The uMgungundlovu District Municipality is one of the ten districtmunicipalities of the KwaZulu-Natal Province which was formed after thedisestablishment of the Indlovu Regional Council in the year 2000. ThisMunicipality has within it seven local municipalities that have varyingcapacity in terms of service provision. The thesis investigates how theevolution of the uMgungundlovu District Municipality’s organisationalstructure has impacted on the Municipality’s service delivery over the pasteight years. The investigated problem is that the Municipality and itspredecessor have never reviewed their organisational structures, while theirfunctions, leadership and staff complement have changed over the past eightyears. The purpose of the study was to address a practical problem at theMunicipality, with the intention to throw some light on the impact oforganisational structures on service delivery, and possibly suggest somesolutions for the Municipality to implement.The investigation focuses on the challenges faced by the TechnicalDepartment, as a line-function department, in their efforts to deliver servicesto the public. The exploration begins with an analysis of the structure thatpopulated the erstwhile Indlovu Regional Council, and follows through tothe structure of the current Municipality. The investigation has been donethrough the consultation of documentation of the Municipality as well asinterviewing staff and management of the Municipality. The staff who wereinterviewed included technical staff who were employed during the reign ofthe Regional Council, as well as technical staff who joined the organisationonce it had become the District Municipality. In addition, Human Resourcesstaff, performance management staff, the staff union representative and general staff were also interviewed. The focus of the study excludespolitical influences on the problem of the Municipality due to the sensitivityof this issue. However, responses from the interviews that relate to the roleof political principals of the Municipality have been discussed to illustratethe necessary points.The thesis draws on relevant theories, legislation and policies to form thebasis for the arguments that are put forward. The legislation and policiesused include national, provincial and local government legislation andpolicies that guide the functioning of municipalities.One of the main findings of the investigation is that the staff andmanagement do not have the same understanding of organisational structuresor of their functions. The management understand that organisationalstructures need to be done with all staff of the organisation and that thestructure should be informed by the organisational strategy to ensure that allplans that are followed thereafter assist with the implementation of theorganisational strategy; the Integrated Development Strategy. The staff, onthe other hand, owing to their exclusion from the relevant organisationalstructuring and design processes, believes that their work is separate fromthe organisational strategy. Furthermore, the staff argued that theformulation and implementation of the organisational strategy is theresponsibility of the management and they, as low-level staff, have to focuson their ‘normal work’.One of the limitations to the study is that one of the senior managers thatwas going to be part of the study group resigned before the interviews wereconducted. It is submitted that this did not substantially alter the conclusions of the thesis because the Municipal Manager, as the manager of the seniormanager and as the Chief Information Officer and Accounting Officer, wasavailable for the interview and has provided the required information. Thethesis concludes that the Municipality’s service delivery efforts can onlybe efficient and sustainable if the organisation ensures that its structureis informed by its strategy, and that these are both reviewed at regularintervals to ensure that this is done in an up-to-date manner.
