Examining Municipal Councillors ’ Oversight Roles in Alfred Nzo District Municipality of the Eastern Cape , South Africa

his study reviews the oversight roles played by municipal councillors in Alfred Nzo District Municipality, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The objective is to determine the appropriate strategies that can be recommended for improving effectiveness of leadership, i.e., council structures. This is against the backdrop of the Auditor-General’s audit report for three financial years (2008–2011), which revealed the weakness of the systems of the municipal councils, including internal controls and inadequate leadership. These audit findings had been highlighted as the basis for irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditures that results to a series of adverse and disclaimer audit reports. Using a qualitative methodology approach with a descriptive design, the study attempts to assess the extent to which the political leadership of the municipality performs its roles in response to expectations of good governance and service delivery. The findings show apparent shortcomings in the administrative procedures. To achieve improvement in good governance, financial accountability and service delivery, the study recommends for improvement in educational and leadership capacity of elected councillors.


Introduction
The Alfred Nzo District Municipality, like other municipalities in the country, derives its existence from the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.The South African Constitution provides for a national system of local government.It charges local governments with a developmental mandate and equips each municipality with a set of constitutionally protected powers.The provincial government is tasked with supervising and supporting roles over municipalities, but plays a minor role with regards to regulating local government.The Alfred Nzo District Municipal Council comprises councillors who are democratically elected according to the electoral system that combines constituency (60% local representatives) with proportional representation (40% party system).
The municipal council's legislative mandate includes, but not limited to: authority to enact legislation at local level, also known as by-laws or regulations, in certain areas such as Integrated Development Plan (IDP), Budget and Service Delivery Implementation Plans (SDBIP) and also ensuring that good governance is achieved (Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003).Councillors, therefore, have a mounting pressure to be responsive to the demands of internal and external stakeholders for good governance, accountability and transparency and delivery of tangible services to the citizens.They are expected to communicate the policies and decisions to their local residents.According to Ijeoma, et al (2013:95) this promotes trust between the municipality and the local community and also educates citizens with regard to the issues which councillors are dealing with.As such, when community members obtain insights into the operations and policies of the municipality they are likely to develop into better citizens.
The case study at Alfred Nzo District Municipality is basically about an assessment of effectiveness of oversight roles played by municipal councillors over the administration.
The municipality had continuously received adverse and disclaimer audit from the Auditor-General of South Africa for three consecutive financial years.The study, therefore, examines the cause of poor performance of the municipality and the effect of oversight roles played by councillors as regards service delivery in the municipality.The Alfred Nzo District Municipality is one of the six district municipalities in the Eastern Cape Province.The municipality has a total population of approximately 801 344 and the geographical area is 11 119 km2 (Alfred Nzo Municipality, 2010).as the members are elected representatives of political parties.For example, an item on the construction of regional water scheme is tabled to Council.Here, councillors are obliged to vote according to the party caucus decisions.King (2009:5) notes that the Executive Mayor, as well as the municipal councillors are elected to represent a political party.King (2005) further argues that the principle of independence to Mayors does not apply as they are guided and assessed in terms of party manifestos instead of being based on sound business principles.
Practically, the Alfred Nzo District Municipality operates under the leadership of an Executive Mayor, a councillor elected by the Council.On the other hand, the Council meetings are chaired by the Speaker of Council.Indirectly, the Executive Mayor accounts to the Speaker as he/she is obliged to report to the Council (a body that holds the Executive Mayor accountable for the execution of the Council decisions).Section 160 of the Constitution, 1996 on Internal Procedures prescribes that municipal council may make by-laws about rules and order to regulate internal arrangements, business proceedings and its committees.Therefore, the roles and responsibilities of Council The Audit Committee is an independent advisory body that advises Council, political office-bearers, the accounting officer, and the management of the municipality, including the management staff of the municipality entity on matters related to internal control, internal audits, risk management accounting policies and adequacy reliability and accuracy of financial reporting and information, performance compliance with the MFMA and the Division of Revenue Act.The Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) undertakes and manages similar functions and responsibilities for the Municipality, as undertaken by SCOPA in the national and provincial legislatures, except for certain powers regarding subpoena of individuals.In the case of any irregular expenditure or any fruitless and wasteful expenditure incurred by the municipality or municipal entity, the MPAC has the right to call the Accounting Officer of the municipality or the chairperson of the municipal entity's board of directors to appear before it and provide information or clarity.The MPAC is allowed to engage directly with the public and consider public comments and is entitled to request for documents or evidence from the Accounting Officer of the municipality or municipal entity.The study's findings show that there are limitations and challenges impeding the successful realization of effective oversight role played by councillors in service delivery with the aim to achieving the ultimate goal of good governance at Alfred Nzo District Municipality.The policy relevance of the study therefore, hinges on identifying these challenges and limitations and their impacts on effective performance, good governance and efficient service delivery.
Examining Municipal Councillors' Oversight Roles in Alfred Nzo District Municipality 57

Study Coverage, Methodology and Analysis
The study methodology is case-study design with a focus on qualitative analysis.
Qualitative research methodology was selected due to the fact that the methodology is descriptive and stresses the importance of context, setting and participants' frames of reference.According to Okecha (2011:17)   Figure 3, shows the degree of achieving coordinated oversight for transparency and better accountability in governance.
In figure 3, 17 out of the 20 interviewed participants pointed out that the municipality lacks effective monitoring and evaluation systems.They argued that the function of oversight by councillors is supposed to be an all year process.This requires the key role-players (councillors) to be diligent and consistent in executing their responsibilities.For example 17 of the 20 participants stated that the lack of risk governance, non-functionality of audit committee, lack of capacity to internal audit and risk units poses challenge for the municipality to be unable to detect signals of fraud and corruption.
64 Africa's Public Service Delivery & Performance Review

Figure 3: Enhancing coordinated oversight for transparency and better accountability
There is also the issue of good governance through understanding the role of councillors in service delivery and municipal performance.In this case, effective oversight is noted as mainly being about consistent maintenance of good governance.This assists to ensure that business ethics and values are maintained.Again, the critical point here is the culture of an organization to comply with the legislation governing local government for clean administration and delivery of services with honest and impartiality.Bovaird and Loffler (2009:217) write that good governance has eight major characteristics, namely: participatory, consensus-orientated, accountable, transparent, responsive effective, efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law.
In figure 4, 18 out of the 20 interviewed participants claimed that poor performance management declines the performance status of the municipality whilst, on the other hand, the councillors of the municipality have good dreams to improve the lives of the community they serve.
The cited example was the decision taken by the council to purchase and maintain the fleet of plant machinery with the aim to fast-track the provision of services like

Figure 4: Good Governance through understanding the role of councillors in service delivery and municipal performance
Then, 12 of the 20 participants pointed out that although the idea was good, lack of performance management made the idea unsuccessful.The critic was that there were no performance contracts in place for senior managers at that time under study, as results there was complete poor asset management with no consequential measures in place.It was noted that the question of poor asset management, especially fleet management led to the Alfred Nzo District Municipality to unilaterally cease to operate the plant machinery.
Figure 5 shows that 15 of 20 interviewed participants indicated good record management is the major determinant on the effect of internal controls that are used to improve the performance of the municipality.

Suggestions for Enhanced Performance
It is imperative that Alfred Nzo District Municipality considers and applies the following measures in order reach its vision and objectives and ultimately achieve good   that the municipality must develop and maintain sound financial and ICT management systems for proper filing to ensure that records of financial affairs are properly kept.Besides, the municipality must develop and maintain adequate internal controls by following laws or procedures and approved supply chain management (SCM) policy when awarding tenders.

Conclusion
Given the above scenario, it is concluded that the councillors should harness the expertise of management by creating conducive environment for good working relations and order.This will guarantee job security, professionalism and confidence amongst managers and make them to exercise their authority, discharge executive responsibilities and account freely for their actions without being undue pressure and influence on matters of administration.This is mainly subscribed to the external environment of political instability and factionalism with the party in power at the time.
The councillors interviewed reflected on a number of achievements of the municipality.These achievements were attributed to the effective performance of councillors' roles and functions despite the challenges faced by the municipality.It was reported that a tremendous work has been done by the current political leadership to turn the situation around.This includes the filling of all critical posts of senior managers, including the signing of employment and performance contracts by senior managers.As a result, the Alfred Nzo District Municipality has achieved an unqualified audit opinion for 2013-2014 financial year.
Furthermore, it was reported that the Alfred Nzo District Municipality defied all odds and achieved the "Blue Drop" status of 64% being number four in the province the almost impossible, given the municipality's background on infrastructure backlog that has been made worst by dilapidated water infrastructure.If the study recommendations Examining Municipal Councillors' Oversight Roles in Alfred Nzo District Municipality 69 are adopted, improved performance, good governance and service delivery efficiency will be achieved.

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Africa's Public Service Delivery & Performance Review Problem Statement The Alfred Nzo District Municipality (ANDM) is a public institution led by a democratically elected municipal council.The municipality has made tremendous contributions to the impressive record of extending services to the remote and marginalized communities in the area.However, the challenges facing the municipality remain daunting.The municipality is confronted with a serious challenge in view of the negative public perception about corruption in the country.The other concern borders on achieving clean audit and effective leadership with sound internal controls.Nonetheless, government structures in Alfred Nzo District Municipality are operational; including political structures that are given a responsibility to play political oversight roles over the administration.The quality and effectiveness of oversight structures is sometimes questionable due to the number of fiscal years wherein the municipality has continued to receive adverse or disclaimer audit opinions from the Auditor-General of the country.This study explores the extent to which the best practices of oversight can impact on service delivery and in achieving the set goals as enclosed in the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) of the municipality.It further examines the role played by councillors (municipal leadership) over administration.The study, therefore, proposes practices and/or mechanism of oversight within the institution.The main aim is to ascertain the shortcomings and make recommendations that will be presented to the leadership of the council.Policy Context of the Study According to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996), section 151(2) stipulates that both executive and legislative powers rest within the municipal council.This results into difficulty to clearly define the separation of powers within the council.The Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act 117 of 1998) establishes committees of council in terms of sections 79 & 80 thereof, for effective and efficient performance of any council's functions or the exercise of any of its powers.It is also imperative to have some understanding of the accountability framework for municipalities in order to correctly understand the role of the oversight roles played by councillors.As previously indicated in local government, there is no clear line of separation of powers.The legislative and executive authority is seated in the Municipal Council, of which councillors Examining Municipal Councillors' Oversight Roles in Alfred Nzo District Municipality 55 should always be carried with a clear distinction between oversight and interference in administration as defined in the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) sections 52 (b) and 103 respectively, as well as in the Code of Conduct for Councillors, which is defined in Schedule 1 of the Municipal Systems Act, No. 32 of 2000.The Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) Circular 32 of 15 March 2006 provides guidance on the oversight process that the council must follow when considering the Annual Report and producing an Oversight Report.The reformed programme, including the development of new Annual Reports, has progressed over the past few years and certain challenges experienced in the municipality are now being addressed by the existence of Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC), a committee formed in terms of section 79 of the Municipal Structures Act.The Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) is a new model of oversight function played by Council over the executive and it provides an appropriate mechanism in which the Council could fulfil its oversight responsibilities.It helps the Council to deal with challenges relating to the need of continuous improvement in service delivery and promotion of accountability and transparent governance arrangements.This also helps to increase Council and public awareness on the financial and performance related 56 Africa's Public Service Delivery & Performance Review matters of the Municipality and its entities, including policy operation and implementation of local government legislations.King (2010:7) asserts that the establishment of Municipal Public Accounts Committees (similar to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) in Parliament) will complement the functions of the Municipal Audit Committees.King (2010) however, cautions that municipalities should further apply the principle of good governance, which dictates that audit committees should satisfy itself of the expertise, resources and experience of the municipality's finance function.

Findings
, qualitative researchers rely on four techniques for gathering information, namely: (1) analyzing documents and material culture, (2) observing directly, (3) participating in the setting, and (4) interviewing in-depth.All four techniques were utilized in this research.The techniques used to collect data in the study are briefly explained in the following manner:  The literature review was used to study policy documents and other textual data. Questionnaires were administered to three different groups comprising councillors, top municipal administrators and party stakeholders.Each group comprised 20 participants. Structured interviews, using pre-designed questions were administered to a select group of municipal workers, and community leaders/representatives.The structured questions were presented in three streams of 20 participants each.The advantage of the interview was that it presented an opportunity of participants with limited low literacy level to answer the open-ended questions and this enabled the researchers to collect in-depth data regarding people's assessment. The interactive interviews afforded the researchers an opportunity to gather an observational data by collecting direct data from participants (councillors).This observation of participants' reactions to understand the council better and uncover things that the participants might have not freely talked about when completing the structured questionnaire.The researchers participated in three clusters of discussions involving elected councillors, stakeholders and municipal administrators.In terms of the determinants of effective leadership for oversight and accountability, the study findings show that local government is at the centre stage grass roots of service delivery (Voice of Local Government, Issue-12 October 2014).It is therefore, imperative 58 Africa's Public Service Delivery & Performance Review to note that municipalities are at the forefront of improving the lives of the communities they serve.They have to create conditions for inclusive economic and job creation.This requires an effective calibre of leadership (councillors) that can put service delivery high on the local government agenda.Van Zyl et al (2009:6) argue that "one useful way to gain understanding of leadership in the business organization is to examine various roles carried out by leaders."The role in this context is an expected behaviour or activity stemming from one's job or position.Essentially, the understanding of the roles, responsibilities and expectations of councillors in local government is very important in order to achieve their effective oversight roles and accountability.The understanding of these roles and responsibilities by councillors would enable them to comprehend on what is expected of them by the communities they serve.Nevertheless, it is critical to understand that section 151(2) of the Constitution, 1996, vested both legislative and executive authority in a Municipal Council.In summary, the study findings show the following limitations:  lack of delegation framework and strategic roles for political office-bearers and other designated councillors;  limited public participation with identified capacity gaps in the three strategic offices of the Mayor, Speaker and Council Whip;  limited compliance with legislation and lack of credibility of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP);  lack of monitoring, evaluation and reporting systems -something that makes the portfolio committees and/or governance structures not to be able to detect early warnings of maladministration and corruption. ineffective intergovernmental relations (IGR) structures; this resulted to poor information sharing, poor performance management and lack of customer care services.The second issue borders on the role of the political office-bearers for oversight and accountability as a measure for transparency and accountability to the stakeholders.The findings as shown in figure 1 reveal that 16 of the 20 interviewed participants indicate that, to some extent, the strategic roles of the three critical seats of political power in the municipality (Executive Mayor, Speaker and Council Whip) that constitute the so-Examining Municipal Councillors' Oversight Roles in Alfred Nzo District Municipality 59called political management or TROIKA of the municipality are not clearly defined.In this instance, it was indicated that there is no clear delegation to any of the above political offices as to who is responsible for public accountability on the performance of the municipality.The problem refers to stakeholder relations.

Figure 1 :
Figure 1: Response on the role of political office-bearers for oversight and accountability as a measure for transparency and accountability

Figure 2 :
Figure 2: The role of councillors in the achievement of predetermined objectives

Figure 5 :
Figure 5: The effect of Internal Controls

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that in order to mitigate the potential of tensions, if the roles of the council chief are not clearly delineated, the Council Whip should be responsible for receiving and approving the application of leave of absence to both the municipal council and its committees.Additionally, the Council Whip should be delegated in writing to assign members to portfolio committees and assist the speaker in the application of the Code of Conduct for Councillors.The rationale is that the Council Whip has a direct mandate to represent the ruling party's interests in terms of implementing the political party's manifesto and other political in the council. to make effective use of the oversight structures like Audit Committee and Municipal Public Accounts Committee.These committees can offer the prospect of enhancing oversight and accountability for credibility, trust and reputation amongst the municipal stakeholders. that the municipality should make efforts in turning around and professionalizing the municipal administration to ensure that it has positive spin-offs and enhanced its constitutional objectives of effective, efficient and economic service delivery to the communities it serves. that the municipality implements the PMS from top management to the lower levels of the organogram.The political leadership should do due diligent and compensate or incentivized those deserving, thus to mitigate despondencies 68 Africa's Public Service Delivery & Performance Review and disgruntlement amongst those being assessed and achieved or outperformed in achieving their targets and performance indicators.Moreover the municipality must maintain a logical sequence of IDP processes informed by the realistic budget that should be developed, and be a true reflection of the needs of the communities.