Fostering a Culture of Performance Management in Municipalities: Perceptions of Municipal M & E Practitioners in Kwazulu Natal

Creating a culture that considers monitoring and evaluation as an essential tool for performance improvement is not an easy task. Some employees are likely to resist due to a lack of awareness of the value of monitoring and evaluation while others could do so due to fear of the accountability and transparency implicit in the implementation of such a system. Nonetheless, it is imperative that performance management is prioritised in municipal development interventions. This article is based on a doctoral study that used qualitative participatory research techniques to gather data from evaluation practitioners’ municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal. It presents these practitioners’ perspectives on fostering a culture of performance management in local government. The article expounds on their lived experiences that reflect on how performance management could facilitate an effective monitoring and evaluation culture within this sector. The study found that monitoring and evaluation practitioners were sloppy towards their responsibilities and this contributed to poor tracking of the impact of municipal interventions, thereby compromising their abilities to fulfil their constitutional mandates. Furthermore, the study found that there is no political will to enforce performance in most municipalities. The implication of this study is that a culture of performance management must be enforced by government as a critical institutional norm towards achieving accountable, effective, efficient and responsive developmental local government. Municipalities must harness the necessary political will for this to become a reality in municipalities towards promoting good governance in local government supported by a culture of performance.