Challenges of Service Delivery in South Africa: A case of Gert Sibande District Municipality

Abstract

Protests for basic services in South Africa are a relatively new phenomenon. Noticeably, they now happen almost on a daily basis. The manner in which they manifest is at times worrisome. Under the new political dispensation after 1994, South Africa has seen an unprecedented mushrooming of protests for services. Like other provinces across the country, Mpumalanga Province was also hit by the protests for services between 2004 and 2010. Since 2008, Gert Sibande District Municipality has experienced more intensified protests for service delivery, wherein communities were mobilized and marched to various local municipalities demanding improved services by these municipalities. The study aimed to establish some of the sources of these protests, their trends and their impact with the view to propose some solutions. To achieve this goal, the study used document analysis and empirical data obtained through interviews. Firstly, the study provides a historical background and overview of the three municipalities which fall under Gert Sibande District Municipality, namely: Msukaligwa, Mkhondo and Dr. Pixley Ka Isaka Seme. It further investigates the causes of violent protests for services in these municipalities. Attention is given to various pieces of legislation that establishes Local Government in South Africa. The socio-economic conditions of the three municipalities are also examined. The key findings from the interviews that were conducted pointed out factors that gave rise to the violent protests at the three municipalities. Amongst them was that the protests were politically motivated. Some were caused by lack of resource allocation and lack of human capacity to deliver services, lack of the political will by both the political and government representatives to deliver on their mandate, as well as the criminal elements that hijacked the protests. It is the mandate of government to deliver quality services to the people uninterrupted as prescribed by the Constitution. This will minimise the ongoing protest for services in the country.