The assessment of communication in local government within eThekwini Municipality.
| dc.contributor.advisor | Reddy, Purshottama Sivanarain. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Langa, Hazel Nomathemba. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-02-02T11:20:07Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-02-02T11:20:07Z | |
| dc.date.created | 2018 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2018 | |
| dc.description | Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban. | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | The local government sphere is mandated with ensuring the delivery of basic services to the citizens as it is the closest to local communities. The delivery of services cannot take place in an efficient and effective manner if there is poor communication between the citizen and municipalities. Accordingly, the government of the Republic of South Africa (RSA) promulgated various pieces of legislation in an effort to strengthen and promote communication in local government. Disregarding the prescripts of legislation has left many local communities feeling despondent as their needs are not prioritised by municipalities which has led to violent service delivery protests across the country that could have been avoided through effective communication in local government. Hence, this study on communication in local government with a focus on eThekwini Municipality looks at the conceptual, theoretical and legislative framework governing communication in local government with the aim to enable local municipalities to strengthen communication with local citizens. A qualitative research methodology was adopted and an interview schedule was constructed targeting senior managers of eThekwini Municipality. From the data collected, the researcher identified themes which were in line with the research objectives and research questions, hence, a thematic analysis of the data collected is presented in the study. The findings revealed three major factors impeding the effectiveness of communication in the Municipality as the poor response and apathy from citizens that stifles participatory communication; political dynamics and cynicism which lead to messages being viewed as propaganda; and budgetary constraints which dictate the level of engagement with local communities. The study recommended strengthening of ward structures as they are the closest to the communities; growing the use of digital and online communication tools in order for the City to keep abreast with the changing communication consumption patterns of the citizens; a concerted effort is required to reach out to despondent citizens as the study discovered that there was a lack of responsiveness to communication efforts; and a need to strengthen the associations with the media is vital as they drive messages to masses. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/handle/10413/21319 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.subject.other | Local government services--KwaZulu-Natal--Citizen participation. | en_US |
| dc.subject.other | Local government--KwaZulu-Natal--Durban--Trends and challenges. | en_US |
| dc.subject.other | Local government--Customer services--KwaZulu-Natal--eThekwini Metropolitan Area. | en_US |
| dc.subject.other | Local government communication--KwaZulu-Natal--eThekwini Municipality. | en_US |
| dc.subject.other | Local government--Service delivery--eThekwini Municipality. | en_US |
| dc.title | The assessment of communication in local government within eThekwini Municipality. | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |