Abongile Zweni

Background: The South African electoral system does not favour a winner-takes-all situation. It is designed for a possible political coalition government on the basis of an electoral outcome below the 50+1 at the national, provincial and local government levels. Thus, the 2021 Local Government elections delivered nine hung municipal councils in Gauteng province. This implies that the sphere of local government has now entered an electoral epoch shaped by a multi-party system without an outright majority for a majority-led municipal council in at least 70 municipal councils throughout the country. Aim: The objective of this study was to evaluate the financial and service delivery performance of the metropolitan municipalities of Gauteng province. Methods: The study used a qualitative research approach in the form of secondary data analysis, in which documentary and literature reviews were conducted to answer the research question using financial ratio analysis to examine the financial performance of metropolitan municipalities governed by political coalitions. Results: The study found that the revenue of these metropolitan areas under political coalitions is not sustainable. Additionally, the expenditure is not credible, and the budgets do not respond to the needs of the poor. Furthermore, budgets are not passed in time, which compromises and deteriorates service delivery. Conclusion: Political parties that are involved in political coalitions in these metropolitan municipalities do not adhere to the political coalition agreements, and this leads to failing governance in these municipalities. The study makes a valuable contribution by suggesting an integrated approach to financial and service delivery performance. Contribution: This study makes several salient contributions by suggesting an integrated approach of financial performance and service delivery in metropolitan municipalities arising from the advent of coalitions in these municipalities.

Transparency among the local authorities is crucial as local authorities are expected to perform their stewardship roles to meet the demand of their stakeholders. Due to information asymmetry between the local authorities and citizens, there is a tendency for citizens to have unfavourable perceptions towards local authorities’ activities. Literature suggests that transparent information will mitigate this issue. Thus, the study seeks to investigate the level of transparency of Malaysian local authorities by examining 19 of them covering the periods from 2015 to 2019. Available information from the website and the local authorities annual reports were obtained. Adopting agency theory and stewardship theory, the study suggests that the level of transparency in the form of non-financial information transparency, citizen transparency and transparency easiness among the Malaysian local authorities is regarded to be high. It indicates that the information asymmetry between the local authorities and the stakeholders is generally minimised. However, this study highlights that the transparency level in the form of financial information still needs to be improved, and local authorities should be more transparent in disclosing such information. Besides providing insights into local authorities' transparency, this study is beneficial to local authorities and regulators in establishing policies; and citizens and stakeholders in assessing the transparency level of local authorities. Future research should consider factors that influence transparency among local authorities in Malaysia. A comparison between local authorities should also be made to find the best practices for stimulating transparency in local authorities.

Background: For more than two decades, many municipalities have failed to render services effectively because of lack of competency and budget management skills to manage budgets. This has resulted in either over or under expenditure, which ultimately leads to poor service delivery.Aim: This study aimed to develop a budget management model to improve public service in South African municipalities.Setting: Three municipalities in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Free State are the areas where data were collected by researchers.Methods: A quantitative research approach was employed and an online questionnaire was used for data collection from 261 participants in three municipalities. A structural equation modelling approach was used to develop the budget management model.Results: The results revealed that risk management (RM), cash flow management (CFM) from employee perceptions have a positive impact on budget management; whereas CFM from general compliance with legislative consideration (LC) have a negative impact, budget planning (BP) and revenue and expenditure management (REM) have low impact on budget management for public service.Conclusion: The study highlights the key factors (i.e. RM, BP, CFM, LC and REM) as a result of which managers at various levels fail to manage budgets effectively. The proposed model adds new insights to respond to budget management challenges. It is recommended that municipalities must improve their budget management skills for an effective public service. Findings from this study contribute to the existing body of knowledge by proposing a budget management model for public service in South Africa.