Service Delivery and Social Accountability in South Africa: Challenges and Community Organizations Context

Abstract

Service delivery has been and is still a challenge to be dealt with in South Africa. While social accountability is deemed to be an important aspect in the democratic South Africa that should drive service delivery. Hence, in a South African context, the service delivery is expected to be carried out by the public servant in line with the adherence of social accountability. Furthermore, South African public servants are impelled to abide with the democratically reformed and transformed public policies which open for transparency and social accountability. However, an assumption is made that public servants have multiply the overlooking of such aspects in service delivery. The paper then argues that the reasons to overlook social accountability in service delivery, particularly in rural areas, is mostly caused by the initiation of riots, barricades, strikes and protests among others in townships and urban areas. Such initiatives build up fear for public servants and result in skewing service delivery to townships and urban areas. The paper concludes that aspects such as silence in and unjust distribution of service delivery have always dictated the execution of public duties from the post-democratic era. As a result, the level of social accountability in rural and urban areas becomes patently unequal. Accordingly, the paper recommends the enforcing and adherence of policies and legislative frameworks of service delivery to avoid biasness. This is a conceptual paper; thus, it uses literature-based approach as its methodology. Within that context, the rapid and narrative literature review is employed for the purpose, crux and premise thereof