Centre for Civil Society Seminar: Service Delivery and Citizen Participation in Cato Manor

Speaker: Lerato Malope

Date: Wednesday 10 April 2019

Time: 13:00-14:00

Venue: CCS Seminar Room A726, Level 7, Shepstone, Howard College, UKZN

Topic:

This seminar presents the results of a Cato Manor case study undertaken in 2018 focusing on electricity and water service delivery and citizen responses in Durban. The case study explored Cato Manor residents’ access to water and electricity considering aspects of formal provision and illegal service connections. The study found that service delivery backlogs are still too prominent in Cato Manor and  this causes continued frustrations with local government. Free Basic Water and Free Basic Electricity  policies further cannot operate effectively in Cato Manor, although there are indigent people who reside in formal houses eligible for them. Most residents have therefore resorted to accessing electricity and water through illegal connections. The study also focused on citizen participation methods finding that ‘invented’ spaces are considered more effective in addressing issues, as opposed to ‘invited’ spaces a common view held by case study participants was: “Protesting is the only way in which our demands can be met. The ward councillor does not hear our cries”.

Speaker Bio:

Lerato Malope is a Masters Candidate in the SOBEDS Development Studies Programme and was based at CCS as a researcher on the Cato Manor project during 2018.