The role of community participation in the delivery of basic services: The case of the Thulamela Local Municipality

Abstract

The study sought to investigate the role of community participation in the delivery of basic services at the Thulamela Local Municipality Limpopo Province. Community participation is a concept meant to ensure that community members are an integral part of processes that determine their destiny in relation to their development needs. Community participation is a means of empowering people, by developing their skills and abilities, to enable them to negotiate and make appropriate decisions for their development. Basic services are the most important services that enable the public to live an acceptable and enjoyable life. Community members play an active role in the delivery of basic services by providing inputs related to the matters of the delivery of basic services. A healthy relationship between the communities and the municipality is an important element in the delivery of basic services to communities. This is evident in the role that communities play in the delivery of basic services, such as volunteering at agencies that are responsible for the delivery of basic services on behalf of the government and providing relevant inputs related to the delivery of basic services. In this study the researcher used a mixed research methodology in which both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were used. The reason for using the mixed method is that it can be combined in such a way that quantitative and qualitative methods retain their original structures and procedures. To achieve the objective of the study, non-probability sampling and its sub-type, purposive sampling method were used by the researcher to select the samples. For data collection, the researcher used two data collection methods namely, questionnaire and interview. The data collected through the questionnaire were analysed using statistical analysis through the computer software called: International Business Machinery (IBM): Statistical Product and Service Solution (SPSS) version 25.0 and the information was presented using graphical tabular form, frequencies, and percentages. The data collected through interview were analysed through thematic analysis and presented in narrative form. The major findings of the study are:  Involving communities in basic service delivery and empowering them has the potential to boost their livelihood and foster development.  The Municipality has an annual financial budget to deliver basic services.  Voluntarism by community members is allowed by the Municipality to enhance the delivery of basic services.  The absence of infrastructure such as roads and proper bridges hinder the relationship between the Municipality and the communities.  There is apathy in some communities due to poor basic service delivery as communities no longer interested to attend IDP meetings and in this regard, the Municipality should have tangible project to motivate community members to attend IDP meetings related to the delivery of basic services. The following recommendations are therefore made based on the findings of the study  The study recommends that the Municipality should involve community in basic service delivery and empower them to have potential to boost their livelihood and foster development.  The Municipality should have an annual plan related to the delivery of basic services to the communities.  It is recommended that Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) should be allowed to participate in enhancing the delivery of basic services.  Community members should be involved in the municipal decision making on the delivery of basic services.  The researcher recommends that the Municipality should fully interact with the community for effective service delivery.