Abstract
This study centres on the phenomenon of skills development for improved employee performance in South African local government. Such is hinged on the need to train and develop human capital capable of improving public service delivery by municipalities. Municipalities are the local sphere of government nearest to the people and tasked with developing local communities and delivering goods and services for improved living standards. This study explores skills development for improved employee performance in South African municipalities. This study was motivated by the need to expedite local government service delivery, which has been hampered by municipal employees' poor capacity and skills over the years. A qualitative desktop study was adopted, and various secondary documents were analysed to gather information. The human capital theory was used as a framework for the study. The findings show that most local government employees’ skills are not in tandem with the dictates of the current era. The study recommends interventions, among other things, improving local government skills development funding, adequately implementing monitoring and evaluation practices, developing soft skills for the current fourth industrial revolution era, and performing regular municipal skills audits.
Key Words: Employee performance, fourth industrial revolution, local government, service delivery, skills development, South Africa.