Tracing a decade of drafting, reviewing and assessing integrated development plans in KwaZulu-Natal: Some key reflections

Abstract

The next decade of planning in South African municipalities under democracy hasdawned. The previous decade was characterised by drafting, reviewing and assessingoutcomes of Integrated Development Plans (IDPs). Through the Local GovernmentMunicipal Systems Act, 32 of 2000 and Sections 152/3 of the South African Constitution,1996, local government is responsible for development processes and municipalplanning. It requires from municipalities to formulate and review IDPs. Two "generations"of IDPs were drafted and reviewed from 2001 to 2011 by KwaZulu-Natal municipalities.The Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) andits predecessors evaluated and measured legal compliance of drafting, approvaland submission processes. Identification of factors critical to planning, observationsand recommendations for IDPs, are captured in this article. Direction, formulation andevaluation of third-generation IDPs for periods 2012/13 to 2016/17 municipal financialyears is a focus of this article. The article also examines compliance, by focusing onquality and improvement of IDPs.