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Newsletter 89- Municipal protests in numbers- 17 September 2010

A review of municipal service delivery protests shows that the peak year for protests was 2009. However, the first half of 2010 saw more protests than in the whole of 2009. Gauteng province was the hardest hit.

Municipal service delivery protests are protests where communities oppose the pace or quality of service delivery by their municipality. Some are peaceful, some are violent. A breakdown ofmunicipal service delivery protests from 2004 to the second half of 2010 (as monitored by Municipal IQ) is given below:

 
  • In 2004 there were 10 municipal service delivery protests recorded
  • This increased to 35 in 2005
  • Protests decreased substantially  to only 2 in 2006
  • In 2007 protests escalated to 32
  • There was a slight decrease in 2008, with 27 protests
  • In 2009 there were 105 protests
  •  In the first quarter of 2010 the number of protests was 54 and in the second quarter it was 83.
 
More often than not, protests take place in areas were there is significant progress in terms of service delivery. This is contrary to the general perception that protests take place in deprived areas.   However, issues that give rise to protests are complex and the reasons often overlap.
 
There are a wide range of reasons for protest action. These include political dynamics, corruption, and dissatisfaction over housing and bucket latrines. Protests can also involve criminality, whereby people are robbed off their goods and their businesses looted.
 
Political dynamics includes intra and inter party problems. The former refers to divisions within the ruling party. The latter refers to suspicion that members of opposition parties are rallying protest action in order to destabilise the ruling party.
 
Communities often take part in protest action as a means of fighting for transparency and accountability from corrupt office bearers.
 
Although housing delivery problems are sometimes the cause of protests, housing is not a local government mandate.  
 
A provincial breakdown of municipal service delivery protests shows that in the second quarter of 2010, some 40% of the 83 protests were in Gauteng. Only 5% occurred in Limpopo province, which is much poorer than Gauteng.
 
Although protests are somewhat sporadic, they are a cause for concern as they are a clear sign that communities are getting impatient with poor service delivery. The Government seems to take too long to respond to the grievances of communities. Moreover, communities protest as a result of underlying frustrations at being unemployed, uneducated, and having bleak prospects for the future.
 
-Nachi Majoe 
by nmajoe — last modified 2010-09-17 13:36
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