Amalgamation of the South African municipalities: a case of JB Marks Local Municipality.

Abstract

The amalgamation of municipalities in South Africa often occurs prior to local government elections. This change is necessitated by the growth in municipal boundaries. Moreover, the growth of certain areas is influenced by the formation of informal settlements and new developments. In most instances, amalgamation of municipalities is inevitable. This has a direct impact on the distribution and redistribution of public services to the citizens. The purpose of this article is to investigate the effects of the amalgamation of municipalities on the effectiveness of service delivery with specific reference to JB Marks Local Municipality. This article also deals with the process of amalgamation of the JB Marks Local Municipality. A qualitative approach was used to conduct research at this municipality. Various research tools such as interviews (face-to-face) were employed during the data collection stage. Ethical clearance was obtained from institutions to conduct research and a meaningful finding made was that this selected municipality did not have standard procedures to facilitate the amalgamation process and this remains a central problem. Moreover, this municipality is confronted with challenges as far as basic service delivery is concerned. There is a lack of basic delivery of services. It was concluded that the amalgamation of the two municipalities of Ventersdorp and Tlokwe did more harm than good. The process of amalgamation seems to have led to financial implications as JB Marks is failing to deliver services to both towns. This article proposes that there should be an effective implementation of the municipal amalgamation process while ensuring that factors such as institutional management, financial management, governance and service delivery are taken into consideration when the decision to amalgamate municipalities is made.