. Notably, the idea outlines several policy recommendations for urban planning and urges cities of the global South to understand the contribution of informal non-state actors considering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG Eleven (11) Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG One (1) No Poverty and SDG Two (2) iii Zero Hunger). SDG 11 is about access and inclusion for informal non-state actors, and SDGs 1 and 2 are critical for the livelihoods of those in the informal secto