Community Participation in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality Performance Management System

Abstract

This study evaluated community participation in the municipal performance management systems (PMS) in South Africa, with a focus on the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. Existing literature shows that, despite legal requirements, a significant knowledge gap exists concerning the efficiency and inclusiveness of community engagement in municipal PMS. Through a case study of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, this research addresses this existing gap by evaluating community participation in developing, implementing, and reviewing the municipal PMS. The study used qualitative methods, drawing on 14 in-depth interviews with community members and municipal officials. It also included an analysis of publicly available municipal policy documents related to public participation and performance management systems. The findings show that many community participants, including members of ward committees, were not fully aware of what public participation or performance management meant. A significant number of them had a general understanding of these concepts. A lack of detailed understanding can be attributed to the limited active involvement of communities in these municipal processes. The findings indicate that public participation in municipal PM in Mangaung is either non-existent or very limited. This is because participants believed that meetings are held for compliance reasons instead of being utilised to genuinely engage with citizens. In addition, ward councillors, who should be a bridge between the community and the municipality, seem to be failing to provide clear communication of performance goals and structured updates that address community members' complaints. In some instances, they seem to be serving certain political interests at the expense of others. The study findings show that community engagement in Mangaung is ineffective mainly due to limited communication between the municipality and the residents. The top-down approach that the municipality uses could also be another barrier to effective municipal involvement of the community in its PMS.