The stability of any region or constituency is largely dependent upon the leadership prevailing at the time. Different styles of leadership have been observed, but studies have not adequately assessed the most appropriate leadership style for efficient service delivery at municipalities in South Africa. Although it has been more than twenty years since the adoption of the Constitution of South Africa, some citizens still find themselves without basic services such as electricity, water and sanitation. Consequently, service delivery protests increase in number and intensity across the provinces of South Africa. This study was conducted to determine leadership competency and its impact on service delivery in the Bufalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) in the Eastern Cape. The study examined transformational leadership and, secondarily, how each sub-dimension of leadership (idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectua