Local government, pre - 1994 in South Africa was characterised by a strong top-down approach. There was little perceived need for gathering information or for directly involving the community in the process of governance. Information about the living conditions or opinions of the majority of the citizens was not required to inform policy directions. The official statistics produced were often of unknown representation and made it difficult to draw broader conclusions from their findings. The findings were often manipulated to reinforce and persuade international onlookers to a particular view of the country rather than to inform or provide feedback about the living conditions of the majority of the country's citizens. The state invested in information as a propaganda tool and as a result, the regime has left no legacy of monitoring the effectiveness of local government. Municipalities have undergone rigorous change following the