The beginning of 2016 has seen a rise in service protests with local elections looming.

These protests are primarily against councillor candidates. This is according to research done by Municipal IQ, a specialised local government data and intelligence organisation collects data on service delivery protests staged against municipalities.

Karen Heese, economist at Municipal IQ, notes that “It is worrying to see service delivery protests increase before elections. In previous election years we actually registered protests dropping off with electioneering appearing to promote better community engagement. Such engagement, bolstered mechanisms for dispute resolution and proactive service delivery responses could still reverse the upward trajectory of protests seen so far.”

According to Municipal IQ, if sustained at the same rate as the past 4 months, major service delivery protests in 2016 will reach a new peak level.

Municipal IQ M.D. Kevin Allan notes that Gauteng and the Eastern Cape have returned to the fore of protest activity this year. Many of these protests have taken place in informal settlements and underdeveloped areas where service delivery remains a major challenge (Figure 2 refers).

 

Figure 1: Major service delivery protests, by year (2004 –30^th April 2016)

[Source: Municipal IQ Municipal Hotspots Monitor]

 

Figure 2: Service delivery protests by province 1^st January and 30^th April 2016

[Source: Municipal IQ Municipal Hotspots Monitor]