Research as public management tool for improved municipal governance in South Africa

The purpose of this paper is to call for an intensified research practices and institutionalisation within municipal governments in South Africa, and the contextual focus includes typical municipalities in the Ngaka-Moridi Molema district of the North-West province. Research as a public management tool has been largely negated in municipal governance decision-making processes and this is linkable to the general deterioration of municipal governance systems in the local sphere. This paper found that the majority of municipalities in South Africa, including the ones in NMMD do not have a full appreciation of research in that very few to none have established research components to support municipal decision-making processes. Insights were further drawn from certain theories of governance to complement the suggestions made in the paper pertaining to ways in which municipalities can inculcate not only the spirit of research but its embedding with the governance [council] system.