The impact of service delivery in Mankweng township by Polokwane municipality as a third sphere of government.

Abstract

The aim of this inquiry was to gain a deeper understanding of the service delivery in the community by Polokwane municipality as a third sphere of government. Moreover, not much research has been conducted in this field especially in Limpopo Province. The latest policy document on Transforming Public Service Delivery stipulates that public services are not a privilege in a civilised and democratic society, they are a legitimate expectation. Hence meeting the basic needs of all citizens is one of the five key programmes of the government’s Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). From the literature review, it was evident that service delivery is essential in the communities and the municipality has a critical role to play. Therefore this study also aims to examine the problems and challenges the community is confronted with during the provision of services and also reflects on the strategic importance of the municipality in service delivery. This information may be used as a point of departure in showing the municipalities the perception of communities and their level of satisfaction and serves as a yardstick in terms of their effectiveness in delivering services to the community. In order to achieve this goal one individual and two focus group interviews were conducted. The participants ranged from the youth, adults, to people with disabilities and the elderly. The main patterns of concern that emerged from the data related to the low levels of satisfaction among the community in terms of service delivery in general. From the analysis of data it was realised that the lack of proper service delivery impacts negatively on the members of the community. It would probably be advisable for the Municipality to take note of these results and concerns in an effort to improve and ensure effectiveness in this sphere as stipulated in the White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery and the Reconstruction and Development Programme documents.