Leadership development for developmental local government : challenges and prospects

Abstract

Local government is at the core of service delivery as it is the sphere of government closest to the people. The local sphere of government is tasked with the obligation of providing basic services to citizens in a sustainable manner. Within the context of a developmental state, developmental local government calls for new knowledge, skills and competencies from those in leadership positions in municipalities to promote service delivery. Developmental local government requires political leadership which creates opportunities to account to the community over and above regular elections. In this regard therefore the role of councillors as political leaders in local government is of signifi cance as councillors are elected to provide political direction and leadership in municipalities. This article focuses on the development of leadership capacity in local government in South Africa. With an emphasis on the knowledge, skills and competencies that councillors as the providers of political direction and leadership require. The article asserts the continuous development and improvement of leadership capacity in local government in order to enable councillors to meet local governance challenges in the 21st century and to promote the objectives of a developmental local government.