Answer:
Service delivery remains one of the major challenges
of the 21st century. Service delivery protests are not
uncommon around the world especially in those
countries where public service delivery remains
a challenge. At Yemen in Asia, during 2012, the
country experienced protests coupled with road
blockages by citizens demanding lower fuel prices
and increased supply of electricity. There were
also widespread protests against government and
security officials accused of corruption (Akinboade,
Mokwena & Kinfack, 2014:10). In South Africa,
protesting is not a new phenomenon nor is it a phenomenon which is unique. As early as the 1700's
for instance, during the French revolution, citizens
protested against perceived injustices perpetrated
by the governing elite against the poor and working class (Brown, 2017). Cases indicate that there is
almost no country or continent which can claim that
they have not experienced some form of unrest or
violent protests by citizens. Therefore, citizens have
been involved on service delivery protests because
they were no longer satisfied with the status quo of
service provision or about the undelivered promises
of the elected government. In this regard, South
Africa has seen both, violent and non-violent protests, prior and post first democratically elected
government (Brown, 2017:3).
Service provision is a constitutional obligation in
terms of section 152 of the Constitution of the
Republic of South Africa, 1996, which lay obligations
to the municipalities that the objects of local government are: (a) to provide democratic and accountable
government for local communities; (b) to ensure the
provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner; (c) to promote social and economic
development; (d) to promote a safe and healthy
environment; and (e) to encourage the involvement
of communities and community organizations in
the matters of local government (Constitution of
Republic of South Africa, 1996). Therefore, South
African municipalities are legal obliged to ensure
the provision services as enshrined by the constitution. Mathebula (2014) indicates that most
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service delivery protests have been about unfulfilled
objects of local government which often leads to
community members on street demanding for the
provision of services to communities.
Explanation:
