In 2001 the Department of Provincial and Local Government decided to strengthen its research capacity on governance and development by establishing a Research Directorate. Some of the products of this Directorate were the production of the Research Bulletin, the conducting of research studies and the drafting of articles or papers.

1. Research Bulletin

One of the main objectives of the Research Bulletin is to inform staff of the Department, provincial departments of local government, municipalities, academics and relevant members of Parliament of programmes of DPLG in respect of governance and development. Two issues of the Bulletin can be accessed, namely that of October 2001 and July 2002.

2. Research studies

Some of the research studies conducted were an impact study on municipal service partnerships and a monitoring and evaluation study. 

Impact study on municipal service partnerships

Shikanda Business Solutions was awarded a tender to carry out an impact study on municipal service partnerships for the Department of Provincial and Local Government. A report was submitted on 15 March 2002.

A broad overview was provided with regard to the Municipal Service Partnerships in terms of, amongst others, regulatory legislation, current constraints, problems and concerns experienced by municipalities, Integrated Development Plans, norms and standards, the MIIU, the capacity building programme, types of service partnerships and lessons learned from the international arena.
This assessment furthermore investigated various existing Municipal Service Partnerships by means of interviews that were conducted with the selected municipalities and service providers. The Municipal Service Partnerships that were investigated were Dolphin Coast, Nelspruit, Thabazimbi, Queenstown, Fort Beaufort and Pietermaritzburg. In each case, the background to the Service Partnership was established, the description of the partner provided and the contractual agreement discussed.
Monitoring and Evaluation study

The Monitoring and Evaluation study was conducted in order to achieve an understanding of the progress with, and impact of, service delivery across the country through focussing on government anti-poverty programmes. The report of the study conducted by MXA/S&T/Khanya research consortium was completed in March 2001.