Municipal Management : An orientation

• Strong local self-government a priority of national governments

• More people can participate
• Local government is a socio-political lab for testing new
government proposals on a small scale
• Local government immediately visible and accessible to ordinary
citizens
• Local government is influenced by external socio-economic and
political environments, and
• Changes in the nature of local environments, eg urbanisation
• Understand role of municipalities
• Strategic role of municipalities
• Capacities and resources of municipalities
• Best practices
 Origins of municipalities/LA
• First urban settlements Mesopotania (3500B.C), Egypt (3000
B.C), China & India (3000-2500 B.C)
• Cities became religious, administrative, political centres
• Produce of rural environment sold in cities and new industries,
commercial practices developed
• Lead to urbanisation, migration of people fro rural areas
• Citizens recognised the need for order, service and people who
can represent them to address needs
• Since independence Namibia has seen growth of cities and towns
 What is local government?
• Reddy (1999:9) Bring government to local populace and give
citizens a sense of participation in political processes that
influence their lives
• Refer to decentralised, representative institutions with specif
powers
• Created by central/national government
• Power to provide services
• Key characteristics of a local government:
1. Locality
2. Legal personality
3. Autonomy
4. Governmental powers
5. Participation and representation
• See Local Authorities Act, 1992 (act 23 of 1992) as amended
 Constitutional arrangements
• Namibian Constitution
• Local governments part of government mechanisms to render
service
• All levels of government must respect each others constitutional
status, powers, functions.
• Namibia has three levels of government:
1. National
2. Regional
3. Local
• Constitution defines relationship amongst the three
• Empowerment to render services
 Concept of a municipality
• Municipal = local=area of jurisdiction
• Decentralised agencies of government
1. Political structures
2. Office bearers and its administration
3. Represent community
4. Provide functions in demarcated areas
5. Legal personality
• Role of municipal councils
1. Use resources in best interest of communities
2. Democratic and accountable
3. Encourage communities to get involved
4. Provide services
5. Ensure safe and healthy environment
 Forms of municipalities
• Rural
• Urban
• Metro
• City
• Township
• Squatter camps
• No international standard to define a city, town, metro, etc
• Criteria used in Namibia different from India, China, SA, etc.
• Variables to consider status
1. Geographical
2. Economical
3. Social
4. Management criteria
5. Infrastructure
6. International cooperation
• Responsibility to provide services, page 7
 Structures of a municipality
• Council is the decision-making body
• Consist of elected people
• Make by-laws and approve policies
• Councillors meet in various committees
• Mayor is political head assisted by executive committee
• Local Authorities Act, 1992 make provision for three categories of
municipalities:
• Part I municipalities generally have a solid financial basis and
considerable autonomy with regard to the determination of
property tax
• Part II municipalities have a more fragile financial basis and are
subject to control exercised by the Ministry of Regional and Local
Government, Housing and Rural Development (MRLGHRD)
•  Municipal manager = CEO; overall functioning of administration
 Dynamic context of municipalities
• Move away from government to governance
• Implies better and improved intergovernmental relations
• Engagement of ALL stakeholders in policy making and service delivery” For
the public good”
• New Public Management doctrines influenced municipal management
• Government should steer rather than row
• Public-private partnerships: refuse collection, maintenance of streets, etc.
• Outsourcing of services
• Partnerships with NGOs, FBOs, etc
• Charateristics of modern local governments:
1. Multifunctionality
2. Discretion
3. Taxation
4. Representation
• Challenges
1. Increase in population
2. Demand for services
3. Unemployment and poverty
4. Growth of informal sector
 Urbanisation
• Urbanisation: people moving from rural areas for better life
• Urban growth refers to the rate at which urban population or area
increases due to economic activities and business expansion
• Worldwide urban growth = 7.2%
• Effects of urbanisation and urban growth:
1. Water, soil, air pollution
2. Endangering of wildlife and plants
3. Ecological challenges
• Calls for better management and planning
• New social and cultural values, lifestyle
• Other role players involved
• Deal with poverty and service rendering

•
 Globalisation
• Macro level:
1. Global economy where production is internationalised and
financial capital flows freely between countries
2. Role of World bank, IMF, OECD
3. Information revolution, Internet
4. Role of interest groups such as Greenpeace, Amnesty
International, Labour Organisations
5. Create investment friendly policies and environments
6. Role of private sector
• Micro level:
1. Output-orientated, demanding and critical citizens
2. Innovative management techniques, systems
3. Interactive governance
 Co-operative governance and
intergovernmental relations
• Bureaucratic state requires levels/tiers of government
• Decentralisation of functions
• Grassroots participation
• Central government more involved with capital accumulation and
politics of production
• Local level to legitimating government actions, programmes and
services through participation and input in decision-making
• Co-operative governance does not mean prescribing but to co-
operate
• Each level has an organisational structure, power, scale of
activities
• Namibia
1. Central
2. Regional
3. Local
 Intergovernmental relations
• Preconditions that influence the relationship:
1. Effective system of local government
2. Local government is partner in national, regional development
3. Fair allocation of financial resources
4. Effective and efficient human resources system
5. Effective communication and flow of information
6. Citizen participation
7. Political and social harmony
8. Power to alter legislation
9. Trust and harmony
10. Responsiveness and openness to new ideas
Democratising and developmental role of municipalities
• Democratic electoral system in place:
1. Namibia elections every 5 years
2. Free, fair elections
3. Party political system vs ward system
• Allow citizens to raise concerns/unhappy ness through:
1. Ward committees
2. Media
3. Open council meetings
• Developmental government is government whose main aim is to promote economic and
social development of community
• LED Policy in Namibia
• Requires:
1. Strong leadership
2. Clear vision
3. Max participation by citizens, private sector, civil society, etc
4. Improvement of service delivery