Good Governance and Leadership as Stimuli for Quality Service Delivery: The Case of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality

Abstract

Good governance and good leadership as stimuli for quality and sustainable service delivery have become serious concerns in the way municipalities in South Africa are managed and led. Whilst this article employs the City of Johannesburg as a case study, it also uses social contract theory to evaluate good governance and good leadership as stimuli for quality service delivery. The researcher conducted structured face-to-face interviews and reviewed documents to collect data. To obtain primary material, elected, bureaucratic, municipal trade union and community leaders, as well as residents, were interviewed. Secondary data was obtained by reviewing relevant documents on good governance and good leadership. The study found that municipal leaders defied and undermined the rule of law and displayed uncaring, unethical and dishonest leadership qualities, thereby failing to deliver quality and sustainable services to residents. Instead of using the authority ceded to them in the form of a social contract to facilitate accountable and good leadership, municipal leaders used it to undermine good governance that could have otherwise yielded the accountability and ethical conduct expected of them by the residents whom they represent in the council. In confirming the appropriateness of the application of social contract theory here, the results showed that municipal leaders did not live up to the ideals of, and failed to conform to, qualities of good governance and good leadership, as they did not consult, listen to, or maintain relationships with the local people on a regular basis, and in so doing, undermined their own ability to enhance democracy at the local level. Eventually, municipal leaders did not mobilise or influence community members to become involved in the planning and implementation of budgeted projects and programmes to meet local needs. The significance of this study lies in its analysis of good governance and good leadership as stimuli for quality and sustainable service delivery in municipalities, while generating information and guidelines on how municipal leaders can practise good governance and good leadership to implement quality and sustainable service delivery.