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TOPIC: THE IMPACT OF SERVICE DELIVERY PROTEST IN THE COMMUNITY

1. BACKGROUND

South Africa has been dubbed the protest capital of the world and has one of the
highest rates of public protests in the world. According to Steven Friedman and
Njabulo Ndebele It is often argued that the rate of protests has been escalating since
2004, since 2008 more than 2 million people have taken to the streets in protest
every year.There has been considerable repression of popular protests.The most
common reasons for protests are grievances around land and housing.It has been
reported that nearly 75% of South Africans aged 20-29 did not vote in the 2011 (local
government) elections and that South Africans in that age group were more likely to
have taken part in violent street protests against the local ANC than to have voted for
the ruling party. Informal settlements have been at the forefront of service delivery
protests as residents demand houses and basic service. These protests are usually
referred to as service delivery protests in the media but although there is evidence of
growing unhappiness with service delivery most analysts argue that this description
is overly narrow and misleading.


1.1 INTRODUCTION

A protest is an expression of objection by words or by actions to particular events,
policies, or situations. Protests can take many different forms; from individual
statements to mass demonstrations.
Community protests it is when a group of people living in the same area comes
together to force the powerful groups to respond to their demands, to get something
they want, expressing disapproval of or objection to anything.

South Africa is an extremely unequal society. The post-apartheid dispensation has
seen the situation of the majority poor black working class worsening (characterised
by increasing unemployment, a lack of adequate and affordable service delivery and
exacerbated by rampant inflation). On the other side of the coin, a few elites have
made it in capitalism and through the state, often through the elitist forms of Broad
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Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) and corruption. According to Rudin,
J. (2011)Inequality in South Africa is easily illustrated when one observes the
massive disparities in development, service delivery and wealth between townships
and rural areas on the one hand, and suburban areas on the other.Nationally, South
Africa faces a massive backlog in service delivery. Some 203 out of 284 South
African municipalities are unable to provide sanitation to 40% of their residents. This
means that in 71% of municipal areas, most people do not have flush toilets. A
staggering 887 329 people still use the bucket system and 5 million people, or 10.5%
of the population, have no access to sanitation at all. It is perfectly understandable,
then, why working class and poor people take to the streets in protest against poor
and costly service delivery; it is these same people that are impacted most by
insufficient and costly service delivery, corruption and municipal mismanagement.

The post-apartheid states promise of an extensive roll out of service delivery in 1994
has been severely undermined by its long standing neoliberal approach to the
provision of services (discussed in the next section). While the state has made some
headway in rolling out services since 1994, thousands of communities living in rural
areas and townships continue to receive inadequate services. Moreover, the private
sector approach has meant that where services have been provided, the costs have
generally been transferred to poor communities who often cannot afford them.The
ability and willingness of the South African state to provide adequate service delivery
to all is not simply a question of having the right political party or sufficiently skilled
people in power. Nor is it simply a question of having good policies, or the adequate
administrative means or technical capacity to implement it.Should massive
disparities in service delivery between wealthy and poor neighbourhoods be put
down to corruption, mismanagement, administrative incapacity and a lack of
consultation? Or is there something in how the state is structured and the way in
which it rules which means that it can never give the majority of people what they
need?

www.google.com, accessed 05 April 2014

Reason the study is conducted is because I want to know if it is helping the people
to protest. I would like to know if they are getting what they wanted after protesting.
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2. PROBLEM STATEMENT

South Africa has experienced a wide range of delivery protests country wide. These
protests are way in which sections of communities in South Africa showing up their
dissatisfaction over government rate in delivering basic needs.

Community end up attacking the ward councillors. Causing violence, burning the
tyres in roads, putting big rocks to block the roads. Attacking the police. Destroying
the property e.g. schools, halls, church and roads. Attacking ward councillors and
their homes.
Violence on the part of protesters, including attacks on ward councillors and their
homes, has been escalating. In two months a house belonging to ward councillors
inUmlazi was burnt down.

Thousand residents from Umlazi south of Durban blockaded the township's streets
on Friday protesting against what they call a lack of proper housing.

Most residents live in informal settlements around the township. They say housing
pledges have not been honoured. Residents blockaded the main highway into
Umlazi.

3. STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES

Causes and escalation of the strikes
Prevention of strikes in future
Loss of life during protests - Loss of life is not a small matter. We need to know what
happened, why it happened. Any wrongdoing must be dealt with and corrective
action must be taken. Police must act within the ambit of the law at all times."
Corruption and nepotism within local government structures.
Politics or poor infrastructure
Lack of RDP houses add to the growing dissatisfaction in these and other poor
communities.
Poor service delivery on the deployment of the comrades to positions for which they
are not qualified.
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4. LITERATURE REVIEW

According to Democracy and Society (2011) this is an issue that have been
pondering from a practical and a theoretical level for some time. In South Africa
people are protesting every year. Recent protests have made parts of the country
almost ungovernable. From observing these patterns, I began to wonder why people
protest about a certain issue. If you ask people in the area who are familiar with the
protests or active in them, they will tell you that people are protesting because they
are angry about the governments lack of performance on various, such as services
like water and electricity, jobs, and housing. However, this cant be correct.

In the first place, the Government of South Africa has been reasonably responsive to
these demands. While the poor do not live well in South Africa, the government
does provide free basic electricity and water, it has built millions of new homes, and
has reasonable social welfare policies for a country at its level of development. In
addition, public opinion data demonstrates that South Africans are reasonably
content with their existing government. Moreover, levels of satisfaction are similar to
those of a much poorer but equally as democratic country.

More broadly, the argument that people protest because they reflect the public mood
about important issues doesnt hold. There is a curious pattern to these protests that
suggests it is about far more than about anger over broad public concerns.
Moreover, as far as I know there have been no widespread protests around jobs
and the economy in either country. Rather, people are mobilizing around more
marginal concerns from thepoint of view of society in general.

In South Africa, public opinion data do not suggest widespread dissatisfaction
around the topics of the protests: half the population say the government is
managing the economy well or fairly well, 42% say it is doing a good job raising
standards of the poor, and 50% trust the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
While no government would be proud of these ratings, they dont seem to be as low
as the massive amounts of protest would suggest.Having dispensed with the
argument that protests occur around citizens most salient concerns, what is a more
reasonable way to figuring our why people protest around an issue? Most important,
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we need to recognize that the level of protest we observe is a very small fraction of
the potential amount. After all, in every society there is always going to some group
of people who are going to be angry about some issue. Thus, most of the time, we
observe only a very small amount of protest relative to the potential set of areas
where protest could occur.

In trying to understand why we see protest in the areas we do, this strikes me as the
most fundamental point.I suggest that the reason we only see a small amount of
protest relative to the amount that could exist is because protest is subject to a
massive collective action problem. The costs for an individual to mobilize a
population are typically far greater than the benefits he or she can expect from any
policy changes that derive from protesting. For example, if your main concern is
about the employment situation in your country, while you may benefit from policy
changes that create more jobs, it is in your individual interest to work hard at your
existing job to keep it or look for a job if you do not have one, not protest. As a
result, most protests wont occur because most people will not find it in their self-
interest to organize one.

Mobilizing people requires time, ability, and incentive. Thus, only those who have
the time, skills, and incentive to organize (e.g. people who care a lot about the issue
or stand to gain/lose substantially from any policy changes) will do so. Thus, we
come to the first implication about protest it will reflect the priorities of those who
organize them. These may or may not be the most exigent concerns of the society.
The problem does not end there, however. Even after you have mobilized the
population, you still need to create a window of opportunity to protest. From the
above, we can hypothesize that protest around an issue will occur when those who
have the incentive and ability to do so find or create the opportunity.

In South Africa we see significant amounts of protest at the local level due to the
fight against apartheid. Like today, during apartheid there were massive protests at
the local level on economic issues like housing and jobs, and those who participated
wrote a lot about it. South African organizers at the local level today can easily solve
their collective action problem and create their window of opportunity because they
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have widespread access to strategies that worked well in the past in their country on
the issues around which they are mobilizing.

Protest events increase the visibility of the cause.Policy debates can be abstract,
and even seem irrelevant to the people who are not most directly affected by them.
Protest events put warm bodies and heavy feet out there representing an issue,
taking up real space and real time, attaching the cause to real faces and real voices
who care enough about the cause to go out there, if only for a short time, and be
ambassadors for it.

The media notices when a protest event happens. Bystanders notice when a protest
event happens. Politicians notice when a protest event happens. And if the protest is
staged well, it will invariably make somebody look at the cause with new eyes.
Protest events are not persuasive in and of themselves, but they invite persuasion.
They invite change.

According to Dr Johan Burger (Senior Researcher) Protest events promote a sense
of solidarity.You may or may not feel like part of the movement even if you happen to
agree with it. It is one thing to support same-sex marriage in the comfort of your own
home and another thing entirely to pick up a picket sign and support it in public, to let
the issue define you for the duration of the protest, to stand together with others to
represent a movement. Protests make the cause feel more real to participants.
Protest events build activist relationships.Solo activism isn't usually very effective. It
also gets dull really quick. Protest events give activists a chance to meet, network,
swap ideas, and build community. Most activist organizations, in fact, got their start
with protest events that united and networked their like-minded founders.

www.google.com, accessed 06 April 2014.






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5. EXPLAINATION OF THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Interview survey questionnaire was used for data collection a mixed methods
analytical approach. Mixed method include the collection and analysis of both
qualitative and quantitative data in a single study in which the data are collected
concurrently involve the integration of data at one or more stages in the process of
research

Pilot Study: The Impact of Services Delivery Protest in the Community

According to Human Sciences Research Council the supply of basic social services,
or lack thereof, directly impacts on the quality of life for all. To this end the
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, various policy instruments and strategy
documents emphasise the provision of such services to all citizens of the country.
The responsibility and accountability for the provisioning of social services is divided
among the national, provincial and local authorities. Public engagement in the
planning and prioritising of these services is crucial and a prerequisite for efficient
and effective functioning of government. According to Shah (2006) government
should be citizen-centred in its planning and in the implementation of policies and
programmes. This policy brief identifies three key elements of citizen-centred
government, namely: responsive, responsible and accountable governance. This
policy brief also reports on two case studies where the Citizen Report Card Survey
(CRCS) was implemented and makes recommendations for the use of these
surveys as a tool for addressing service delivery problems.

Questionnaire Design

Interview survey questionnaire instrument was designed, utilising a mixture of closed
and an open ended questions. People answered in any way they choose and other
respondents were asked to rank order the first five. The strength of respondent
opinion was elicited by using Likert scale. The reporting of corruption was also
investigated. Participants were asked to base their response on personal
experiences rather than thirty party hearsay evidence.

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Method of data collection

The interview survey was administered to the communities protestors, a ward
councillor and a representative of local government. Target populations for the
survey therefore included 5 members of the community representing the whole
community,aWard councillor and a representing for the government.

6. DATA ANALYSIS

The numerical data associated with responses to Likert scale questions have been
analysed. The qualitative data, largely arising from responses to open-ended
questions.

Survey Respondent Profile

The majority of the survey respondents are 3 males, black aged 30 years to 35 and 2
female, black aged 35 to 40 representing the Umlazi Community. Ward councillor
male, age 48 black, 1Female aged 29 black, representative the local government. As
far as can be determined (given that the age, gender and ethnical are not
comprehensively accessible) the survey respondent profile broadly corresponds to
the available demographics of the target populations.Survey participant were
encouraged, but not instructed to offer additional comment to the questions.
All respondents report that they consider corruption to be widespread. Some
verbatim statements include such as:

[Rep. Local Municipality] Municipality leadership consists of a mayoral council,
headed up by a mayor, a municipal manager and executive councillors, who lead the
various local governments departments. Ward councellors are the most corrupt
grouping, followed by local government, followed by mayor. Corruption and
nepotism within local government structures

[Community member] There is no development; there are no RDP houses built. The
community itself has come to an end whereby they say they are tired and angry. We
have had two different councillors who have never attended to this area
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[Community member] says that they have been submitting their problems to the
municipality, however, they are not being attended to. "They like us because its
election time. They are waiting for the 7th of May, but we won't take part in this
election if the situation remains the same."

[Rep. LM]Almost all municipalities have experienced corruption at one time or
another. People have no control over corruption because they are never given
information or control over how the money in municipalities is spent.

[Community member] Protest against unfair and corrupt allocation of house. They
are giving the RDP housing to their families, friends and colleagues.

[Community member] unemployment. They promised them employment but they
are not giving them work eg. They opened a mall in Umlazi mega city they employed
people from KwaMashu, Kwamakhutha and Lamontville.

[Community member] Overcrowding in schools. They promised to build more
schools for their children but no they are busy buying expensive cars.

Respondents we questioned on their personal experience (yes/no) of the various
forms of corruption. Multiple responses were permitted. Examples of verbatim
statements include:

[Ward Councillor] we promised changes to the way in which services are delivered to
the poor and we are keeping our promises, we are building houses for them, building
schools, roads etc. All of the political parties that campaigned promised heaven and
earth to communities.

Limitations

Unavailability of some key personnel for interviews after confirmation
Access on areas during the breakdown strictly prohibited.


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Findings
Most councillors only receive basic councillor induction training, relating to their
broad roles and functions as councillors. Some receive other types of training such
as in the fields of leadership and management, but training in the area of developing
budgets and financial management is lacking.

7. TIME TABLE OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

DATE ACTIVITY
01 March 2014 Research topic
09 March 2014 Library information
16 March 2014 Interview with 3 Males - community
23 March 2014 Interview with 2 Females - community
30 March 2014 Interview with a Councillor
05 April 2014 Internet search
06 April 2014 To collect more information Google
07 April 2014 Collection of information from the
newspapers
08 April 2014 Check more information on the internet
09 April 2014 Interview with the Representative of
Local Municipality (RLM)
10 April 2014 Internet search
11 April 2014 Printing and binding my assignment
14 April 2014 Submission date


8. RECOMMENDATION

The ward councillors supposed to represent the interests of communities to the
executive council and mayor. Ward councillors should hold regular council meetings
in which ordinary people can bring their grievances to the councillor who then passes
them onto the executive council of the municipality for resolution. Local Municipality
need to stop the deployment of the comrades to positions for which they are not
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qualified. There must be a good communication between the community and the
ward councillors.

9. CONCLUSION

In this situation I suggest that three characteristics of states in general, and the local
state in post-apartheid South Africa in particular, prevent the poor and working class
from attaining suitable services from the state. These arguments were the following:
firstly, that states are fundamentally undemocratic and largely unaccountable to the
citizenry; secondly, that all states are hierarchically organised, with those at the top
unaccountable to those at the bottom (which allows for corruption and
mismanagement); and thirdly, that all states have a bias in favour of serving the
long-term interests of the ruling classes (as expressed through neoliberal forms of
privatisation in service delivery).

This explains why protests have become the principle means for expressing the
frustrations of poor and working class communities over the provision and cost of
service delivery. Protests by municipal workers are also an expression of the
unwillingness of municipalities to provide better wages and working conditions for
these workers. The local state in some cases is simply unable to provide adequate
service delivery for poor and working class communities or decent wages for its
workers. But more importantly, the local state is in fact unwilling to provide adequate
service delivery and living wages because the interests of the local state are the
same as the interests of the ruling class.

Furthermore, the state exists to protect those interests, directly against the interests
of the popular classes. The ANC cannot bring about the completion of the national
liberation struggle, and neither could any political party using the state for national
liberation. While a political revolution may have occurred (the transition from
apartheid to a national capitalist democracy) an economic revolution has not
occurred. The poor are still poor, workers still exploited and only a few black people
have become rich through BEE and other means. While the roll out of extensive
service delivery was a key thrust of the ANCs election manifesto, so far
municipalities have not been able to carry out service delivery in a democratic
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fashion in a sustained an equal way. Rather, municipalities have been used by
officials to enrich themselves.

10. APPENDICES

Please refer to attached questionnaires and other supporting documentation.

11. TEXT REFERENCING/CITING AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. www.google.com, accessed 05 April 2014.
2. www.SabcNew.com-umlazi, accessed 07 April 2014
3. http://www.enca.com/southafrica/umlazi-housing-protests-intensity. Accessed
09 April 2014
4. www.infrastructurene.ws/2014/04/07/umlazi-protest-for-proper-hosing.
Accessed 09 April 2014
5. SAnews.gov.za. accessed 09 April 2014. Accessed 10 April 2014
6. http://www.da.org.za/docs/633/5%20worst%20munnicipalities_document.pdf
7. www.coj.gov.za. City of Johannesburg, (2003), accessed 10 April 2014
8. Oldfield, S. (2008), Participatory Mechanisms and Community Building
Projects: Building Consensus and Conflict. In M.van Donk, et al
(eds), Consolidating Developmental Local Government: Lessons from the
South African Experience. Cape Town: UCT press.
9.
http://www.dplg.gov.za/subwebsites/publications/type_muni/muni_ward
.htmRudin, J. (2011) 10. Municipal Dysfunction can be cured. In Mail &
Guardian, 7-13 October, 2011. Accessed 09 April 2014
10. Democracy and Society, (2004) is a biannual print journal published by
theCenter for Democracy and Civil Society at Georgetown University.
Accessed 10 April 2014
11. Dr Burger, J, Senior Researcher, Crime, Justice and Politics Programme, ISS
Tshwane (Pretoria)accessed 10 April 2014
12. www.demacracyandsociety.com. Accessed 10 April 2014


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