4.2 Demographical Data Presentation
4.2.3 Respondents’ Gender
Gender Frequency Percentage
Female 86 55.8%
Male 70 44.2%
From “the above illustration more females participated in the study. A total of 55.2%
represented female participants in the study. Males were the least participants with a representation of 44.2%. The participation of both sexes in the study was quite impressive. The researcher observed that the people under the jurisdiction of Nongoma Municipality were very active when it comes to issues that concern the wellbeing of their communities because they were very eager to understand the purpose of the research. Women had the highest representation leading the male counterparts by 8%. This shows that women under Nongoma Municipality are now empowered and are taking part in the governance of their communities.
The researcher therefore advises Nongoma Municipality to involve women more in activities where their participation is needed.”
4.2 Reasons for Failure of Some Revenue Collection Strategy
The respondents were asked to state why some strategies for collecting revenue in Nongoma Municipal Council failed. Several root causes were identified, 40%of the respondents mentioned poor rules and regulations to guide revenue collection process as the major reason, 5% said weak internal control system was the reason behind the failure, 5% said it was due to lack of working tools and equipment , 10% identified lack of job training and lack of motivation among the revenue collectors , 5% mentioned lack of reliable transportation , political interference was pointed by 10% of the respondents and 10% identified inadequate updated tax payers database to be the root causes of failure.
4.2.1 Poor Rules and Regulation to Guide Revenue Collections
As stated above, 40% of the respondents said that factor like poor rules and regulations to guide revenue collections led to the failure of some revenue collection strategies in Nongoma municipality. The local authorities had ineffective strategies for collecting revenues. Therefore, to collect enough revenue, it is essential for the municipal authority to set more appropriate policy and modify inadequate rules and regulation. Some of the respondents remarked that there seemed to be no clear guidelines and it made the Municipality “look disorganised” and
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“ just not aware of what they are really supposed to do there”
Weak Internal Control System
15% of the respondents said that weak internal control system was the reason for the failure of some revenue collection strategies. Internal control system enables proper functioning and ensures quality performance in any institution. Weaker internal control gives dishonest official a loophole to manipulate various functions for their personal benefits. High revenue collection therefore depends on the effective control system and vice versa. One of the Respondents stated:
“ if these guys are not careful, we might just end up like one of those very corrupt places like Nigeria or Zimbabwe” and this Respondent showed that he had very little to middling faith in the control system
Lack of Working Tools and Equipment
When the respondents were asked why some strategies of collecting revenue fail, 5% of the respondents said that factor like lack of working tools and equipment lead to the failure of some revenue collection strategies in Nongoma Municipal Council. Even for highly motivated workers, it is impossible to perform effectively without necessary working tools. It is therefore mandatory for the authority to provide all necessary equipment for revenue collection process.
Lack of Job Training
Ten percent (10%) of the respondents said that lack of job training was another cause of the failure of some revenue collection strategies in Nongoma Municipality. Some of the Respondents even stated that they did not feel that some of the Municipality workers even knew what they were doing. The general reflection of these Respondents showed that they had very little faith in the skills of the Municipality workers. It is obvious that new ways of doing things, such as businesses are emerging every day, and these need new strategies for dealing with them, it is important therefore to provide on job training to revenue collectors in order to update their knowledge on effective modern ways of collecting revenues.
Lack of Motivation among the Revenue Collectors
Five percent (5 %,) of the respondents said that lack of motivation among the revenue collectors was the reason for failure of some revenue collection strategies. Motivate workers usually work very hard and can endure and work on various challenges that may happen. Hence, it is important design a plan to motivate the revenue collectors in order to make them work more
76 efficiently. This may result in high revenue collection.
Lack of Reliable Transport
When respondents were asked why some strategies of collecting revenue failed, 5%, of the respondent said that lack of reliable transport to revenue collectors could be the reason for the failure. This is because revenue collectors had hardships when collecting revenues due to lack of transport facilities. Due to this situation, the revenue collected became low. However, it is imperative to note that these Respondents seemed nonchalant about the survey itself and gave off the impression that they were not concerned about the outcome of the survey.
Political Interference
“Ten percent (10%) of the respondents said that political interference caused the failure of some revenue collection strategies. Revenue collections in some areas were stumbled due to some political decisions. One of the Respondents stated that, “Yes, it is very much a political game everyone wants to elect someone who won’t make them pay anything, that’s what these guys campaign with” Some of these decisions were intended to please and win political sympathizers of some leaders. “Interviewees also noted that politics played a significant role in the effective collection of revenue by local authorities. Efforts to use legislation to collect revenue have been thwarted by politicians who make some populist decisions to please residents at the expense of council operations. It is government’s policy that water should not be disconnected at properties owned by residents even though they are defaulting in payment and council is expected to offer residents perfect services even it faces such a situation.”
Inadequate Updated Tax Payers Database
Ten percent (10%) of the respondents said that inadequate update tax payers’ database failed some revenue collection strategies. It is so hard to identify the exact number of tax payers if the database is not being updated. This may cause the revenue collection strategies
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Figure 4.4.3 Pie Chart showing gender of respondents
“The above Frequency Table and Pie Chart indicates that 53.9% of respondents were female and 46.1% were males. This indicates that most of the respondents are females. However, the males as well did voice their opinions, but most findings are from the females.”