Service Delivery for Rural Communities


 


 


The evolving government in South Africa engages in local development and


 service delivery by way of a decentralized system with strong community


support. It concentrates on speed and delivery in dealing with the remnants of


apartheid, the struggle against which has also left a legacy of community-based


organizing and a significant civil society sector, where blacks and women play a


critical role.[1]


 


However, there is a disconnect  between community-based development and


community-driven development (CDD), where communities control the


identification of projects, due to the local government’s use of ward committees in


community involvement. These are not independent bodies and have no budgets


for their initiatives.[2]


 


Municipalities in South Africa are mandated to have policies and institutional


frameworks that support and sustain local development that is in line toward


achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and basic rights of the


people. Local government officials must promote good governance by performing


their duties with efficiency, transparency and accountability.[3]


 


Local governments must coordinate to realize several goals which include


eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, installing universal primary education,


practicing gender equality, decreasing child mortality and fighting human


immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS),


malaria and other diseases.[4]


 


Since 2004, people have gone to the streets to protest the political leadership’s


inadequate response to community issues on the incompetence and corruption


of local governments, which reflects the crisis of local democracy. However,


municipalities cannot deliver services due to fiscal distress, a weak revenue base


and a shortage of the required skills for the job at hand.[5]


 


The following are recommendations to address the challenges of delivering


service to rural communities in South Africa:[6]


The public should be consulted and enjoined to participate on vital governance


issues, policy formulation and implementation.


Municipalities must review and upgrade their internal control systems to check


maladministration, financial mismanagement, fraud and corruption.


Transparency, accountability and openness to public scrutiny must be promoted


in local governments.


Municipalities must integrate the needs of the community in their budget allocations


and development programs.


Prevailing tensions between politics and administration must be resolved and made


sure not to compromise the delivery of service.


Fiscal allocations must be made according to the economic capabilities of different


municipalities to ensure uniform development.


The capacities of municipal officials must be built to make them render services


more effectively.


 


Moral renewal is needed in the country where the rich get richer and the poor get


poorer and it is important for civil society to address the failure of  government


service. These organizations are committed to the values of a moral society and


receive the support of local and foreign donors and ordinary workers.[7]


 



 


[1] David Everatt, Lulu Gwagwa, “Community Driven Development in South Africa, 1990-2004”,


Africa Region, Working Paper Series No. 92, October 2005,


<http://www.worldbank.org/afr/wps/wp92.pdf> [accessed 20 April 2011]


[2] ibid


[3] Idasa, “The State of Local Government and Service Delivery in South Africa: Issues, Challenges


and Solutions”, 22 January 2010 <www.pmg.org.za/files/docs/100204idasa.doc > [accessed 21 April 2011]


[4] ibid


[5] ibid


[6] ibid


[7] Shelagh Gastrow,“’Tis the Season of Promises”, service delivery, sa ngo net pulse,


<http://www.ngopulse.org/category/defined-tags/rural-development/service-delivery>


[accessed 21 April 2011]



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