Role of district municipalities in waste management in South Africa

Abstract

Service delivery has become a source of much tension and protests in South Africa (Delivery, 2009) with fifty two major service delivery protests reported for the period January to August 2009 (COGTA, 2009). Failing waste management services, is a reality in South Africa and the magnitude of the problem is emphasized by newspaper headlines including: “SA’s Rubbish Capital: Big stink continues as piles of garbage dumped in streets hit crisis levels” (Pretoria News, 13 May 08); “Waste Companies dump death on our doorstep” (Sunday Times, 2 December ’08), and “Rubbish piles up as strike set to worsen” (Pretoria News, 9 January 2010). Poor governance has been blamed for the protests, citing Councils not meeting for prolonged periods of time and the delay in approving key documentation intended to guide service delivery as some of the key problems (Botes et al. 2007). The recent recurring community protests and municipal workers’ strikes only worsen the situation as services are disrupted and the protesters themselves leave a trail of waste strewn across streets.