Abstract
The authority of South Africa is in the midst of a profound economic crisis precipitated by high levels of unemployment and inequality, marked by political shifts unprecedented in scope subsequent to the 2016 local government elections. The recent election outcomes reveal disturbances in the social, political and economic systems of the country. These disturbances have been precipitated by low economic growth trajectory and poor investment in service delivery infrastructure. The central thesis of this paper is that in addressing the triple challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment, a symptomatic approach of addressing social ills and service delivery will not work. This paper draws from institutional theory as a sense-making mechanism to produce a scientific approach to integrated service delivery. Using the tenets of the critical reflecting methodological approach, institutional theory is deconstructed to provide an understanding of how to operationalize integrated service delivery across functions in a scientific fashion. Keywords: service delivery, institutional theory, poverty, inequality and unemployment. JEL Classification: L8, J64, J71, I32
Highlights
The South African government is in the midst of a profound economic crisis precipitated by high levels of unemployment and inequality, marked by political shifts unprecedented in scope subsequent to the 2016 local government elections
The disturbance in social and economic systems has been precipitated by high incidences of service delivery protests that gave rise to state assets being put to the torch in Limpopo (Vhuwani, 2016) and in KwaZulu-Natal (Isithebe in Mandeni, 2016)
This paper draws from institutional theory as a sense-making mechanism to produce a scientific approach to integrated service delivery
Summary
The South African government is in the midst of a profound economic crisis precipitated by high levels of unemployment and inequality, marked by political shifts unprecedented in scope subsequent to the 2016 local government elections. The disturbance in social and economic systems has been precipitated by high incidences of service delivery protests that gave rise to state assets being put to the torch in Limpopo (Vhuwani, 2016) and in KwaZulu-Natal (Isithebe in Mandeni, 2016). Social practices of burning down institutions have been promulgated by individualistic ideologies that do not see beyond the immediate sense of helplessness and even joblessness Against this hopeless state of affairs, KwaZulu-Natal, the second largest province in South Africa with an estimated population of 11,065,240, is burdened with the plight of poverty and unemployment. We discuss how the different dimensions of institutional theory manifest in operation Sukuma Sakhe, how institutionalization OSS has been heightened or diminished These critiques allow us to identify weaknesses and strengths of the OSS program from the ontological and epistemological perspective of institutional theory.
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