Budget allocation and expenditure patterns of Sedibeng District municipality in Gauteng Province, South Africa

Abstract

In South Africa, municipalities were created as a tier of government to perform the role of addressing the backlog of service delivery created by the pre 1994 government. The purpose of this study is to determine the budget process of Sedibeng District municipality in Gauteng province of South Africa and also examine how this budget is allocated in terms of expenditure for effective delivery of services. For this study, quantitative research method was used which requires the researcher to base knowledge claims on collection of data to best understand the research problems. Data collection also involves gathering of numeric information so that the final base represents quantitative information. The empirical study consists of a structured questionnaire handed out to a sample population of forty (40) officials at Sedibeng District Municipality. The officials were asked to respond to questions on budget allocation, compilation and its effect on services delivery. The response gathered, were consistent with the Incrementalism theory of budgeting by Wildavsky (1964) but contrast in the area of expenditure. Cronbach’s Alpha (a statistical test used in order to generate internal consistency of the questionnaire) was used to measure the validity and reliability of data while analyses were done using regression analysis. The findings of the empirical investigation indicated that although the municipality claim to operate the incremental method of budgeting, the zero based method and trend analysis based method are used in certain sections of the budget which cause shortfall in service delivery. It is therefore recommended that the incrementalism theory be applied in every section of the municipality’s annual budget for effective service delivery.