Postgraduate Studies Hailed as Key to Solving Local Government Challenges

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Growing up in Willowfontein, Pietermaritzburg surrounded by poverty piqued an interest in politics for former Ward Councillor Mr Thabiso Molefe who then dedicated his life to ensuring that the basic human rights of South African citizens are upheld. 

‘I opted to use education to economically empower myself, my family and community,’ said the former Ward Councillor who graduated with a Master of Commerce in Management during the UKZN Autumn Graduation Ceremonies.

Hindrances to quality service delivery: A case study of Msunduzi Municipality was the title of his dissertation supervised by Dr Vangeli Gamede from the School of Management, IT and Governance.

As a former Ward Councillor, Molefe understands how local government should function. However, challenges such as poor planning by municipal leadership and management, political interference on administrative matters, high vacancy rate, management working in silos, inadequate revenue collection, corruption, and poor consequence management which lead to unaccountability by officials prevent local government from delivering quality services to communities.

These challenges, which have led to service delivery protests in Msunduzi Municipality, motivated Molefe to investigate this challenge through scholarly research. ‘Transparency and accountability were the other driving motives for me to conduct this study. I thought the public in general, and Msunduzi residents in particular, have a right to have an in-depth understanding of the dome sources of service delivery challenges facing Msunduzi.’

Molefe believes that the knowledge acquired from conducting his study will enhance his ability to objectively carry out thorough, formal, and informed research with an intention to provide solutions to challenges in his work environment and for the benefit of society at large.

The father of two children is pleased with his academic achievement and grateful to his wife and extended family for their support. He encouraged other public officials to embark on postgraduate studies in order to make a meaningful contribution to the communities they lead.

Words: Hazel Langa

Photograph: Abhi Indrarajan