The Jaclc ofleader$rup was noted as an obstacle to effective delivery of services and development with.in communities;

Question 18: Question 18: From which of the following sources haw you gained knowledge about the supply and payment for mwticipal services

I. Options cliosen by respondents to the question where does water come from? were as follows

6. The Jaclc ofleader$rup was noted as an obstacle to effective delivery of services and development with.in communities;

2.².5.3 Conclusic:m from the Anti--crime Awareness Programme

1he survey :revealed how a community's perceptions may haw been infl.ueuced by pre-election promises about mun.icjpaJ servjce deli�. The participants in the resean:h particularly voiced thejr disappointme.ot regarding electricity supply, water supply and wate.rbome sewerage. A weU-functionmg development committee with strong leadership, according to the report. cou1d play a positive role in the dewloprneut of an area. Furthermore, such a structure was seen as a means of establishing better communication with the council and promoting community participation The findings add credence to that which was revealed by the Johnson (1999) report �ssed above. This survey has also produced infonnation and principles

of

qrban management which are of significance to the thesis.

2.2.6 Summary of the Findings from the Five Independent Surveys

National and local surveys indicate that most people support the principle of user..pays for municipal services. However, c.om.munities innewly�incoq>orated sectors of the city qualifythis by adding support for payment in the !mm of a flat rate, be they business or private. Aftorda bility for the same cornmwut.ies seems to me.an that services are provided even if the person cannot afford them regardless of the cost of these to the �ce-provider. These interpnutions t.eod to c:ooform with the ex.istenc.e of a culture of entitlemeot or the government beins viewed as a 'Leviathan'. Moreover, sectors of the same comnumities have shown a measure of ignorance about fundamental principles and the financial imperatives caoc:eming the provision of municipal services. Percqrt:.ioos held by persc:m from newly-incoq>orated areas, of the persons living with.in established areas, as being 'rich'. may not be realistic. Perhaps these perceptiaos 11.rise from a mis-comprehension oftbe eco,lomic principles up� which modem F.in;tworld cities have been built. Su.ch economies a.re foUnded on thinkmg pattems and conswner behavioor which are conducive to tha development of �ainahle economies. It is these sustainable local economies which are able to produce a level and range of service which distinguishes them as First world. It needs to be noted that these cities haw ta1a'1 centuries to have reached this level of service delivery.

Conununitiet; ti-om est.abli$hed parts of the city �c;oept that transformation to post-apartheid <bnocracy is necessary, They therefore accept that a measure of cross-subsidisation is nec.essary. However. in view of the high levels of non--paymem attd abu�e of�. strict credit conttol policy has equal suppott.

Although poverty is oft.En put forward as a reason for noo..paynmt. two aspects need to be noted. Current research has shown that poverty need not be the only ractor which detennines non..payment. Small

cohesive and well-led communities, effective municipal management and leadership have allprovedto have an influence on payment levels. Stringent credit control policy was also found to be effective.

A civic � and the tradition of democratic local gowm:ment was found to be weak, particularly wjthin newly-incorpontted areas. High levels of nm-paytrteirt and the abuse of Jocal resources reflects low levels of participaticn with the local authority in devel_oping those areas. Many of these communities suffer from weak toe.a I leadership and poor numicipal management and may have even fallen prey to false expectations created by election promises. Stade reminders of the effect political leaders may have on an electorate is evident in Zunbabwo, where £or apparent political expediency, disregard for the rule of law and the economic ramifi�Oll$, President Mugabe has mco� a land grab of c.ommercial fanns by bis supporter-a. A poor understanding of democracy is further displayed by communities who seem to believe that ttansfortnation is interpreted to mean that white muttkipal leadership and staff ate replaced by blacks.

With the change, it is believed that. the message about payment for rates and services charges, and the response

to

the demand for services will be different. This seems

to

tie in with ·Leviathan• thinking.

Devel_opment Committees with strcng local and municipal leadership are thought

to

be structures within communities which could enhance communication and participation between the community and the municipality. At.� point in time in the recoostrud:ion and development process this appears to be particularlytrue for communities in newly-incoiporatedareas of the city. These issues are further explored through the school-based percepticm. case study undertaken for this thesis research during May 2000 . .2.l A SCHOOL-BASED PERCEPTION STUDY

2.3.1 The PiirpoM: aiid Method of the Study

The perception studies discussed above, revealed disparities in the way residents from various parts of the post-apartheid city perceive the supply of and payment for municipal services. Moreover the same studies a1so gave an indication of the level of consumer ncn-'COmpliance by many communities that demand muuicipai �rvit.e$ as being prQ\>l�<: fur unifying th� (lity,

As

the pr� of the thesi.$ is that the process of developing a single-city, has physical as well as socio-psychological dimensions, the researcher decided the value Of the reseatcli would be mhant:ed by extending the irtvesti8ation to find out the perceptioos held by citizens of the future. In view of what the adult peroqrtion studies revealed. the researcher wanted to test the hypothesis that school--going adolesoeots in established parts of the city have a better understanding about the delivery of municipal services than do their counterparts in newly-

incorporated parts of the city. As a future generation of uumicipal servi.C&-USers, it is important to detennine _if similar trends _exist within _this group as with the adults conceming the

mues

of noo-paynumt.

DecisiOl'l--makers and planners would find this .infonnatim useful when devel_oping strategies dealing with these issues.

The researcher is employed by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education and Culture as a geography subject advisor based in Pietennaritzburg. Coosequeotly as the researcher bad access to seconda_ry schools it was decided to conduct a swwy of grade 12 le.amers (age 16 to 19) in schools situated within the Pietennaritzburg municipal area. Nineteen schools were identified in terms of their location within the municipal area are shown in Figure 5. A survey questionnaire was designed (Annexure C) to inwstigate the views of a cross-sectiai of respondmts' understanding of aspects of the provision of municipal services and Masakhane. Class teachers were trained to facilitate the comp letioo of the quest:ioonaires in the classroom. In total 1 095 scholars took part in the survey which was conducted during the course of May 2000. The questioonaires were subsequently sorted into categories in accordance with set criteria, such as the respoodeots' location within the dty and the level of municipal services received bythat household.

The categories were as follows: