LOCAL GOVERNMENT

& SERVICE DELIVERY

THEME TEN
CHAPTER OUTCOMES

• Contextualise the current local government sphere of a developing South Africa

• Identify & understand the nature, extent & complexity of different public services
rendered by local government
• Understand some specific South African realities, challenges & dynamics relevant to the
local government sphere
INTRODUCTION

• Municipalities are the most basic units of government in the country and are tasked with
providing basic services and fostering development in the regions they control.
• Local government in South Africa is largely understood in terms of service delivery and
the South African constitution (Act No. 108 of 1996) assigns municipalities the role to
mobilise economic resources towards the improvement of the lives of all citizens.
• Basic services are the fundamental building blocks of improved quality of life, and
adequate supplies of safe water and adequate sanitation are necessary for life, well-being
and human dignity.
 STATUS QUO OF MUNICIPAL SERVICE DELIVERY

• Tremendous progress has been made over the past few decades in the delivery of basic services.
• The Community Survey 2016 found that 89,8% of households used piped water, that 63,4% used flush toilets connected
to either the public sewerage or to a local septic system, that 63,9% of households receive refuse removal services, and
finally, that 87,6% of households had access to electricity.
• These headline figures, however, hide a lot of variation across provinces, district councils and between local
municipalities. Households living in rural municipalities usually have access to far less, and usually also more inferior
services to those living in wealthier, particularly more urban municipalities.
• Although the reasons for the existence of backlogs differ by service and between municipalities, part of the reason relate
to the legacy of unequal development which still haunt former homeland areas, high levels of poverty that limit
households’ ability to pay for services, as well as the practical constraints of extending services to far off rural areas or
densely populated informal areas at great expense to the local municipality.
STATUS QUO OF MUNICIPAL SERVICE DELIVERY

• Although household perceptions of the services they receive vary greatly between municipalities,
households in metropolitan municipalities are generally more satisfied than those in smaller
municipalities, particularly rural municipalities.
• A simple correlation between municipal poverty headcounts and the available infrastructure shows a
strong positive relationship.
• The relationship between household satisfaction with basic services and the quality of infrastructure can
also be expressed as a strong positive correlation, meaning that poor households with inadequate access
to services are most likely to be dissatisfied with those services. The Community Survey report finally
found that 75% of households in South Africa did not belief that municipalities were actively addressing
the issues they felt was most important for households in their respective municipalities.
 DEFINITION OF TERMS

• Service delivery – this is the provision of public activities, benefits or satisfactions. Services relate both to
provision of tangible public goods & to intangible services themselves.
• Basic municipal service – this is a municipal service that is necessary to ensure an acceptable & reasonable
quality of life and if not provided, would endanger public health or safety or the environment.
• Municipal service – is a service that a municipality in terms of its powers & functions provides or may provide to
or for the benefits of its responsibility are irrespective of whether such a service is provided through an internal or
external mechanism.
• Municipal services must be equitable & accessible, be provided in a manner that is conducive to the prudent,
economic, efficient & effective use of available resources.
 NATURE & EXTENT OF TYPICAL MUNICIPAL
SERVICES
• Part B of Schedule 4&5 of the Constitution stipulate that the municipalities are responsible for the regulation,
management & provision of the following key municipal services within their respective demarcated
geographical areas:
 licensing & control of undertaking that sell food to the public; sport facilities; libraries & community facilities;
local tourism; municipal abattoirs; markets; municipal health services; municipal parks & recreation; municipal
planning; municipal public transport; municipal roads; municipal pounds; prevention of air pollution; refuse
removal; storm water management system; street lighting; trade regulations; traffic & parking control; water &
sanitation services
 NATURE & EXTENT OF TYPICAL MUNICIPAL
SERVICES
Municipal Council
Municipal Manager
Shared Services (Executive Infrastructure (Executive Socio-economic development (Executive
Director) Director) Director)
Corporate Services (Director) Integrated environmental Community Services
Legal & Properties; IT; Administrative services management Social development, Sport & recreation
Parks management, Integrated waste,
Environmental
Human Resource Management Housing & Land Local economic development
(Director) Housing provision projects SMME development, rural & urban development
Human resources; Occupational development &
training

Financial Services (Director) Waste & sanitation Rural development & tourism
Financial management, Treasury & assets, Water & sanitation, water waste, scientific Tourism, rural development
Revenue & valuations, Supply Chain services
Management

Infrastructure management Public safety

Fleet management, Electricity, Building Crime prevention, law enforcement, VIP & secretarial services,
 THE REALITIES OF SERVICE DELIVERY

• It is clear that municipalities has clarity on its place & role in the government’s attempt to improve the nature & extent of basic
public services at the grassroots level.
• But what is actually happening at the implementation level? How is it still possible that the actual reality of established public
infrastructural services & development can be in such significant contrast within the same municipality’s responsibility area?
• Many challenges confront municipalities if they are to continue as engines of global connectivity & national growth. These
challenges include:
 the country is now part of the global village &, through modern communication technology, it is within continuous reach of
other countries & has to maintain optimal transparency. There are new pressures on municipalities to compete for investments
with other cities & municipalities in the immediate surrounding area, province & country. As foreign investors look for new
sites, municipalities will have to offer increasingly sophisticated telecommunications & freight infrastructure, desirable quality
of life & a pool of highly skilled workers.
 THE REALITIES OF SERVICE DELIVERY

 there is a regional sphere, where South African cities are experiencing substantial population influxes as people
move there from rural areas & from other parts of the sub-continent. While urbanization is a basic precondition
for growth, its does not necessarily guarantee development.
 In the local sphere, municipalities are also experiencing new pressures as the process of devolution of authority
to render specific public services at various geographically dispersed localities places increasing responsibilities
on municipalities to: deliver rural & urban services; meet national growth priorities; ensure that each & every
neighborhood, community & neighboring rural establishment offers citizens a brighter urban & rural life &
future.
 The nature of the public services provided at the municipal sphere is influenced by various external & internal
factors such as the physical, political, demographical, financial & social environment
 THE REALITIES OF SERVICE DELIVERY

 To facilitate an improved municipal management of water-related public services in a developmental state, the macro-
planning & structuring of municipal services should be done in a more holistic & integrated attempts.
 the nature of the demographical realities of the country also hampers effective development in so far as the
geographically dispersed population makes it difficult for the country’s macro planners to carry out reliable population
censuses & come up with the correct statistics needed to plan effectively for short-, medium- & long term
 The social environment of the developing country is characterized by immense differences between developed &
underdeveloped sections of the society
 Issue of density if one determinant of the effective development of successful municipalities. Low-density especial in the
rural areas are problematic, among other things, in that there are vast distances between neighbourhood, forcing residents
to rely on motorized transport, inefficient land utilization patterns, & high costs for municipalities , who are obliged to
deliver services to far-flung areas.
SERVICE DELIVERY IMPROVEMENT
STRATEGIES, PROGRAMMES &
RECOMMENDATIONS
• The overarching principle that, it is hoped, will radically improve municipal service delivery is the
movement away from the concept of government to what has been known as co-operative
governance.
• Co-operative governance in the municipal context refers to how a city community organizes itself,
determine its priorities, allocate resources, select who has a voice, & holds public office-bearers to
account.
• Effective & efficient local co-operative governance consists of a complex set of relationships among
all three spheres of government, business & the community. This requires a shift away from a state-
centred perspective to include civic organisations, private sector institutions, community groups &
social movements in the sharing of power
 IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES & PROGRAMMES

• Various key role players have come to the fore in the government’s quest to improve the standard of public service delivery in the
country.
• For example: Department of Water & Sanitation is the custodian of South Africa’s water & the lead national department in the
water supply & sanitation sectors. Department of Co-operative Governance & Traditional Affairs which takes primary
responsibility for enabling sustainable municipal capacity, and improving the co-ordination & monitoring of the provision.
Department of Health which coordinates all aspects regarding public health. Department of Human Settlements which establishes
standards for public housing development. Department of Public Works acts as the implementing agent on behalf of national &
provincial government when schools & clinics are constructed.
• To facilitate & maintain improved public services, more effective intra-, inter, & extra-governmental relations are essential.
• The key players must therefore strive to maintain positive & highly co-ordinated relationships within & among themselves,
between themselves & other similar public sector institutions, with institutions & other individuals outside the specific
institutions
 IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES & PROGRAMMES

• To assist with these crucial governmental relations, Multi-Purpose Community Centres (MPCCs) have been identified as
the primary vehicle for implementation of development communication & information programmes, as they serve as a
base from which a wide range of public services can reach communities more effectively.
• The MPCC approach is seen as a response to the particular historical, social & economic factors that characterized
freedom of access to information & citizen participation
• MPCCs are defined as those centres that have at least six government departments offering services to the people who live
close by.
• MPCCs have been identified as the primary approach for the implementation of development communication and
information programmes.
• MPCCs help the Government Communication & Information System with providing development communication &
information to the members of the public.
IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES & PROGRAMMES

• Another useful vehicle to improve service delivery has been through the creation of
formal partnerships between public & private sector institutions.
• Such partnerships might be a way for a municipality to ‘take on board’ a partner who can
provide the capital, expertise & technology that the municipality does not possess or
cannot attain.
 RECOMMENDATIONS

• External issues – recommended that the political office-bearers & senior officials be given continuous professional
leadership training.
• Improving organizational structure & planning – provincial sphere be merged into national & local spheres, and the
functions & legislative authority of municipalities increased to bring about more effective & efficient ‘greater city
government’
• To improve coordination – key stakeholders should liaise more freely with each other to learn from each other &
strengthen their coordinated attempts.
• Internal aspects of its operations – thorough SWOT analysis, skills and resources audit be carried out.
• Improved access to service delivery buildings & services, & holistic approach to effective customer care, should be
arranged.