Abstract:
The post-1994 era proclaimed a period of transition for municipalities in South
Africa. Within the sphere of local government, performance management has been
identified as a tool for promoting accountability. Together with strategic planning,
benchmarking and continuous improvement, performance measurement forms the
nucleus for managing for results in any sphere of government. The aim of this article
is to assess the degree to which performance management has been implemented at
the West Rand District Municipality. The West Rand District Municipality (WRDM)
is a Category C Municipality, located on the South Western edge of Gauteng Province
of South Africa. WRDM comprises four local municipalities namely, Mogale City,
Merafong City, Randfontein and Westonaria. The stratified sampling approach was
used in selecting the respondents that participated in the questionnaires. The article
recommends that, performance management needs to be strengthened such that
it measures the actual delivery of services and a formal performance management
system needs to be designed. Also, as part of strengthening governance, local
government through the councillors should report regularly to communities they
serve. Though there is alignment in the process of planning, implementation and
performance management, the conclusion of this article is that the systems for
monitoring remain a challenge that needs to be addressed by local government.
