Msweli, PumelaFuchs, Jody2018-08-292018-08-292018695889http://hdl.handle.net/10321/3111Submitted in fulfillment for the requirements of the Masters in Technology: Human Resources Management, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2018.Competent governance is an imperative driver of great organizations. However it appears that in South Africa, incompetent governance is making a significant contribution to social fragmentation and economic decline. This study builds a new theory for competent governance using a competency-based positivist theoretical paradigm. The ubiquitous competency theory was first postulated by the illustrious Harvard Psychologist David McClelland in 1973. Contemporary management sciences use competency-based management for strategic configuration. Competency-based strategic configuration promotes effective and superior governance by aligning human resources to the business strategy. The case study design utilizes a quantitative methodology to collect data from a theoretically selected sample of middle and executive managers at the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The conceptual domain for competent governance is identified in the literature review chapter. An electronic survey with seventy-nine items was conducted on a sample of middle and executive managers in the municipality. Two criterion referenced correlation matrices indicated satisfactory predictive validity. Factor analysis with Promax Rotation in IBM’s SPSS version 24 yielded a new theory for competent governance. Cronbach Alpha reliability testing indicated that the results were dependable. Fuchs’s Competent Governance Theory makes the assumption that competent governance has two criterion-referenced constructual frameworks, five conceptual frameworks, and a dictionary of competencies that measure superior- and effective-governance.210 penMunicipal services--South AfricaMunicipal government--Officials and employeesLocal government--South AfricaThesishttps://doi.org/10.51415/10321/3111