Municipal IQ: Municipal Data and Intelligence



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30 January 2020

An encouraging end to 2019 service delivery protests: For immediate release

Background: Municipal IQ, a specialised local government data and intelligence organisation collects data on service delivery protests staged against municipalities (see methodology note) on its Municipal Hotspots Monitor; in order to quantify and better understand the ongoing nature and trends behind such events.

Emerging trends for 2019:

1. 2019 off 2018’s record

Although 2019 recorded a significant number of service delivery protests, especially in the first few months of the year, these tailed off after May’s general elections, bringing the annual tally behind 2018’s (see Figure 1 below).

Figure 1: Major service delivery protests, by year (2004 –2019)

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[Source: Municipal IQ Municipal Hotspots Monitor]

2. In large part due to a relatively quiet fourth quarter

Despite adverse economic indicators, service delivery protests receded significantly between October and December 2019. Kevin Allan, M.D. of Municipal IQ argues: “While the relative lull in service delivery protests does not mean that all is well in local government, communities appear not to taking their unhappiness to the streets as frequently as they did around general elections”.

3. Gauteng remains the most protest dominated province, followed by KwaZulu-Natal

Gauteng remains the most prominent site of service delivery protests, followed by unusually prominent protest activity in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape. The Eastern Cape fell slightly in prominence, with the North West, Northern Cape and Mpumalanga also receding. The Free State remained relatively static in its contribution to protest levels, while Limpopo was slightly more conspicuous than usual.

(Figure 2 refers).

Figure 2: Service delivery protests by province, 2019

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[Source: Municipal IQ Municipal Hotspots Monitor] * January – September 2019

Outlook for 2020…

Karen Heese, Economist as Municipal IQ notes: “It may be possible for 2018 to keep the record for numbers of service delivery protests. There appears to be an opportunity to channel community engagement through democratic processes (like ward committees, petition processes and community meetings) to avert protests. With a challenging year likely to be ahead for local government, councillors and administrations must work collectively to ensure service delivery and consolidate this apparent goodwill”.

Methodology: Municipal IQ’s Hotspots Monitor databases protests staged by community members (identified down to a particular ward/s) against a municipality, as recorded by the media (or other public domain sources such as SAPS press releases). Such protesters raise issues that are the responsibility or perceived responsibility of local government (such as councillor accountability, the quality and pace of basic service delivery, and in metro areas, housing). These protests may be violent (impinging on the freedom of movement or property of others, including the state) or peaceful, but there is a clear dissatisfaction with the management of a municipality. Not included are issues falling outside of local government’s service delivery mandate such as demarcation, industrial relation disputes or clear party political issues (including candidate lists). Where protests are sustained over several days or weeks, these are recorded as a single entry, with qualitative details updated on the database.

Ends.

For further details, contact: e-mail karen@municipaliq.co.za

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