Capacity-Building Initiatives for Improved Services in South African Municipalities

Abstract

This study was premised on building ample capacity for improved delivery of services in South African municipalities. This was based on the need to ensure that capacity-building interventions that should also include the smart city phenomena and its various practices, which are fourth industrial revolution (4IR) tools, are used to improve the effectiveness of the local government sphere of South Africa. The study was qualitative and explored challenges emerging from data gathered through literature and document review of available information. The information was assessed using document analysis. The findings explore that there are various factors that impede the effectiveness of capacity realisation in municipalities, which have been established on an array of fronts. These include the poor skills development focus of the municipality, in which some of the training being offered is way off the radar of the 4IR. The findings suggest the absence of enthusiasm among those tasked with leading capacity-building, especially technology-related, which affects the conceptualisation and execution of any capacitybuilding programmes. Based on the findings, the study recommends the need for strategies towards building capacity to make smart service delivery possible for effectively rendering public goods and services to the various communities under its jurisdiction. Capacity-building is one critical aspect that local government entities can use to harness the current era of the 4IR for improved service delivery. The aim of the study is to develop a need for capacity-building hence to ensure local government entities embark on 4IR capacity-building initiatives to take advantage of this era's efficiency-promoting practices. This can help municipalities expedite community development and eradicate poverty and other social ills. 4IR capacity-building is even more crucial at the local sphere of government because it is the closest to local communities. The 4IR aspects vital to the municipal entities go beyond the mere digitalisation or virtualisation of municipal service rendering and speaking to the incorporation of AI, 3D printing, blockchain technology, and many other cognate practices. The study is significant theoretically and practically in that it contributes to current scholarly knowledge regarding 4IR capacity-building in South African municipal entities and the discipline of public policy, management, and governance.

Keywords: capacity-building, Fourth Industrial Revolution, information and communication technologies, municipalities, qualitative, service delivery, South Africa