Assessing the challenges that hinder the provision of services in Newcastle Local Municipality
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Date
2022-01-20
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Zululand
Abstract
One of the major challenges facing South African municipalities today is the
provision of services to the local communities in a sustainable manner. The main
focus of this study is therefore to assess the challenges that hinder the provision of
services in local government using the case of Newcastle Local Municipality
Qualitative research approach was employed in the study where data was collected
using in-depth interview. Non-Probability sampling was used and Purposive
sampling strategy was employed to select 1 key official of the municipality because
they are the ones who are responsible to provide services to the local communities.
Convenient sampling was employed to select 20 community members from different
wards within the municipality included 2 wards councillors and 1 which in total makes
23 participants of the study.
The results showed that corruption is one of the factors that cause challenges in the
delivery of services, which is the factor that is happening within the municipality. The
result also shows that the employment of family and friend within the municipality
also contributes a lot in the challenges that hinder the delivery of services to local
communities. .
The findings show that the majority of the participants are not happy with the way the
municipality render services to the community. The findings further reveal that the
municipality does not involve people in local affairs so that they can take part in
decision- making, and also that people with qualifications are jobless while the
municipality is employing those who do not deserve because of the political party
they follow. In conclusion, the study recommends that the municipality uses the
prescribed criteria of employing public officials by the South African legislative
framework, using merits and qualifications.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Administration and Law in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Public Administration in the department of Public Administration at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2022.
Keywords
Challenges, South African Municipalities, Local municipalities, Municipality render service