FACTORS THAT INHIBIT MUNICIPAL COUNCILLORS FROM
Date
2011-05-06
Authors
KHAILE, SAMUEL THABO
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Abstract
Municipal budget oversight is generally regarded as one of the important
features of modern municipal financial management. It is widely perceived
as a significant legislative process to promote accountability, democracy
and responsiveness in municipalities. Municipal councillors and nonexecutive
councillors, in particular, are expected to take a lead in
exercising effective budget oversight. Accordingly, various legislative and
institutional measures have been introduced to support councillors in
undertaking this role. However, in spite of these measures to improve
budget oversight, the overall results have not been impressive. This study
presents an exploratory investigation of the factors that can prevent
councillors from exercising effective budget oversight. The City of Cape
Town has been used as a case study for this research. Data has been
collected through a survey of literature and semi-structured interviews. The
study shows that a lack of budget oversight culture, a lack of cooperation
among non-executive councillors and a lack of capacity, as well as the
dominant role of executive structures in the budget process, are the major
factors that can inhibit councillors from exercising effective budget
oversight
Description
MM - P&DM
Keywords
Budget oversight, Local authorities