Appropriating Digital Citizen Engagement in Resource Constrained Local Government Service Delivery: A Case Study in South Africa

Author(s):  
Mwazvita Machiri ◽  
Caroline Pade-Khene
Author(s):  
Israel Tsatsire ◽  
John Derek Taylor ◽  
Kishore Raga

In this article, the new developmental mandate as s igned to local government is reviewed using the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (hereafter referred to as the NMBM) as a case study. The concept of developmental local government is of cardinal importance as it imposes additional specific obligations on municipal councils. In addition, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (hereafter referred to as the Constitution) requires local government to render quality, affordable and sustainable basic services. Therefore, councillors are now required to meet specific Constitutional and other developmental legislative prescriptions pertaining to their communities and areas of jurisdiction.An empirical survey was conducted at the NMBM to test selected senior officials and councillors’ attitudinal responses to service delivery and the new developmental mandate as s igned to local government. The survey intended to es tabl ish whether there was institutional capacity to enhance basic service delivery. These findings are elaborated upon in this article.


Author(s):  
S. L. Sithole ◽  
Ntsako S. Mathonsi

The debate on service delivery and governance takes a centre stage across disciplines, schools of thought, countries, and in all platforms where people are able to raise their views othe two subjects. According to scholars and analysts, service delivery and <br />governance are closely related, and in many forms of government, service delivery occurs at the lower sphere which is the sphere closer to communities. TheSouth African context can serve as an exact scenario of this model. This makes local government to be a very important subject on matters of service delivery. South Africa has an interesting history that makes scholars, analysts, commentaries, and media companies worldwide to always keep a close eye on what happens in the country. This becomes clear from the analysis which makes the country to be theorised as a colonisation of a special type. It therefore becomes inevitable to consider the antecedents that shaped the manner in which governance and service delivery were mapped out in South Africa. This paper serves as analysis of local government and service delivery both in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa.


Author(s):  
Purshottama Sivanarain Reddy

The ongoing political-administrative dichotomy discourse, which is steeped in public administration history, manifests in uncertainty about how the relationship between politicians and administrative officials should be structured. South Africa was democratized in 1994 and local government has subsequently undergone a fundamental socio-political transformation. “World class” local government legislation, with an entrenched constitutional development mandate, was introduced; however, the large numbers of public protests bear ample testimony to major challenges in basic service delivery. A critical issue impacting negatively on the functionality of the post-1994 local government dispensation is the political-administrative interface. The National Development Plan has mapped out a socio-economic vision to 2030, with stabilization of the political-administrative interface a priority. Consequently, the political-administrative interface has to be critically reviewed relative to the quality of local democracy, impact on efficient and effective service delivery, and good local governance.


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