After 1994, the South African government introduced the Batho Pele (“people first”) framework to guide public service delivery. Yet service delivery protests have remained a persistent feature across the country. A recent analysis of data from the South African Social Attitudes Survey 2007–2020 suggests that public confidence in “people-first” municipal performance had steadily declined, notably around consultation, communication, complaint handling, and value for money.
Human Sciences Research Council (Fri,) studied this question.