Evidence-based management use in implementing indigent programme exit strategy in the city of Tshwane municipality

Abstract

It is often said that South Africa has many good policies but often suffers from implementation, the City of Tshwane Metro Municipality (CTMM) indigent programme seems to be one such intervention. The purpose of this research was to explore the use of evaluation evidence compared to other sources of evidence in managing the implementation of the indigent exit strategy of the CTMM. Interviews were conducted with twenty (20) participants and document analysis was also conducted to assess trends in the management of the indigent programme exit strategy. The study revealed that despite the legislative mandate for the CTMM Indigent programme, it is not aligned with the National Indigent Framework, leading to improper implementation of its exit strategy. Beneficiaries perceived the programme as primarily targeting pensioners and had a limited understanding of other services offered through partnerships. The study established that there are no proper guidelines for exiting households, indicating inadequate implementation procedures. Household empowerment through skills development was not prioritised and the mismanagement of partnerships exacerbates the problem. It was also discovered that CTMM relies heavily on performance reporting information, and no evaluations are done, leading to superficial analysis and reliance on administrative data for decision-making and accountability efforts.