Essay Sample on Provision of Public Services

Abstract

Emerging developments in technology and innovations, market trends, demographic changes, and dynamic consumer needs make the local governments a potential consumer of research data. Being in a place of authority regarding policy formulation necessitates the local government to invest in research as well as collaborate with other research institutions such as universities. It is thus critical that local governments utilize research findings and data, to enable it to make both short and long-term strategic decisions from an informed position. Data science provides a diverse and rich pool of research-derived information that the Local governments need to leverage on to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery. Open science research is instrumental in underpinning local government's agenda in a bid to adequately equip them with capacity and information required for effective responses to complex and multifaceted socio-political challenges. This essay conclusively address potential benefits which local governments stand to derive from collaborative arrangements with research institutions and universities, which past empirical studies have shown to be underutilized. Local governments need to embrace open science research to widen their scope of knowledge and enhance quality of their decisions. This essay will address the impact of research on local government by critically examining how data is utilized to deepen creativity and optimize municipalities' efficiency in policy making and service delivery. Further analysis of how the data mentioned above is structured and the context in which it is gathered will be addressed to assess its validity and the relevance of the data towards realizing the intended positive outcomes. This study will rely heavily on the use of qualitative study methods; surveys, questionnaires, experiments, and observation.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Introduction

Many African countries struggle with poverty, which limits the efficiency of their provision of public services (Chalabi and Dahmane, 2011, pg. 119). In South Africa, public services provison has always been a major challenge. Different elements have caused resulted to this challenge. One of the factors includes the lack of capacity of municipalities who have been entrusted with the responsibility to provide the citizens with public services. To this effect, it is important to understand that public services fail to reach the individuals who are intended to receive them. In addition, there are instances where the public services reach these people. However, the quality of these public services are low quality and unsatisfactory.

Consequently, the municipalities face a major problem concerning the provision of the required quality and quantity of the services mainly because of the general factors influencing such things in developing nations. These factors also manifest themselves in South Africa (Czerniewicz and Goodier, 2014, pg. 9). It has become a major concern since people complain about the poor unsatisfactory provision of public services as a result of development and public administrations within the nation. In the nation, the poor people are the ones who mainly suffer once these services are either not provided or are unsatisfactory. Evidently, when the services provided are done so in an impeccable mannerism, then it helps in mitigating the effects that unemployment and poverty have on the poor.

Different researchers have conducted researches with the aim of understanding the strategies that can be used to help solve this problem (Chiware and Mathe, 2015, pg. 7). However, with the recent advances in open science and open data, a solution to the issue might as well be at hand (Muthayan, 2004, pg. 140). Various researchers have proposed that the municipalities focus on developing the local government and fostering commitment to work with the community, the universities and the citizens to find sustainable methods to meet the material, economic and social needs as well as to better the quality of their personal lives and the society.

The local government is the sole provider of services, which is an understanding that is provided from the traditional perspective of service delivery in the nation (Veljkovic, Bogdanovic-Dinic and Stoimenov, 2014, pg. 283). The impact of this is the need to create new and innovative ways to deliver services to the citizens (Wilson, 2008). It is significant to understand that in this case, the local governance refers to more than the local government. It also refers to th local populations. In addition, local governance also comprises of the NGOs both international and local ones, the CBOs, public sectors and private sectors, local and central governments as well as community based agencies and organizations (Ambe and Badenhorst-Weiss, 2012, pg. 243). If various sectors like private and civil society take part in the processes of service delivery, then things might change for the best. Both the the private sector and the civil society have a major role to play within the society (Zuiderwijk, Janssen, Choenni, Meijer and Alibaks, 2012). The reason behind this is that these individuals are at the grassroots, where the poverty levels therein are very low and the growth of governance is rare. Moreover, at this levels, bad governance is something that the mass has been used to having.

The sole purpose of this study is proposing a good and workable solution based on the utility of open science and open data in the municipalities in South Africa to better the public services therein. Many towns in South Africa such as the Imizamo Yethu suffer from the issues arising because of lack of proper service delivery therein. Imizamo Yethu, which is located near Cape Town is an informal settlement found at Hout Bay. This particular community shows the types of informal settlements located in Cape Town, especially, in the Western Cape. The major traits of this community include the lack of proper public services concerning fields such as housing, roads, water and sanitation as well as the lack of public amenities such as playing fields for the children and libraries among many more (McDonald, and Ruiters, 2005). To make matters worse, the waste in this place is not removed, which has very hazardous results to the residents. The people in this community suffer because of lacking proper access to public services. Moreover, due to the lack of these public services, their living conditions have become increasingly difficult.

This paper therefore, uses qualitative research methodology to provide insight into to focus on how the local governments can leverage research and data from the South African universities to promote strategic decision making in the respective areas of concern such as transport and other amenities (Urry, 2016). Also, the paper should focus on ways South African Universities, through open science, are helping the local governments meet their agendas. The paper needs to evaluate how the local governments use the research and data to promote creative and innovative policy making and service delivery (Marais, Pelser, Botes, Redelinghuys and Benseler, 2005, pg. 7). The validity of the data and research towards the realization of positive outcomes. Finally, the paper's central focus is municipalities. This study will rely heavily on the use of qualitative study methods; surveys, questionnaires, experiments, and observation.

Why Open Science and Open Data?

It is vital to understand what the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa states about the issues concerning the local government on the delivery of services as well as on the matters pertaikning to development (Tsheola, 2012, pg. 175). The issue rests clearly with the municipalities. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa stipulates that:

• the communities need to be provided with accountable and democratic local governance.
• To make sure that the services provided to the communities are sustainable and good.
• The local governments promote both economic and social development for the betterment of the society and the lives of the people.
• The promotion of a safe and a healthy environment for the people.To encourage the local communities and other community organizations as well as institutios to join hands in matters pertaining to the local governments.

The aforementioned issues help in highlighting the significance of the economic development in the local communities. It also helps in providing insight concerning the integration of developmental planning, which is the role of the municipalities (Madzivhandila and Asha, 2012, pg. 370). The aforementioned also provides insight concerning the role that the local government needs to play to tap into the skills of the members of the communities, the institutions, such as the universities among other organizations both in the public and private sector (Smith and Ruiters, 2006, pg. 183). In this case, the implication of this is that the local governments, the municipalities need to partner with the South African Universities to gain access to open science and open data to have a clear insight into the roadmap that will help guide them into making the right policies (Daniel, 2013). Moreover, such a partnership helps in providing guidance to the division of resources to meet the needs of the local communities in South Africa. The reason behind this is that the poor delivery of public services in South Africa have been fostered by the lack of enough resources to help deliver the services.

Notably, the public services needed to be delivered efficiently and effectively to the local communities include necessities such as waste removal, roads, clean water and electricity (Miraftab, 2004, pg. 880). Nevertheless, in the delivery of these services, challenges arise, which makes it difficult for the municipalities to harness their capacity to deliver these services to the citizens. Therefore, with open science and open data, it becomes easier to understand the reason that these challenges happen and the way to mitigate them thus, provide good and quality services to the people.

Notably, the local governments have always been perceived as the custodian as well as the custodians and the embodiment of the aspirations that the citizens have concerning their lives, their communities and the society. With proper collaboration between the Universities in South Africa and the local governments, it would be easier to find solutions to the major problems challenging the offering of public services in South Africa. Consequently, the government has not made any progress concerning the realization and the fulfillment of these responsibilities as mentioned in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

Places in South Africa such as the Imizamo Yethu have been severly impacted by the sheer lack of basic amenities such as proper housing, roads, electricity and water as well as the lack of proper waste collection methods (Turpie, Marais and Blignaut, 2008, pg. 792). In this case, this settlement has been facing these major issues for a very long time and the government, despite its minimal efforts to combat these challenges has not been winning the war. It has failed to provide the residents of this place with quality services in adequate measures.

Hence, this is why open science and open data is important in South Africa. The municipalities and the local governments have been failing over and over again in relation to the issue of public service delivery (Akinloye Akinboade, Chanceline Kinfack and Putuma Mokwena, 2012., pg. 185). Consequently, despite the strides they make in other areas, settlements and other poverty striken areas continue to languish in the pain of lack of good quality public services to help meet the...