Abstract
The article explores the effect of polictical involvement in financial management in South African local government drawing on a case study of a local municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. Data for this study was collected by way of a mixed-method data collection approach. The quantitative part used a questionnaire survey with purposively selected participants (N=110) from the local municipality and 10 in-depth interviews. The findings reveal that while political oversight is supported by bureaucrats there seems to be latent as well as overt conflict between politicians and administrators regarding resources management at local government level. In some cases, the conflicts seem to emerge from political appointees influencing the management which is not consistent with the national and municipal financial legislation and related regulations. These findings have profound implications for financial management at the local government level. In view of the available legislation, the mayor’s office and the municipal manager and other appointed office-bearers should have well-defined roles on paper and in practice.