Enhancing service delivery for metropolitan municipalities in South Africa via project management

Abstract

This study sought to explore the role of Project Management in enhancing service delivery for metropolitan municipalities. This study was conducted in each of the six metropolitan municipalities of South Africa, viz. eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, the City of Cape Town, the City of Ekurhuleni, the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality, the City of Johannesburg, and the City of Tshwane. A qualitative and exploratory study was adopted using semi-structured interviews amongst a purposive sample of 60 respondents. The findings of this study showed that project managers lack Project Management credentials, which makes the implementation of projects at the Metropolitan Municipality level complex and demanding. The findings further revealed that some projects are encountering difficulties in project planning, quality management, monitoring and evaluation due to a lack of understanding and poor communication channels. These results were a highly intriguing breakthrough in understanding why Metropolitan municipalities fail to provide anticipated services. Thus, the proper execution and administration of the projects could result in a substantial improvement in the services that Metropolitan municipalities provide if municipal managers are equipped with the requisite Project Management theory and skills through training.