Local Government and Service delivery PDF

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1. Local Government and Service DeliveryThe White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery (1997:10) maintains that public services are not a privilege in a civilized and democratic society, but they are a legitimate expectation. Service delivery is an essential function in the relation between...

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1. Local Government and Service Delivery The White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery (1997:10) maintains that public services are not a privilege in a civilized and democratic society, but they are a legitimate expectation. Service delivery is an essential function in the relation between government bodies and citizens. According to Eigema (2007:1), service delivery is the government’s key task of serving the communities. The best yardstick to measure government performance of good governance is through service delivery to the people. However, Municipal IQ Hotspot Monitor (2016:1-2) which argues that violent protests increased from representing 75% of all service delivery protests between 2004 and 2016 to 86% in 2016. This implies that the dissatisfaction of the communities to poor and lack of service delivery causes community strikes. This situation leaves one with an impression that the government is failing to deliver services to the people, especially at the local level. 1.1 DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS 1.1.1 Service Gabbortt and Hogg (1998:21) defines service as an activity or series of activities of more or less tangible and intangible nature that normally, but not necessarily, take place in interaction between the customer and the service employee. Fox and Meyer (1995:118) in Nealer (2007:148) argue that services relate to the provision of both tangible goods and intangible services. 1.1.2 Delivery The Integrated Management Development Program for Emerging Management, Course Manual (2003:58) maintains that the act of delivery is defined as producing or performing, handing over, taking goods to the intended recipient, or producing results as promised or expected. Delivery is also defined by the World Book Dictionary (1996:551) as an act of carrying and giving out something. In this study, delivery is understood to be the manner in which service can be given to the people. 1.1.3 Service delivery Service delivery is the provision of a product or service by a government to the community to which it was promised, or expected by that community (DPLG, 2007).

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Service delivery refers to meeting the needs of citizens, what members of the public request from government institutions, or the services that the government undertakes to supply to citizens in terms of their priorities (Bayat and Meyer 1994:73). 1.1.4 Municipality A municipality is one of the spheres of government which is closest to the people. Its main mandate is to provide developmental, social and political services, as well as a democratic and accountable governance to local communities. The provision of services to the citizens or members of public municipalities in South Africa is divided into three categories: A, B and C. These categories are outlined in Section 155 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996) and Section 42 of the Local Government Structures Act of 1998 (Act 117 of 1998). • Category A or Metropolitan Municipality - is a municipality that has exclusive municipal executive and legislative authority in its area. Example, City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. • Category B or Local Municipality – is a municipality that shares municipal executive and legislative authority in its area with a category C municipality within whose area it falls. Example, Greater Letaba Local Municipality. • Category C or District Municipality – is a municipality that has municipal executive and legislative authority in an area that includes more than one municipality. Example, Mopani District Municipality. Greater Letaba Local Municipality is one of the five local municipalities comprising Mopani District Municipality. 1.1.5 Municipal services According to Statistics South Africa (2016:1), providing municipal services to local residents is the main reason for the existence of local governments, and local governments are directed to provide: 

Water and sanitation services



Electricity



Municipal health services

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1.1.6. Municipal service delivery Municipal services are services that are funded with public money. This money is mainly obtained from the public who pay rates and taxes on the land they own and for municipal service deliveries, such as water supply, electrical supply, refuse removal, and sanitation services. In South Africa, these services are provided on a sliding scale with poor people paying less than wealthy ones. The State also allocates funds for certain basic requirements, but all of these come from public money. Service delivery entails distribution of basic resources citizens depend on, like water, electricity, sanitation infrastructure, land, and housing. Departments submit their budgets, planned service delivery programmes to the treasury, and funds are allocated to local governments for accountability and transparency (Office for Civil Society, 2014). The delivery of public services can take place through the state or on behalf of the state by a voluntary and community organisation (VCO) or a private sector company (Office for Civil Society, 2014). A public service delivery entails contracting (includes contract management and delivery of services after the contract has been awarded), commissioning (drawing up a list of services on demand and allocating them to providers), procuring (doing the shopping of goods and services from providers) and tendering (choosing the best or cheapest company to supply goods or services). All these processes enhance the execution of duties by the officials and allows fairness in provision of public services (Office for Civil Society, 2014; Bovaird & Downe, 2008). Bovaird and Downe (2008) conducted a survey of municipal officials across Africa (south, east, and central Africa) and reported that the public involvement in the process of public services leads to perceived better services. However, they did not research the possible causal links between any of the constructs on which effective service delivery is based. 1.2 SERVICES PROVIDED BY LOCAL MUNICIPALITY A municipal service means a service that is necessary to ensure an acceptable and reasonable quality of life and which, if not provided, would endanger public health or safety or the environment in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act of 2003. Therefore, following is a discussion of the services provided by local municipality: 1.2.1 Water supply Boshoff and Mazibuko (2008:14) states that local municipalities are important role players in service delivery. Roux (2005:69) agrees with this statement by stating that being the government closest to the people, it is to be expected that a core function of municipalities is

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the rendering of a variety of basic but essential services to the community within its jurisdiction. According to COGTA (2009:6), the concept of basic needs or basic services involves the provision of water. The provision of water services is a municipal competence in terms of Part B of Schedule 4 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996). In this regard, the mandate of local municipalities, according to the Chapter 2 of the Bill of Rights in the 1996 Constitution is to ensure that the service deliveries for which it is responsible satisfy citizens’ basic needs and these include water supply. It is also people’s socio-economic rights to receive the provision of basic services such as water from the local municipalities. Therefore, basic level of service is defined as that level of service considered ensuring or meeting requirements of health and safety. This means that people should be provided with clean water so that their health can be maintained. To illustrate, in the case of water, a basic level of water provision will mean that there are at least communal standpipes. The intermediate level of service will mean there is a yard tap; full service means that the recipient has in-house running water (Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG), Service Backlogs Report 2001:6). However, the efficient, effective and economic provision of services depends on how successful local municipalities executed their functions. Before a local municipality physically renders a service to society, a variety of functions are carried out (Du Toit and Van der Waldt 1999:72). Before there is water in the tap, actions must have been carried out, e.g. planning, preparing a business plan and drawing up a budget, the laying of pipelines, and others. Cloete (1997:100) argues that when a new town is founded, fountains, streams, boreholes and wells could initially provide sufficient water for the limited number of residents. However, as the numbers of residents grow, a communal water supply scheme becomes essential. The goal should not be only to supply sufficient water, but prevention of diseases is essential. When the town expands, it has to find funds for establishing reservoirs, purification works and a water reticulation system. Gildenhuys (1997:22) supports this viewpoint by pointing out that water supply activities include the construction and maintenance of bulk water supply, construction and maintenance of water reticulation networks and supplying water connections to individual consumers. Cloete (1997:100) further contends that as water is a matter of national concern it is obvious that Parliament must issue directives on water. The Water Act, 1956 (Act 54 of 1956) prescribes the requirements to be met when constructing water schemes, but the act also provides that water works constructed by local authorities may be subsidized. In terms of the provisions of the act and of relevant legislation, municipalities constructed their own dams or boreholes to supply water. 4

According to national regulations, everyone has the right to a minimum basic water supply (Water Services Act, Regulations Relating to Compulsory National Standards and Measures to Conserve Water (GN 22355 of 8 June 2001). According to regulation 3(b), the minimum supply for basic water is a minimum amount of 25 litres per person per day or 6 000 litres (6 kilolitres) per household per month (a household is defined as everyone living on one stand) at a minimum flow rate of not less than 10 litres per minute within 200 metres of a household and with an effectiveness such that no consumer is without a supply for more than seven full days in any year. Therefore, as cited in the 1996 Constitution, municipalities have a developmental role that they must fulfil. Developmental local government is local government committed to working with citizens and groups within the community to find sustainable ways to meet their social, economic and material needs and improve the quality of their lives (Republic of South Africa, 1996, s. 153(ac)). Being a developmental municipality includes providing basic services to all South Africans, and improving the lives of those South Africans living in poverty. The delivery of basic services greatly assists in poverty eradication and community development. Local municipalities are now also expected to render limited free basic services. For example, basic water as 6000 litres (6kl) per household per month to communities who cannot afford to pay for municipal services, as per the 2000 Election Manifesto of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) government. This Manifesto views access to basic services as universal

and

a

constitutional

requirement

(http://www.info.gov.za/speeches/2.htm,

accessed: 18/08/2017). 1.2.2 Sanitation service Local municipalities are generally under an obligation to ensure the provision of public services, including sanitation, to their residents. Management of sanitation services is typically carried out within a dedicated municipal department, or at times through a separate water board. In this regard, a basic sanitation service refers to the provision of a basic sanitation facility which is easily accessible to a household, and the sustainable operation

of

the

facility. This

includes

the

safe

removal

wastewater from the premises where this is appropriate and

of

human waste and

necessary,

and

the

communication of good sanitation, hygiene and related practices (DWAF, 2003:10). This guide refers to domestic household sanitation and to a limited degree, institutional sanitation i.e. access to toilets in homes, schools and clinics. Therefore, it is people’s right to receive sanitation services from the local municipality. This is because the right to sanitation has been affirmed internationally.

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Consequently in July 2010, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly passed a resolution declaring the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights. In September 2010, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) reaffirmed this with a resolution confirming the right to sanitation as legally binding in international law. However, there is no right to sanitation in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996), but it is part of the right to basic municipal services in Section 73 of the Municipal Systems Act. And it is protected by Regulation 2 of the Water Services Act, Regulations Relating to Compulsory National Standards and Measures to Conserve Water (GN 22355 of 8 June 2001), which states that the minimum standard for basic sanitation services is a toilet that is safe, reliable, environmentally sound, easy to keep clean, provides privacy and protection against the weather, well ventilated, keeps smells to a minimum and prevents the entry and exit of flies and other disease-carrying pests. Similarly, in their 1998 evaluation of three large study areas of sanitation interventions, Dunstan and Associates (1998:45) found that the local authorities interviewed, define sanitation, almost universally, as toilets (Dunstan et al., 1998:45). Therefore, there is a Free Basic Sanitation (FBSan) policy in South Africa, and municipalities are mandated to implement this policy and ensure every household has access to basic sanitation, as per the Constitution, Water Services Act and Municipal Systems Act. In 2009, a FBSan Implementation Strategy was published to assist municipalities fulfil this obligation. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), improved sanitation reduces diarrhoea death rates by a third, encourages children, particularly girls, to stay in school, and has persuasive economic benefits. Every US$1 invested in improved sanitation, translates into an average return of US$9.24. 1.2.3 Bulk supply of electricity Cloete (1997:101) maintains that before the end of the nineteenth century a small number of local authorities already generated electricity. A considerable number of municipalities in South Africa eventually had their own power stations. After the Electricity Supply Commission (ESKOM) had been established in terms of the provisions of the Electricity Act, 1922 (Act 42 of 1922), more and more local authorities decided to buy electricity in bulk from ESKOM now functioning in terms of the provisions of the Eskom Act, 1987 (Act 40 of 1987), and resell it to the residents. Local authorities normally make a profit on electricity sales and this enables them to supplement their income from taxation for the rendering of necessary but unprofitable services. Therefore, bulk supply of electricity, which includes for the purposes of such supply, the transmission, distribution and, where applicable, the generation 6

of electricity, and also the regulation, control and maintenance of the electricity reticulation network, tariff policies, monitoring of the operation of the facilities for adherence to standards and registration requirements, and any other matter pertaining to the provision of electricity in the municipal areas. Similarly, Gildenhuys (1997:20) asserts that electricity supply activities include the provision and maintenance of an electricity supply network; building and maintaining high and low voltage conductors; building and maintaining substations; inspection of electrical wiring of buildings and supply and maintenance of streetlights. There is no right to electricity in the 1996 Constitution, but there is a right to basic municipal services in Section 73 of the Municipal Systems Act and therefore the right to basic municipal services includes electricity. In this regard, according to the 2000 Election Manifesto of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) government, local municipalities render limited free basic services such as basic electricity as 50 kilowatt hours per household per month to communities who cannot afford to pay for municipal services. 1.2.4 Provision of municipal health services According to Cloete (1997:102), local municipalities are the obvious institutions for rendering community health services. As has already been indicated, the local municipalities must render specified services to prevent the development of unhygienic conditions in the municipal areas. With the influenza epidemic of 1918 it became clear that the measures then in force to combat the outbreak of contagious diseases were unsatisfactory. Therefore Parliament passed the extensive Public Health Act, 1919 (Act 36 of 1919), entrusting specific health services to the local municipalities. The Health Act, 1977 (Act 63 of 1977), repealed the Act of 1919. In terms of Section 20 of the Health Act, 1977( Act 63 of 1977), it is the responsibility of local municipalities to keep areas under their control in an hygienic and clean condition and to provide prescribed environmental services. If a local municipality fails to provide prescribed services the Minister of Health, after consultation with the relevant provincial authority, can relieve the local municipality of its duty to provide health services. Cloete (1997:102) further contends that the Department of Health may then render the services concerned and recover the cost from the local municipality. If the Minister of Health deems it necessary, a local municipality must appoint a medical officer and health inspectors for its area. The Act prescribes the duties of the medical officer and the local municipality cannot dismiss him without the minister’s consent. To enable local municipalities to appoint the required health personnel, the Department of Health subsidizes the remuneration of the personnel involved. There are other acts on health matters and their provisions require local municipalities to undertake specific functions; for example, the Atmospheric Pollution 7

Prevention Act, 1965 (Act 45 of 1965), and the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act 54 of 1972). Cloete (1997:102) furthermore points out that it is clear that local municipalities in their areas play a significant role in maintaining the health of the citizens. In addition to the health services referred to, local municipalities have a host of other functions related to health; namely, preventing the erection of poor quality houses, clearance of slums, layout and maintenance of parks and sport grounds, and control over the keeping of animals in urbanized areas. Provision of municipal health services by local municipalities plays a significant role in promoting and improving the general welfare of the communities. Gildenhuys (1997:19) confirms this statement by declaring that municipal health services include the provision and maintenance of clinics; mobile clinics; prenatal and post-natal care; inoculation against contagious diseases; birth control; rehabilitation of drug addicts; nutrition of the malnourished among the indigent; medication and fighting Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) (Gildenhuys 1997:19). 1.2.5 Provision of housing The housing delivery programme was started at the dawn of democracy and was launched under the negotiated housing policy in 1994 with the aim of addressing the backlog in housing provision. This is because when South Africa saw a new dawn of democracy in 1994, its citize...