CHAPTER 4: RESULTS
4.2 STRUCTURE OF THE MUNICIPALITY’S LED
Figure 2: Structure of Mbombela LED
Source: Constructed by the researcher
The participants commonly described a structure as depicted in Figure 2. The LED unit falls under the City Development and Planning department, while other units within this section include tourism, rural development and business regulation. Each unit has a Senior Manager, who reports to the General Manager who heads the whole department. The General Manager in turn reports to the Municipal Manager (MM) and to the Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) responsible for the Economic Development and Planning portfolio.
All of the participants but one felt that the Mbombela Local Municipality is well- structured to deliver on its LED mandate, however some highlighted that staffing shortages undermine the functionality of the structure. These respondents noted that there are various vacant posts, which limits the activities and the reach of the LED
Member of Mayoral Committee (MMC) City Development and
Planning Department
Tourism Rural
Development LED LED Senior
Manager
LED Manager
LED Coordinator
Business Regulation
51 unit. Contrary to the other participants, Participant 8 argued that there was a better structure in 2010/2011, stating that the amalgamation of the Mbombela and Mjindi local municipalities has resulted in the structure becoming ineffective. His comments on the shortage of staff and the repositioning of officials corresponded with the other sentiments that the effective functionality of the structure is hampered.
Figure 3: Perception on the structure of Mbombela Local Municipality for LED
Source: Constructed by the researcher
4.2.1 Operational efficiency of the LED unit within the municipality
Some of the participants commented that LED is correctly driven by the city’s Development and Planning Department, as it appears in the current structure, because city development and planning is a comprehensive unit that focuses on overall municipal development. They argued that as LED cuts across the development operations of the municipality and informs economic growth, it must not be isolated. On the contrary, other participants expressed that LED would be best driven as a standalone section, instead of just being a sub-unit clustered within another section. They argued that LED is not elevated enough and is thus overshadowed by other seemingly more pressing matters, adding that LED should be driven by the Deputy Municipality Manager’s Office or the Mayor’s Office, or led by its own specialised General Manager.
91%
9%
Well structured Not well structured
52 According to Participant 2, however, LED should be driven by the private sector.
They argued that the role of government should rather be to facilitate a strong collaboration between the relevant stakeholders, emphasising that all government levels should work together. Additionally, the importance of starting LED at the local level was emphasised, especially at the ward level where the actual implementation takes place.
Participant 9 argued:
LED should be within development planning where spatial planning is housed because spatial planning informs economic zones for growth. (P9)
Another participant indicated that:
LED should be led by a senior official at the level of a General Manager with experts at management level who will be sector specialists; these must be aligned to thriving economic sectors of Mbombela. (P11)
LED in Mbombela is led and driven by the private sector. (P11)
4.2.2 Drivers of the municipality’s LED agenda
The participants listed various drivers of the municipality’s LED agenda, with the least cited drivers being Vision 2030 and revenue generation, and the most frequently cited being the LED strategy. One participant was of the view that the municipality’s LED agenda is driven by revenue generation, while another participant stated that the municipality has a Vision 2030 document that is aligned to the national, provincial and district plans. Vision 2030 covers broader aspects of planning and development, i.e. it is not limited to economic development, and it includes the provision of basic services and eradicating poverty. It was interesting to note that just one participant mentioned Vision 2030. Another participant raised a concern that the municipal LED strategy crafting consultation process is flawed in that the municipality always concedes and gives into impossible demands instead of giving appropriate advice to stakeholders.
53 Figure 4: Drivers of the municipality’s LED agenda
Source: Constructed by the researcher
The following quotes capture the essence of the concern raised by the participants:
The agenda is reactive and driven by what the majority wants at a particular time and not what the economy needs in order for it to grow. (P2)
The non-core service delivery programmes, which LED is considered to be, always take a back seat while service delivery pressures and demands take priority. (P3)
The majority of the participants identified the LED strategy, which is developed in consultation with stakeholders, as the driver of the municipality’s LED agenda.
According to some participants, the key economic sectors in Mbombela’s LED strategy are agriculture, trade, community service, construction and tourism. There were various criticisms and objections about the manner in which the municipal LED unit develops the LED strategy and the actual focus of the strategy itself. It was stated that the function of developing the LED strategy was outsourced to consultants rather than being an in-house crafted road map, a view which later emerged as a critique on the capacity of the LED unit and their understanding of their role.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Vision 2030 Revenue generation Trade and agriculture Service delivery pressures LED strategy
Frequency
54 The problem is that there’s no synergy and no understanding of the role of the LED unit which stems from the lack of understanding of what LED is from the unit itself.
(P6)
The LED strategy was only focused on Small Medium Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) hence it has programmes such as sewing, running bakeries, spaza shops, informal trading etc. (P4)
This dependence on consultants was regarded as the reason why the municipality had a draft LED strategy that is yet to be approved by the municipal council, more than a year after the amalgamation. The poor quality of the strategy was ascribed to the narrow consultations and the reactive nature thereof, as alluded to by Participant 2 above.