SERVICE DELIVERY PROTESTS IN HAMMANSKRAAL, PRETORIA BY GODFREY S. MNGUNI SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Magister in Development studies IN THE FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC SCIENCES AT THE NELSON MANDELA UNIVERSITY DECEMBER 2018 PROMOTER: DR. ROBERT GERBER DECLARATION NAME: Godfrey Sibusiso Mnguni STUDENT NUMBER: 216886694 QUALIFICATION: MA DEVELOPMENT STUDIES TITLE OF PROJECT: Service delivery protests in Hammanskraal, Pretoria In accordance with Rule G5.6.3, I hereby declare that the above-mentioned thesis is my own work and that it has not previously been submitted for assessment to another University or for another qualification. ……………………………………….. SIGNATURE ……………………………………….. DATE i DEDICATION I dedicate this study to the beautiful and peaceful community of Hammanskraal. I sincerely thank you for the hearty welcome in your community and affording me the opportunity to serve you. Although I was young and inexperienced when I arrived in Hammanskraal, you believed in me and bestowed me with the huge responsibility of leading the administration. You supported me throughout the years with all my shortcomings. Everything that I know about Local government I learned from this community. Words cannot describe my gratitude and the love I treasure for this community. With this empirical study I want to say thank you and I trust that this study will contribute towards building the intellectual capital for the sustainable development of this peaceful and beautiful community that is fondly referred to as “Hamitown”. To the youth of my hometown of Tweefontein “G”, the former homeland of Kwandebele, I proclaim “ours is to inspire before we expire and failure is not our portion”. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this study would not have been possible without the assistance of the following individuals: First and foremost I give God the Almighty and my Lord and saviour, Jesus Christ all the glory for bestowing me with the academic ability and affording me the opportunity to contribute to the body of knowledge of Local government in South Africa. A special thank you to my supervisor, Dr. Robert Gerber of the Department of Development Studies of Nelson Mandela University, for his expert guidance and support and going beyond the call of duty to ensure that my dream attaining this feat becomes a reality. My gratitude also goes to Tony Chipedza, at Surevisions for the assistance with the analysis and interpretation of the survey data. I have no words to express my gratitude to my family, especially my wife, Thoriso Mnguni and my two beautiful daughters, Thando and Lona, for your patience, support and understanding for all the late nights and extended hours, days and weekends away from you. My parents, Kate and Zephania Mnguni, I am forever indebted to you for instilling the love of education and hard work in all your children and not forgetting the many sacrifices that you made to ensure that we succeed in our chosen careers. Today, I am because of you. I am grateful to Dr. Daniel Rampai for inspiring me to pursue the route of education and for believing in me throughout this study. Thank you, Dr. R. Finally, my utmost appreciation towards my spiritual home, Christian Revival Church. As a family we will forever be grateful to the Almighty for blessing us with visionary leaders such as Pastors At and Nyretta Boshoff. Indeed, we are blessed to be part of this life changing movement called CRC. iii ABSTRACT The purpose of the research was to investigate and explain the factors that contributed to service delivery protests in the Hammanskraal area, Pretoria, South Africa (SA). The focus was to identify the perceived critical and aggravating factors leading to protest actions by residents and the communities in the Hammanskraal area. The unprecedented service delivery protests and demonstrations across the majority of municipalities in SA are well documented. On-going and continuous protest actions since the commencement of democracy occurs despite limited successes in some areas in terms of the provision of electricity and access to clean portable water. The study followed a mixed method approach which included a qualitative and quantitative research approach. Quantitative data were collected and interpreted along with an in-depth literature review and analysis. The study identified the critical factors that contributed to continuous service delivery protests. The identified factors were not unique to the Hammanskraal area and included: • poor public participation processes; • mismanagement of funds; • lack of capacity, and • poor public participation processes that are cited as a common factor amongst the leading reasons for rampant service delivery protests across the country. The underlying and aggravating factors that fuelled the service delivery protest in the Hammanskraal area were identified as: • the lack and poor delivery of basic services; • perceived corruption, and • political opportunism. The study concluded that communities engage in protest action and mass mobilisation as the last resort following failed engagements with political leaders and the SA Government. The failed engagements are primarily due to unfulfilled promises and iv failures of Government to deliver on the catalogue of basic services that communities are entitled to as enshrined in the Constitution. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .......................................................................................................... i DEDICATION ............................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iv LIST OF ANNEXURES .............................................................................................. x LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................... xi LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 1.2 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY ............................................................................ 2 1.3 THE BACKGROUND TO THE AREA AND THE RESEARCH PROBLEM ...... 2 1.4 MOTIVATION FOR UNDERTAKING THE RESEARCH .................................. 3 1.5 RESEARCH PROBLEM AND SUB-FOCI ........................................................ 4 1.6 DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY .................................................................... 4 1.7 THE RESEARCH DESIGN .............................................................................. 4 1.8 DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS ......................................................................... 6 1.9 OUTLINE OF CHAPTERS ............................................................................... 6 1.10 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 7 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW ON SERVICE DELIVERY PROTESTS 2.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 8 vi 2.2 THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND CONTEMPORARY CONTEXT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM ........................................................................ 10 2.3 FORMULATION OF DEPENDENT VARIABLE AND THE ARGUMENT TO BE PURSUED ..................................................................................................... 14 2.4 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK GROUNDING THE RESEARCH ................. 15 2.4.1 Independent variables ....................................................................... 15 2.4.1.1 Lack of and poor delivery of basic services ........................ 16 2.4.1.2 A lack of capacity ............................................................... 19 2.4.1.3 Poor public participation processes .................................... 22 2.4.1.4 Mismanagement of funds ................................................... 24 2.4.1.5 Political opportunism .......................................................... 27 2.4.1.6 Corruption .......................................................................... 28 2.4.2 Motivating the change ....................................................................... 30 2.4.3 Theoretical framework ....................................................................... 31 2.5 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 33 3.2 THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................. 33 3.3 RESEARCH APPROACH .............................................................................. 34 3.4 RELATED RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES ................................................. 35 3.5 RESEARCH DIMENSION AND PARADIGMS EMBEDDED IN THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................................... 35 3.6 KIND OF DATA TO BE COLLECTED ........................................................... 36 3.7 DATA COLLECTION