A REVIEW OF HOW MUNICIPAL INFRASTRUCTURE DELIVERY MANAGEMENT FLAWS HAMSTRING GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract

Planning, budgeting, coordinating, managing the lifetime of a project, evaluating it, being transparent and accountable, and adhering to rules on the public availability of infrastructure services are all part of infrastructure delivery management. However, there is a declining local government infrastructure budget in South Africa. Hence, this study evaluates local governments' management and infrastructure delivery chain to pinpoint the obstacles preventing the creation of an efficient, sustainable, and successful infrastructure delivery program through a review approach. The study’s findings reveal the institutional and regulatory framework for infrastructure delivery, infrastructure delivery chain, municipal infrastructure delivery performance, and local government infrastructure delivery challenges, such as poorly managed consultations, weak multi-government coordination, political-administrative interface, and monitoring and evaluation. The study concludes that municipal infrastructure has no proper planning or life-cycle management. Therefore, the study recommends a stronger focus on peer learning across municipalities and the complete life-cycle management of municipal infrastructure rather than introducing new infrastructure. The secret to sustainable infrastructure delivery management is to plan for appropriate infrastructure that adapts to local conditions, maintains existing infrastructure, and renovates infrastructure that has outlived its intended use.