| Summary: | Providing basic local administration has become one of a vast variety of priorities for all
municipalities within the South African context. Municipalities need to be instrumental in
South Africa’s socio- economic upliftment against issues like poverty and
underdevelopment because government policy requires municipalities to play a
developmental role. Taking cognizance of the transformational changes within the
South African government, the local government, within its three categories, inherited
growing responsibility for basic service delivery. This was primarily because the
democratic South Africa has inherited a public sector marred by fragmented and gross
inequalities at all levels of government activity (Mathekga & Buccus, 2006). The
effectiveness of good local governance may rely on the capacity of local government
structures, participative of municipal leadership and employees, to provide an integrated
development approach to social and economic development issues and to supply
essential services congruent with the needs and desires of the local communities (The
Institute for Democracy in Africa, 2010). Municipalities need to be in a position to
identify and prioritise local needs, determine adequate levels of services and allocate
necessary resources to the public (COGTA, 2009c).
The role of local government in, amongst other things, is to promote a better life for all
by creating jobs, alleviating poverty, which is imperative in achieving a prosperous
civilization. The transformation of local government, as it stood during the apartheid
period, was aimed at removing the racial basis of government and making it a
mechanism for the integration of society and the redistribution of municipal services
from the rich to the poor. Thus, local government is the key site of delivery and
development and is central to the entire transformative project of the new South Africa.
In order for any municipality to be accountable for delivering a basic human right
towards local communities, as stipulated in the Constitution of 1996, it is imperative that
the relationship between the internal stakeholders of the local municipality is sound. The test would be to see how the municipal employees’ perception of trust influences the
trust relationship between employees and managers in the local government sphere.
Taking cognizance of the manner in which local government mechanisms and its
related structures are administered, the research will aim to establish how important the
vertical trust relationship between municipal employees and managers is, as a
contributing factor for effective service delivery to its communities. Attention will focus
on the conceptualization of vertical trust between employees and managers within local
government in South Africa as well as to determine whether municipalities’ performance
indeed have a link with vertical trust relationship between the relevant employees and
managers. This will be explained within a broader perception by focusing on relevant
theories of trust, which include the theories related different types- and dimensions of
trust, and influence of the trust relationship within the local government sphere.
The research focused on the performance of a Category B municipality within the
geographic area of the Western Cape, and how the vertical trust relationship between
employees towards managers and the subsequent performance of the municipalities
would influence effective service delivery. A Category B municipality within the Eden
district was identified as an institution that, within the broader government sphere, has
been complimented and accolade due to continuous improvements in service delivery
over the last few years. Five dimensions were examined by conducting a survey in
order to establish the perceptions of municipal employees relating to the dimensions of
job satisfaction, employee empowerment, communication, management reporting and
performance management. These perceptions were assessed by interpreting the
responses of (N = 205) respondents from the Category B municipality.
The main finding was that the respondents were very negative towards how they
experience the five dimensions within the Category B municipality. Based on the
internal consistency of the five dimensions, the results of the research were of concern
as a significant part of the respondents portrayed some sort of animosity towards how
they perceived and responded to the statements. This is contrary to the Category B municipality’s continuous and improved financial performance and non-existent service
delivery protests, as compared to other municipalities within the geographical area of
the Western Cape. This research highlighted that, although the attitudes towards most
of the statements were negatively experienced by the respondents, the Category B
municipality still managed to get accolades for continuous and improved financial
performance and non-existent service delivery protests. The revelations from the
respondents highlight a sense of effective and efficient performance by the category B
municipality with a mainly negative workforce. This poses a concern as to the
proposition of this research in terms of how significant the role of such trust between
affected parties play within the dynamics of this Category B municipality. The primary
reason for this observation relates to the researcher’s view that it has become critical for
management to get personally involved in managing the emotional part of its
employees, in order to ignite a sense of belonging to the municipality where employees
will put renewed emphasis on the trust towards all levels of the organizational hierarchy.
It can be concluded that, in order for vertical trust to be of significance within the
dynamics of this Category B municipality, the concept of vertical trust relationship can
be nurtured by employing a working environment based on mutual respect, dignity,
cooperation and honest communication. === MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014
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