Developmental local governance and service delivery in South Africa: Progress, achievements and challenges

Abstract

With the advent of a political democratic dispensation in 1994, the South African Government faced a host of daunting developmental challenges inherited from the apartheid regime. Local government, which constitutes the third sphere of governance in South Africa, has been mandated by the Constitution to address Apartheid era-induced inequalities and facilitate local socioeconomic development amongst the previously disadvantaged black majority. This paper reviews the progress, achievements and challenges faced by the South African regime in its attempt to facilitate access to basic social services and to reduce poverty among the previously disadvantaged majority. It outlines the socioeconomic profile and local governance legislative policy frameworks, and explains the institutional arrangements established to facilitate and anchor effective service  delivery, as well as to integrate the “voice” of local communities. The paper also considers the issue of basic social service delivery and analyses reasons for the widespread municipal service delivery protests. The paper makes  the conclusion that the recurrent widespread, violent and  increasingly xenophobic municipal service delivery protests, are indicative of the fact that, despite the progress made in the past seventeen years in terms of establishing the policy framework and institutional structures to effectively facilitate socioeconomic development and address bottlenecks to accessing basic social services and fighting poverty, enormous challenges still remain at local governance level.

Keywords: Local governance, service delivery, developmental, South Africa, protests, poverty