The Role of Medium-Term Budgets in Enhancing Fiscal Sustainability and Service Delivery in South African Municipalities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31098/ijmesh.v8i2.2717Keywords:
Mid-Term Budget, Fiscal Sustainability, Service delivery, South African MunicipalitiesAbstract
Fiscal sustainability and service delivery are crucial elements of fruitful governance, yet many South African municipalities struggle to manage these components. To address these problems, the government introduced medium-term budgets as a tool to make positive transformations in fiscal discipline and enhance service delivery. However, the success of these budgets in meeting these goals remains uncertain. To close this gap in knowledge, this article explored the role of medium-term budgets in promoting fiscal sustainability and improving service delivery in South African municipalities through a qualitative analysis of budget documents, policy reports and audit outcomes. The findings show that while some municipalities have benefited, many still face operational deficits, corruption, and a lack of skilled personnel, all of which hamper their effectiveness. This article recommends strengthening accountability mechanisms, investing in skills development, and improving financial monitoring systems. As a result, the article makes a vital contribution by providing significant insights for enhancing municipal budget execution and service delivery.
References
Ajam, T. (2021). Developing a municipal financial and operational sustainability strategy for the Western Cape. https://southafrica.hss.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Projects_HSS/South_Africa/Dokumente/2021/Towards_a_municipal_financial_and_operational_sustainability_strategy_for_the_Western_Cape.pdf
Auditor General of South Africa. (2021). General report on local government audit outcomes. AGSA. https://mfma-2021.agsareports.co.za/
Auriacombe, C. J., & Van der Waldt, G. (2020). Critical considerations for designing local economic development strategies in South African municipalities. Administratio Publica, 28(1), 25–43. https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/ejc-adminpub-v28-n1-a3
Berliner, D., & Wehner, J. (2022). Audits for accountability: Evidence from municipal by-elections in South Africa. The Journal of Politics, 84(3), 1581–1594. https://doi.org/10.1086/716951
Davids, Y. D., Houston, G., Steyn Kotze, J., Sausi, K., Sanchez Betancourt, D., Pienaar, G., ... & Fokou, G. (2022). Municipal skills and capacity assessment study: views from municipal officials at eight South African municipalities. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/19271
Draai, E., & Zazi, L. (2021). Performance management for responsive local governance. Administratio Publica, 29(3), 89–107. https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/ejc-adminpub_v29_n3_a6
Glasser, M. D., & Wright, J. (2020). South African municipalities in financial distress: What can be done? Law, Democracy & Development, 24(1), 413–441. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2077-4907/2020/ldd.v24.17
Habitat, U. N. (2015). The challenge of local government financing in developing countries. United Nations Human Settlements Programme. https://unhabitat.org/the-challenge-of-local-government-financing-in-developing-countries-0
Hogan, B. (1996, January). Budget process in South Africa: Managing change. In Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Taxation Held under the Auspices of the National Tax Association-Tax Institute of America (Vol. 89, pp. 417–422). National Tax Association.
Jacobs, N. P. (2019). Local government revenue enhancement: a case study of Umsobomvu Local Municipality (Doctoral Dissertation, Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University).
Jason, H. (2013). Medium-term budget frameworks in advanced economies: Objectives, design, and performance. In Public financial management and its emerging architecture. International Monetary Fund. https://doi.org/10.5089/9781475531091.071
Kaywood, L. (2021). Explores the history and development of the local government system in South Africa. African Journal of Public Affairs, 12(3), 42–61. https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/ejc-ajpa_v12_n3_a4
Kraai, S. D. (2023). Participatory budgeting to foster inclusivity, transparency, and accountability in local government: A case study of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (Doctoral dissertation, Stellenbosch University). https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/128905
Krafchik, W. (2001, July). Inclusive national budgeting: A South African case study. In A Regional Workshop on Participation and Empowerment for Inclusive Development, Peru. https://internationalbudget.org/wp-content/uploads/Inclusive-National-Budgeting-A-South-African-Case-Study.pdf
Leni, B. (2023). Challenges in adopting a Project Governance system in local government. ,Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, Department of Construction Economics and Management.
LGSETA. (2024). The capacity and competencies of municipal committees. Enterprises University of Pretoria (Pty) Ltd. https://lgseta.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CAPACITY-AND-COMPETENCIES-OF-MUNICIPAL-COMMITTEES1_compressed.pdf
Magagula, D. N., Mukonza, R. M., & Moeti, K. (2022). The role of district municipalities in provision of services in South Africa: Dissecting challenges faced by Ehlanzeni District Municipality. Africa’s Public Service Delivery and Performance Review, 10(1), Article 628. https://doi.org/10.4102/apsdpr.v10i1.628
Makgetla, N. (2020). Inequality in South Africa: An overview. Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies. https://www.tips.org.za/images/TIPS_Working_Paper_Inequality_in_South_Africa_An_Overview_September_2020.pdf
Makwetu, K. (2017). Auditor-general reports marginal improvements in local government audit results [Media release]. Auditor General, South Africa. https://www.agsa.co.za/Portals/0/AGSAReports/MFMA201516/2015-16%20MFMA%20media%20release.pdf
Maluleke. (2020). MFMA local government audit outcome [Media release]. Auditor General, South Africa. https://www.agsa.co.za/Reporting/MFMAReports/MFMA2020-2021.aspx
Marawu, N. M., Utete, R., & Zhou, S. (2023). Good governance as an economic driver for service delivery: Lessons for South African government. International Journal of Management, Entrepreneurship, Social Science and Humanities, 6(2), 71–93. https://doi.org/10.31098/ijmesh.v6i2.1219
Mashamaite, K., & Thusi, X. (2024). Coalition and service delivery in South Africa: Prospects and challenges for local government. African Journal of Public Administration and Environmental Studies (AJOPAES), 3(2), 53. http://dx.doi.org/10.31920/2753-3182/2024/v3n2a3
Masiya, T., Davids, Y. D., & Mangai, M. S. (2021). Factors affecting the performance of South African municipal officials: Stakeholders' perspectives. Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance, (25), 97–115. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/19309
Masuku, M. M., V. H., & Ndlovu, C. (2022). Service delivery, government, and citizen satisfaction: Reflections from South Africa. Journal Global Policy and Governance, 11(1), 96–116. https://doi.org/10.14666/2194-7759-11-1-6
Matlala, L. S., & Uwizeyimana, D. E. (2020). Factors influencing the implementation of the auditor general’s recommendations in South African municipalities. African Evaluation Journal, 8(1), 1-11.
Mbatha, N. P., & Mutereko, S. (2022). Examining financial management of local governments in South Africa: A case study of a local municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. Interdisciplinary Journal of Economics and Business, 11(4), 285–308.
Mboweni, T. T. (2020). Medium-term budget policy statement. Department of National Treasury. https://www.gov.za/speeches/minister-tito-mboweni-medium-term-budget-policy-statement-28-oct-2020-0000
Meyer, D. F., & Venter, A. (2013). Challenges and solutions to local economic development (LED) municipal institutional arrangements. Administratio Publica, 21(4), 91–116. https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/ejc-adminpub-v21-n4-a6
Mishi, S., Mbaleki, N., & Mushonga, F. B. (2022). Financial mismanagement and efficiency trade-off in local municipalities: Lessons learned from the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Journal of Local Government Research and Innovation, 3, Article 68. https://doi.org/10.4102/jolgri.v3i0.68
Mokgolobotho, R., & Nkgapele, S. (2024). The role of alternative service delivery models in improving access to healthcare, education and water services in the South African public service. International Journal of Social Science Research and Review, 7(10), 14–26. https://doi.org/10.47814/ijssrr.v7i10.2231
Motsitsi, C. B., & Hendriks, C. J. (2023). Public financial management reforms and service delivery in the Northern Cape department of health. Administratio Publica, 31(3), 107–130. https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/ejc-adminpub_v31_n3_a8
Motubatse, K. N., Ngwakwe, C. C., & Sebola, M. P. (2017). The effect of governance on clean audits in South African municipalities. African Journal of Public Affairs, 9(5), 90–102. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/59089
Mudzusi, T. N., Munzhedzi, P. H., & Mahole, E. (2024). Governance challenges in the provision of municipal services in the Vhembe District Municipality. Africa’s Public Service Delivery and Performance Review, 12(1), Article 749. https://doi.org/10.4102/apsdpr.v12i1.749
Munzhedzi, P. H. (2016). South African public sector procurement and corruption: Inseparable twins? Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management, 10(1), 1–8. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/jtscm.v10i1.197
National Treasury. (2023). The national treasury and local government adopted operating and capital budgets for 2023/24 MTREF. South African Government. https://www.gov.za/news/media-statements/national-treasury-local-government-adopted-operating-and-capital-budgets
Ngumbela, X. G. (2021). Troubled municipalities: Implementation of a Back-to-Basics programme in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa. Africa’s Public Service Delivery and Performance Review, 9(1), Article 405. https://doi.org/10.4102/apsdpr.v9i1.405
Njilo, N. (2022, August 23). The City of Tshwane committed to paying R1.6bn debt after Eskom’s cut-off threat. Daily Maverick. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-08-23-city-of-tshwane-commits-to-paying-r1-6bn-debt-after-eskom-threat-to-cut-power/
Nkgapele, S. M., & Mofokeng, S. (2024). Merit-based recruitment in the South African public service: Challenges and opportunities. International Review of Social Sciences Research, 4(4), 148–170. https://doi.org/10.53378/irssr.353136
Nzama, L. (2019). Do poor financial performance indicators affect municipal grant budget allocation in South Africa? Journal of Reviews on Global Economics, 8, 1514–1528. http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1929-7092.2019.08.135
Nzimakwe, T. I. (2012). Alignment between municipal development planning, budgeting, performance management, and public participation. Administratio Publica, 20(4), 139–156. https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/ejc-adminpub-v20-n4-a9
Oppelt, C. A. (2019). Developing a monitoring and evaluation system for supply chain management at Overstrand Municipality [Doctoral dissertation, Stellenbosch University]. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/105969
Ouwencamp, S., & Van der Waldt, G. (2024). A public participation model for integrated development planning in local government. African Journal of Public Affairs, 15(1), 1–21. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-ajpa_v15_n1_a2
Phumlani, D. (2016). An exploration of the use of transformational leadership styles in enhancing public service delivery: The case of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality [Doctoral dissertation, University of Fort Hare].
Reddy, P. S., & Govender, N. (2019). Effectiveness of governance towards digitalisation at eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. Africa’s Public Service Delivery and Performance Review, 7(1), 1-9.
Republic of South Africa. (1996). Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996). Government Printers. https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/images/a108-96.pdf
Sambo, V. T. (2022). The role of the budgeting approach in South Africa: Critical considerations to enhance service delivery. Administratio Publica, 30(3), 1–20. https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/ejc-adminpub_v30_n3_a3
Seope, O. E. (2015). Budgeting as a political process: A case study of Dr. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality[Doctoral dissertation, North-West University]. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/17657
Shava, E. (2020). Exploring revenue collection impediments in South African rural municipalities. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 14(5), 396–412.
Shongwe, B. R., & Meyer, D. F. (2023). Service delivery challenges within rural communities: The case of the Nkomazi Local Municipal Area. Administratio Publica, 31(2), 136–159. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-adminpub_v31_n2_a8
Simelane, B. C. (2024, October 2). Emfuleni said it will pay salaries “immediately” after the employees protest. Daily Maverick. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-10-02-emfuleni-to-immediately-pay-salaries-after-employees-stage-picket/
Siswana, B. (2007). Leadership and governance in South African public service: An overview of the public finance management system [Doctoral dissertation, University of Pretoria]. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/28035
Sutcliffe, M., & Bannister, S. (2020). Exploring factors affecting governance in local government institutions. City Insight, 1–125. https://lgseta.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/THE-ROLE-OF-MUNICIPAL-LEADERSHIP-IN-ACCELERATING-TRANSFORMATION-AND-SERVICE-DELIVERY-IN-THE-LOCAL-GOVERNMENT1_compressed.pdf
Thusi, X., & Ndebele, N. C. (2024). The effect of a coalition government on service delivery in South African municipalities. Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences, 17.
Thusi, X., & Matyana, M. A. (2024). Professionalization as a tool to stabilize public finances: South African local government perspective. Journal of Public Administration, Finance & Law, 31.
Thusi, X., & Selepe, M. M. (2023). The impact of irregular, unauthorized, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure on service delivery: A case study of the South African local government. International Journal of Development and Sustainability, 12(10), 4. https://isdsnet.com/ijds-v12n10-04.pdf
Uwizeyimana, D. E., & Munzhedzi, P. H. (2022). Municipal policies versus implementation: Continued disjuncture. African Journal of Governance and Development, 11(1.2), i–vii. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-ajgd_v11_n1.2_a1
Van Koppen, B., Nohayi, N., Jacobs-Mata, I., & Nortje, K. (2024). Meeting each other halfway: Institutionalizing community participation in integrated development plans and water service development plans in South Africa. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148790
Zulu, T. N., & Nhlabathi, S. S. (2022). Factors and dynamics of linkages between strategic visions and their outcomes in the public sector in Ulundi and Nongoma, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. International Journal of Public Sector Performance Management, 10(4), 467–485. http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJPSPM.2021.10044004
Zweni, A. G., Yan, B., & Uys, C. (2022). Modeling budget management for public services in South African municipalities: A structural equation modeling approach. Journal of Local Government Research and Innovation, 3, 73. https://doi.org/10.4102/jolgri.v3i0.73
Downloads
Published
Citation Check
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Sifiso Mofokeng, Simon Matome Nkgapele

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright Notice: 1. License
International Journal of Management, Entrepreneurship, Social Science and Humanities has CC-BY NC or an equivalent license as the optimal license for the publication, distribution, use, and reuse of scholarly work for non-commercial purpose. The non-commercial use of the article will be governed by the Creative Commons Attribution license as currently displayed on Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Creative Commons License
2. Author’s Warranties
The author warrants that the article is original, written by stated author(s), has not been published before, contains no unlawful statements, does not infringe the rights of others, is subject to copyright that is vested exclusively in the author and free of any third party rights, and that any necessary written permissions to quote from other sources have been obtained by the author(s).
3. User Rights
International Journal of Management, Entrepreneurship, Social Science and Humanities objective is to disseminate articles published are as free as possible. Under the Creative Commons license, this journal permits users to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work for non-commercial purposes only. Users will also need to attribute authors and this journal on distributing works in the journal.
4. Rights of Authors
Authors retain the following rights:
Copyright, and proprietary rights relating to the article, such as patent rights,
The right to use the substance of the article in future own works, including lectures and books,
The right to reproduce the article for own purposes,
The right to self-archive the article,
the right to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the article's published version (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal (International Journal of Management, Entrepreneurship, Social Science and Humanities).
The author has a non-exclusive publishing contract with a publisher and the work is published with a more restrictive license, the author retains all the rights to publish the work elsewhere, including commercially, because she/he is not subject to the conditions of her / his own license, regardless of the type of CC license chosen.
5. Co-Authorship
If the article was jointly prepared by other authors, the signatory of this form warrants that he/she has been authorized by all co-authors to sign this agreement on their behalf, and agrees to inform his/her co-authors of the terms of this agreement.
6. Termination
This agreement can be terminated by the author or International Journal of Management, Entrepreneurship, Social Science and Humanities upon two months’ notice where the other party has materially breached this agreement and failed to remedy such breach within a month of being given the terminating party’s notice requesting such breach to be remedied. No breach or violation of this agreement will cause this agreement or any license granted in it to terminate automatically or affect the definition of International Journal of Management, Entrepreneurship, Social Science and Humanities.
7. Royalties
This agreement entitles the author to no royalties or other fees. To such extent as legally permissible, the author waives his or her right to collect royalties relative to the article in respect of any use of the article by This agreement can be terminated by the International Journal of Management, Entrepreneurship, Social Science and Humanities upon two months’ notice where the other party has materially breached this agreement and failed to remedy such breach within a month of being given the terminating party’s notice requesting such breach to be remedied. No breach or violation of this agreement will cause this agreement or any license granted in it to terminate automatically or affect the definition of International Journal of Management, Entrepreneurship, Social Science and Humanities or its sublicensee.
8. Miscellaneous
International Journal of Management, Entrepreneurship, Social Science and Humanities will publish the article (or have it published) in the journal if the article’s editorial process is successfully completed and International Journal of Management, Entrepreneurship, Social Science and Humanities or its sublicensee has become obligated to have the article International Journal of Management, Entrepreneurship, Social Science and Humanities may conform the article to a style of punctuation, spelling, capitalization, referencing and usage that it deems appropriate. The author acknowledges that the article may be published so that it will be publicly accessible and such access will be free of charge for the readers.