POLITICAL interference is commonly cited as one of the causes of chaos and failure of municipalities because of its negative impact on service delivery.
Looking at the nature of management in municipalities, political interference is possible.
The lines of authority between the mayor and the municipal manager (MM) are always an issue.
On many occasions mayors fail to understand that they are the political faces or political heads of the municipalities who are supposed to lead the council towards making good decisions that are going to benefit the community.
The MM, as a qualified person, will then interpret and implement the resolutions of the council.
In many cases the problem is created by the misuse of political power (political connections) that the Mayor has, which make him/her feel that he/she has final authority, both politically and in the administration of the municipality.
Politicians do feel an obligation to oversee the activities of the municipality and in the process dictate what needs to be done, irrespective of whether politicians have proper qualifications to do that or not.
Political interference forces municipal officials to ignore policies and legislation and do as directed by the political structure, whereas providing oversight is when the political structure monitors the correct processes in the municipalities.
It must also be noted that a mayor does not deploy himself or herself, but the organisation does. In this process of deployment certain key individual immediately see an opportunity of making money either for themselves or for their organisation.
The mayor might be under pressure not to perform, but rather personally deliver to certain individuals who made it possible for him or her to be elected.
BONGANI NDLOVU
A la fin des Mis