Human capital development and service delivery in local government: employees’ perceptions from Ray Nkonyeni Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal.
Date
2020
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Abstract
Municipal service delivery protests in South Africa have been increasing due to inadequate
service delivery perceptions among communities. Chief among other common challenges stem
from lack of capacity and necessary skills to deliver services. As such, the need to reinforce
human resource capacity to assist municipalities to deliver services cannot be overlooked. From
this challenge the objective of the study was to examine the extent of human capital
development (HCD) within Ray Nkonyeni Local Municipality. This study adopted a
quantitative approach using surveys to collect data among municipal employees within the
identified municipality. A total of 375 questionnaires were distributed and 147 were returned.
Raw data were analysed using Microsoft Excel and Chi-Square statistical tools. In the main,
the study revealed that there is a positive relationship between HCD, organisational
performance and service delivery within Nkonyeni Local Municipality. From that perspective,
the findings of the study further reveal that there is skills mismatch which contribute adversely
to service delivery within the municipality. In its final analysis the study recommends that
municipalities in general and Nkonyeni Local Municipality in particular must prioritise HCD.
As such, the study concludes that HCD is a significant contributing factor to municipal
organisational performance and good governance.
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.