The municipal officials and political representatives leading the drive towards more effective forms of service delivery need to develop an overview of the national operating context. An understanding of the external operating context described in the preceding chapter requires the ability to understand the constraints and implications of the macro- economic and political context, the policy context, the legislative framework and the administrative context within the broader national and provincial government framework.
In those situations where the operating context is unfavourable, successful municipal representatives will have developed the ability to initiate change from below in order that they can formally pursue their partnership strategy. Alternatively, municipal officials may need to work within an unfavourable context by driving change locally and interpreting legislation to suit their own ends. In either case, municipal managers need a general overview of the context that affects their actions. This is not to say they need to have absorbed all the details of the operating context set out in Chapter 10, but there needs to be an awareness of the potential importance of the operating context, they need to understand the key determining factors, and must have access to detailed knowledge should they wish to explore new avenues. Within the organisation, there needs to be an understanding of what the barriers and opportunities are, what is possible, what is not possible and what can be facilitated.