Various allegations have been levelled against certain local authorities in South Africa. These allegations include poor governance, maladministration, corruption and poor service delivery. Some of the South African municipalities are unable to deliver sufficient services to the people due to financial instability. On the other side the fact that the municipalities have to generate their own revenue is no longer sufficient. However, government, both national and provincial has to support the municipalities in terms of their capacity to provide services. While government has to provide services to the people to ensure their welfare, people from local communities should also support the continuous provision of `these services by paying for municipal rates and services. These may include services such as water, refuse removal and electricity as well as property taxes. The main issue is that these services are not readily available, for instance water has to be purified. The situation at Mnquma Local Municipality as indicated in the financial and other reports is such that there is a very slow payment of rates and services, which leads to the municipality relying mostly on government grants, and this puts a heavy strain on service delivery by the municipality. Seemingly, it has been long that rates and services have not been paid in Butterworth-even before the restructuring of the municipality (i.e. before the Mnquma Municipality came into being). However, if alternatives could be found to enhance regular payment of rates and services the municipality might improve in terms of its capacity to deliver services.

Many have described South Africa as a protest-rich nation. Some have defended this high level of protest as an indication that this country has a functional democracy where peoples’ right to raise their dissatisfaction with government through protesting is protected. These protests take different forms, with some displaying signs of criminality where protesters vandalise private and public property, while others proceed peacefully. This project examines and interprets the dynamics and circumstances surrounding these events and processes through empirical research, and explores their relationship to development. This dissertation attempts to establish what motivates people to engage in these protests, to assess the impact and consequences of protests in South African local communities, and to assess whether the different forms of protest were effective in compelling government to address protesters' developmental demands. The research undertaken was of a qualitative nature, and the researcher sourced the information from community members and community leaders. As the process of collecting empirical data unfolded, it became clear that the Marianridge and Umlazi Z Section case studies presented in this dissertation indicated that developmental local government without public participation is ineffective.

The provision of adequate housing is an important part of government's commitment towards providing a better quality of life to the people of South Africa. Housing delivery is, however, not taking place to the extent and speed that will eliminate the backlog in housing delivery. The researcher aims to (i) evaluate and investigate the reasons why housing delivery at municipal level is slow, (ii) discuss the effect of inefficient implementation on delivery, (iii) examine the influence of the lack of infrastructure and the lack of skilled municipal officials and employees of construction organisations and the processes followed to make a success of housing delivery. Chapter 2, Section 26(1), Act 108 0f 1996 of the Constitution of South Africa states that everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing. This places an obligation on government to provide adequate housing to all citizens, within the restriction of available resources. The lack of land hampers the speed at which municipalities can deliver low-income housing. Housing and basic infrastructure (water, sewer and roads) form an integral part of the governments commitment to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of South Africans. The fact that municipalities do not have capacity to address housing delivery and the fact that most artisans are near retirement age also influence the rate that houses can be delivered. Adequate housing processes are needed for housing delivery to take place, without it government will not succeed in delivering adequate housing. The results of the survey and the literature review confirm that housing delivery at municipality level is slow, that municipal officials need training and more employees to insure that housing delivery improves. The results also show the importance of infrastructure and land, the importance of implementing housing policies and processes adequately.

Factors affecting the provision of water constitute a great challenge to water officials not only in Buffalo City Municipality but also globally. Interviews form the basic data collection instrument used to provide empirical evidence to the objectives of the study. The objectives of the study are: To evaluate the underlying challenges encountered by water sector Engineers; To evaluate the role of municipal water sector officials in the provision of clean water; To analyse the factors influencing the provision of water in Buffllo City Municipality. Recommendations are provided which could assist Buffalo City Municipality in addressing the challenges affecting the provision of water as follows: The involvement of national and provincial governments in order to improve the Buffalo City Municipal infrastructure and capacity building is highly recommended. Power failure and water interruptions caused by mechanical problems and natural disasters, are further municipal challenges that need to be addressed irrespective of financial constraints. Public and private sector sponsors can be approached to join the initiative. Informal settlements should be formalised and limited to a certain number of people per site or household, depending on the infrastructure. If the infrastructure is not conducive they should be relocated elsewhere. Public and private sector sponsors should offer assistance to Buffalo City Municipality to develop the required water skills, by financing water officials who are interested in furthering their education at tertiary level. Public consultation, through meetings and public forums, and public participation, by the street committees and police forums, are recommended. Coupon systems for basic services like water and electricity for all residents is highly recommended. A generator for the municipal water sector is needed. This will overcome the power failure problem. The provision of water is affected by power outages as water equipment needs electricity to be able to operate. Installation of a water plant in Buffalo City Municipality‟s main dam, the Maden dam, that is supposed to supply King Williams town and the surrounding areas directly.

After 1994, the democratic South Africa passed a number of legislations in order to address the imbalances of the previous apartheid regime. The new South African government had a special mandate to provide appropriate services to all the citizens of the country. In 1995 the government formulated the White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service. The aim was to transform the South African public service, which is the indication of the importance of service delivery, as the key machinery of the government to equalize service delivery to all citizens. In 1996, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa anchored the Bill of Rights as the cornerstone of democracy that enshrines the rights of all people and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom. Chapter ten of the Constitution stipulates the basic values and principles governing public administration. The South African Government has developed a wide range of legislation that ensures that communities are consulted on a continuous basis with regard to how services need to be rendered. Communities have a right to be consulted and to give input into issues affecting them. Public consultation as envisaged in the South African legislation has, however, not yielded the desired results which is evident in the spate of service delivery protests over poor or non-service delivery. Section 152(1) (e) of the constitution stipulates amongst others, promotes involvement of communities and community organisations in the matters of local government. Section 73 of the Municipal Structures Act (no.117 of 1998) also requires municipalities to establish ward committees in a manner that seeks to enhance participatory democracy at the local level. The study therefore is to check that decision-makers at the Chris Hani Municipality understand the consequences of their decisions before they act and people affected get the opportunity to participate in designing their future.

At the dawn of democracy, the ANC led government inherited an economy with wide spread socio-economic imbalances and geo-spatial challenges. Since 1994, policies have been put in place to try and close the gap between the haves and the have nots in society. It is twenty years on, and significant in-roads have been made towards improving the lives of the masses. Twenty years has not been enough time however, to eliminate the remnants of the oppressive regime. Since 2004, there has been a steady rise in the number of service delivery protests witnessed across the country. The masses of the poor are showing their dissatisfaction with the slow pace of change and development. Service delivery protests as they are known are community protests driven primarily by complaints around inadequate basic service provision. These protests have however been proven to be about a variety of other complaints against municipalities. These include: lack of proper housing, inadequate job opportunities, and allegations of nepotism, fraud and corruption against municipal officials and a general feeling of alienation from the structures of democracy. These inadequacies and frustrations are compounded in the case of informal settlements, where the most basic of services are scarce. The City of Johannesburg has one hundred and eighty four informal settlements, which present the city with major service provision challenges. A substantial amount of research has been done on the causes of service delivery protests and yet a gap exists in terms of literature on the impact of these on development. The main aim of this study was therefore to determine the impact of service delivery protests on development in the Zandspruit informal settlement. The research was carried out in the form of unstructured and semi-structured interviews with the Ward Councillor for Zandspruit (which is in Ward 114, Region C of the City of Johannesburg), the Ward Administrator, Ward Committee as well as members of the community. The findings of the study show a community in distress, with little or no access to basic services such as water and sanitation. The housing challenges in the area are representative of some of the worst housing challenges faced by the city. Lack of communication and a general distrust between the ward councillor and her ward committee make for very poor ward governance. The apparent apathy shown by the municipality is alarming. The pace of development in Zandspruit is incredibly slow, and not even the often violent service delivery protests witnessed in the area have improved the situation.

This study assesses service delivery challenges in Intsika Yethu Municipality with reference to water and electricity. This report presents the findings of a study conducted to identify the service delivery challenges related to the provision of basic services such as water and electricity, together with the recommendations on how these challenges can be resolved. This study was prompted by the huge number of backlogs experienced regarding water and electricity as well as complaints of non-service delivery and little understanding of the programme and plans within Intsika Yethu Municipality. The results of this study show that the communities do not fully participate in their development planning processes and they do not understand the purpose and existence of IDP document. The researcher hopes that this study will sensitise the community to participate in the affairs of their development that will change the quality of their lives. Intsika Yethu Municipality should improve their strategies and consultation structures in the implementation of water and electricity projects as well as the IDP processes.

The research analyses local participation as it is implemented within the Lilongwe District Council. The study explores decentralisation in the council by examining important facets that contribute to good local governance with a special interest in local participation. The study finds that while local participation is a recognized feature in the decentralisation policy, lack of proper involvement and integration has limited the efficacy of local participation. The neglect of government in conducting local government elections to have ward councillors in place is brought to the fore as a major setback to the implementation of decentralisation reforms. The study therefore notes that decentralisation must not be seen as just a policy goal, with the aim of shifting development to the communities, but as a policy instrument which aims to improve local democracy, efficiency and effectiveness in the provision of social services. In order to achieve this, the study proposes five key recommendations and a proposed model for the attainment of good governance in the Council.

Malawi is divided into three regions, namely: Southern, Central and Northern regions. Each Region has an independent Water Board owned by Government to supply it with portable water. The Constitution of the Republic of Malawi 1994, Chapter 3, Section 13 recognizes public trust and good governance as some of the fundamental principles of National Policy and thereby promised to introduce measures which will guarantee accountability, transparency, personal integrity and financial probity and which by virtue of their effectiveness will strengthen confidence in public institutions. In order to improve service delivery and fulfill the stated constitutional imperatives, the Malawi Government issued the following statement in 2008, one of our cardinal agenda is reform aimed at changing the way things are done in the public service so that it becomes more efficient and responsive to the needs of all Malawians. As a Government we realize that no matter how brilliant plans and development agenda can be, they will be frustrated unless major reforms are initiated and implemented to facilitate required changes to support the development process. Major changes are necessary in values, beliefs, norms, attitudes and mindsets to help create an enabling environment for the effective management of reforms across the public service. We need to move away from the business as usual type of attitude and fully account for time that we are paid for from public funds if we are to join the prosperous nations (National Framework for Public Sector Management Reform, June, 2008).

The study will account for the local state conflicts between several political parties governing the city of Cape Town in South Africa’s Western Cape Province, and the resulting effect on service delivery. These conflicts take the form of shifting political alliances (e.g., political floor crossing) and differing agendas about governing the city. The research statement is that the emerging conflicts between these political parties, particularly the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Independent Democrats (ID) and the recent local regime changes in the city have impacted on service delivery. Using urban regime theory, it seeks to explain how the two communities of Parkwood Estate and Ottery are governed and how these governing arrangements have operated with respect to ANC and DA control over the areas. In South Africa, while the politics of opposition between political parties has received much attention, especially at the national level, the role of these parties in service delivery at the local level has not received such consideration. With this in mind, this study attempts to contribute to an understanding of the association between local state politics and service delivery in Cape Town.