Staff attitudes to municipal reforms generally, and PPPs specifically, will fundamentally affect the way that new arrangements and systems are conceived, designed and implemented. One of the main problems concerning attitudes within a bureaucracy such as a municipality is a natural resistance to change in the status quo. As we have seen in Chapter 3, this resistance springs from a range of ideological, political, economic and financial reasons. In the context of partnerships focused on the poor, attitudinal change may be required to work with small-scale providers, and to include NGOs and the poor themselves.9 Thus the issue of attitudinal change becomes significantly more complex.
It is important to recognise that municipal attitudes are not uniform. Attitudes vary among stakeholders at the outset, ranging from the very supportive to the very cautious or resistant. They may also undergo significant change. Particular attitudes towards partnerships may be formed by groups or by individuals, and may be due to a number of factors, including:
• a lack of understanding about the nature, form and objective of partnerships;
• concern about loss of individual or departmental power and status;
• concern with losing control over resources; and
• concern for job loss or loss of existing employment terms and conditions.