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on service delivery within the local government context. For the policy makers and administrators to execute their service delivery appropriately, they need to understand the concept leadership and its implication to service delivery, understand the structure and its objective in the context of South Africa
To complete the process outlined above, the municipality leaders also need to understand the importance of the local government sphere, their role in service delivery and the interpretation of good governance. These aspects and factors need to be based on the legal framework that govern the South African Local Government sector. The considerate and understanding of statutory framework can also enhance a harmonious relationship between political and administrative operations within municipalities. Good relationship amongst the policy makers and the administrators can always enhance effective service delivery in the local sphere of government as such Grater Giyani.
The research responds to the objectives of the study in the next section through survey of related literature, which include outlining the nature of leadership suited for service delivery, the role played by the leadership in the provision of service and also indicating the difficulties that are faced by the leadership in the delivery of such services. This chapter deals with the nature and the role of leadership and its implications on service delivery.
3.2. LEADERSHIP AND ITS IMPLICATIONS TO SERVICE DELIVERY IN THE MUNICIPALITIES
Many academics have researched about leadership over the last century and defined it in a variety of ways. Although each concept emphasises different aspects of leadership, Influence, strength, vision, and the relationship between leaders and followers are some of the key characteristics that define leadership. Despite the widespread recognition of the topic, Peretomode (2015) defines leadership as a continuous, flexible, and complicated approach and argue that a universally agreed definition has still to emerge.
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Since leadership is a living philosophy with many aspects, it is often changing in response to communities' growth, environments, and needs. Winston and Patterson (2010: 55) define a leadership as “one or more people who select, influence, and focus one or more followers with diverse abilities and skills on the organisation's mission and objectives, causing the followers to willingly and enthusiastically expend spiritual, emotional, and physical energy in a concerted coordinated effort to achieve the organizational goals”. Leaders in the municipalities should be responsible for the development of their communities, providing them with the service they need.
There should be a collaboration between municipal leadership and community members to structure or restructure circumstances, as well as members' views and expectations, to provide effective service. Municipalities operate effectively when leaders influence and motivation others to work on a common goal. According to Bass (2000) every member of a group may be a leader in any way but fail in the delivery of service. Bass acknowledges some crucial components of leadership application, particularly in modern democracies, such as follower views and expectations, as well as the need of context in leadership.
Collins English Dictionary (2013:19), describe leadership as "the leader of a party or a group". It does, however, explain that leadership may be someone who has been given power or control above others. Leaders can exercise strong authority and provide good services to their communities. Municipalities will not be able to provide effective service unless they have strong leadership. Reh (2016:05), on the other hand, describes leadership as “the timeless activity of guiding others toward a common goal or purpose, and leaders' work differs from era to era and situation to situation”. What distinguishes leaders from the rest of people is that they have a strong vision of what they intend to accomplish and specific objectives and timeframes for completing tasks (Reh, 2016).
The leadership challenge, according to Kouzes and Posner (2002:23), is about leaders‟ practices for “converting ideals into deeds, dreams into facts, challenges into inventions, separation into unity, and threats into rewards”. Vision, direction, and movement are all aspects of leadership. Municipal leaders frequently promise the communities that they will provide a specific service, only to fail to do so. Municipal leaders who are successful provide their communities with goals to strive for and
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collaborate with them to achieve those goals (Patterson, 2014). Leaders should motivate their followers to work together to deliver effective service. They should emphasise the importance of leaders and followers working together to achieve shared goals.
Yukl (2006) provides the most relevant definition of leadership in the sense of appointed administrative and elected political leadership investigated in this study, defining leadership as the process of reaching consensus on a specified purpose. A leader is someone who guides an institution toward becoming more unified and cohesive. As a result, political leadership is viewed as a role model for all people in society, across all sectors, ages, and generations. Persuading people to understand and agree on what has to be done and how it should be done, as well as facilitating individual and collaborative efforts to reach common goals, is what leadership is all about. This leadership is the one used in this study because it recognizes the need of both leaders and communities working together to achieve a common goal. This viewpoint recognizes the power of communities, which for the sake of this study are defined as the general public. For the municipalities to achieve its objective, the general public and municipal leadership should work together. It is clear from the discussion that the concept of leadership can only be realized and understood if the characteristics and skills involved in the process are thoroughly explored.
3.3. LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS AND SKILLS ON SERVICE DELIVERY