Service delivery protests in municipalities with specific reference to the Grabouw district in the Western Cape

Abstract

Service delivery protesting is currently an enormous problem in South Africa. Communities are dissatisfied with government services and instigate protests due to the lack of service delivery. This study investigates service delivery protests in municipalities, with specific reference to the Grabouw District in the Western Cape. In Grabouw, protests have taken place due to a lack of basic services, poor infrastructure, a lack of housing, nepotism and corruption. The government faces numerous challenges due to these protests. The aim of this research project is to analyse the causes of service delivery protests in the Theewaterskloof (TWK) Municipality in the Grabouw region. The major problem is that communities are dissatisfied with the quality of services delivered to them by the municipality. Most municipalities, especially TWK Municipality, struggle to provide services due to not having enough equipment or tools. The study aims to conceptualise service delivery within a specific region in the Western Cape as well as investigate the reasons behind these protests. Furthermore, strategies and mechanisms are identified in this study to help municipalities to improve the delivery of services. In this study, a quantitative methodology is used to collect data and analyse the findings. An empirical study is done by securing major findings from the data analysis derived from the research questionnaire. Thus, a questionnaire was designed and distributed amongst the employees of the TWK Municipality in the Grabouw District. The findings of the questionnaire are displayed in chart and tabular form. This project makes recommendations against the problems highlighted in the empirical study so that TWK Municipality can use or implement the recommendations to stop service delivery protests. The main finding is that the reasons why communities were protesting in the Grabouw region was because of the dissatisfaction about the provision of services and therefore, the main recommendation is that, the provision of housing needs a structured approach in order to resolve the problem. The specific municipality needs to engage with Department of Human Settlements (DoHS) to clearly review the needs of the municipality. Regular engagement sessions need to be arranged and progress needs to be monitored.