THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SERVICE DELIVERY PROTESTS AND VOTER 
TURNOUT IN SOUTH AFRICA BETWEEN 2004 AND 2015: THE CASE OF THE 
NORTH WEST PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA 
 
 
 
BY 
 
TEBOGO DANIEL NTJANYANA 
          STUDENT NUMBER 16758943 
ORCID iD 000-0002-3323-1580 
 
 
 
 
 
Mini-Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Master’s 
Degree in Political Studies in the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences at the 
North West University, Mafikeng Campus. 
 
           SUPERVISOR: Mr J.O MASENG   
   
          NOVEMBER 2016 
 
 
 
 
 
DECLARATION 
 
I declare that this mini-dissertation is my original work and it has never been 
submitted anywhere in full or partially to any university for another degree. All 
contributions and sources cited here have been duly acknowledged through 
complete and acceptable references. 
 
 
_____________________ 
Tebogo Ntjanyana 
30 November 2016 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
 
I would like to direct my sincere gratitude and praises to God the Almighty for 
granting me the opportunity of life. Secondly, I would like to appreciate the following 
people for their immense support from the beginning to the completion of this 
research project: 
 My Supervisor Mr Oshupeng Maseng for your patience and constructive 
guidance throughout this research work. I could have never done this 
without your wisdom, patience and understanding. I hold high esteem for 
you.  
 My late parents and grandparents especially my mother Nokonzima, this is 
for you! 
 My boy Tebogo Junior (Juju) Ntjanyana for your patience and 
understanding that this study meant that I would be a temporarily absent 
father. You inspired this project, I love you my Champ! 
 My brothers and all family members; thank you for your thoughts and 
prayers.  
 A special thanks to Rakgadi wa ga Juju, Nomathemba Ntengu for taking 
care of Juju during our absence. We are so eternally grateful to you!  
 To my friends Dr SLK Pitso, Tebogo Sebekedi, Frank Kabila Lekaba, Pius 
Selebogo, Ntafi Mokgope and Molemo Mekgwe, you guys are more than 
friends to me. I thank God for your friendship. 
 A special thanks to my managers (Dr Tumelontle Thiba, Nthabi Tsipane, 
Kim Kresfelder, Maureen Mathamela and Audrey Mogatusi) at work for 
supporting and allowing me to take time off during the period of this study. 
My employer, for the financial support provided to complete this study. 
 Colleagues and friends at the IEC; thank you very much for your support 
and well wishes. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
DEDICATIONS 
 
I dedicate this study to my late beautiful, caring and loving mother; a true woman of 
substance, Nokonzima!  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ABSTRACT 
 
A growing and healthy democracy is a system compounded by regular free, fair and 
credible elections, in which the ruling elites and political parties are elected into 
government. This process is legitimized by a popular participation of the electorate. 
Since 1994, the African National Congress (ANC) has dominated electoral politics of 
the North West Province through consistently attaining majority votes from the 
electorate.. However, this is one of the provinces in the Republic of South Africa 
characterised by the rise of violent service delivery protests. The electorate 
continuously votes the ANC into government despite the protests against poor 
delivery of services. Against this backdrop, this study examines the relationship 
between service delivery protests and voter turn-out in South Africa from 2004 until 
2015, with specific reference to the North West Province. The study specifically 
answers the question as to whether service delivery protests achieve their intended 
objectives. This study further revealed that the inputs of the residents of various 
communities are not appreciated and considered sufficiently in the local 
development plans that guide delivery of services by the local municipalities within 
the province. Furthermore, the study found that, the dominant support towards the 
ANC  is based on perceptions and fears that should any political party take over 
(specifically the DA), South Africa may possibly slide back to the Apartheid era 
established upon segregatory and oppressive policies towards non-whites. In 
sourcing data the study employed qualitative a research method through specifically 
utilizing techniques such as participant observation, focus group discussions and in-
depth interviews. Data was sourced from protesting members of the communities 
residing in the Ratlou, Tswaing, Mahikeng, Ditsobotla and Ramotshere Moiloa local 
municipalities, which respectively fall under the Ngaka Modiri Molema district 
municipality in the North West Province.   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 
 
ACDP  African Christian Democratic Party 
ANC  African National Congress 
BEC  Branch Executive Committee 
CEO  Chief Electoral Officer 
COGTA Corporative Governance and Traditional Affairs 
COPE  Congress of the People 
DA  Democratic Alliance 
DPLG  Department of Provincial and Local Government 
EFF  Economic Freedom Fighters 
FGD  Focus Group Discussions 
FPTP  First-Past-The-Post 
IEC  Independent Electoral Commission 
IFP  Inkatha Freedom Party 
INC  Indian National Congress  
LGE  Local Government Elections 
MEC  Member of Executive Council 
MoD  Memorandum of Demands 
NA  National Assembly 
NFP  National Freedom Party 
NPE  National and Provincial Elections 
PAC  Pan Africanist Congress  
PPLC  Provincial Party Liaison Committee 
PR   Proportional Representation 
RDP  Reconstruction and Development Programme 
RSA  Republic of South Africa 
SALGA South African Local Government Association  
SASSA South African Social Security Agency 
SOCDEV Social Development 
UCDP  United Christian Democratic Party 
UFS  University of Free State 
VF+   Freedom Front Plus 
 
 
 
 
Contents  
DECLARATION .......................................................................................................................................... i 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................... ii 
DEDICATIONS ......................................................................................................................................... iii 
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................... iv 
LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................. v 
CHAPTER ONE ......................................................................................................................................... 1 
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1 
1.1. Background ................................................................................................................................. 1 
1.2 Problem Statement ........................................................................................................................... 6 
1.3. Research Questions ......................................................................................................................... 7 
1.4. Aim and Objectives .......................................................................................................................... 7 
1.5. Outline of Chapters .......................................................................................................................... 7 
1.6 Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 9 
CHAPTER TWO ...................................................................................................................................... 10 
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................... 10 
2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 10 
2.2 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................................... 10 
The following section specifically focuses on the theory guiding the study. ......................... 10 
2.2.1. Relative Deprivation Theory ................................................................................................... 10 
2.3. Literature Review ........................................................................................................................... 11 
The following section specifically looks into the theory guiding this study. ........................... 11 
2.3.1. Service Delivery Protests and their objectives in South Africa ............................................... 11 
2.3.2. The politics of voting and party preferences .......................................................................... 16 
2.3.3. Factors of Voter-turnout in South Africa ................................................................................ 20 
2.3.4. Elections in South Africa, a vehicle of political contestations ................................................ 25 
2.3.5. Functions of Elections in the South African Context .............................................................. 28 
2.3.6. Electoral system and One Party Dominance in South Africa .................................................. 31 
2.3.7. The Role of Political Participation in South Africa’s Electoral Democracy .............................. 36 
2.4 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 40 
CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................................................... 43 
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................. 43 
3.1 Research Design .............................................................................................................................. 43 
3.2 Research Site ................................................................................................................................... 43 
 
 
 
 
3.3 Data Collection Techniques ............................................................................................................ 44 
3.3.1. Document Analysis .................................................................................................................. 44 
3.3.2. In-depth interview with protesting communities ................................................................... 45 
3.3.3. Focus Group Discussions with BECs ........................................................................................ 46 
3.3.4. In-depth interview with PPLC members ................................................................................. 46 
3.4 Sourcing of Secondary Data ............................................................................................................ 46 
3.5 Sample of the Study ........................................................................................................................ 47 
3.6 Applicability of the Objectives against Data Collection Techniques ............................................... 47 
3.7 Ethical Consideration ...................................................................................................................... 48 
CHAPTER FOUR ..................................................................................................................................... 49 
PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS ............................................................................................................... 49 
4.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 49 
PART ONE .............................................................................................................................................. 50 
Service Delivery Protests In North West Province Communities: Are They Meeting Intended 
Objectives? ............................................................................................................................................ 50 
4.2.1 Examining the Objective of Service Delivery Protests ............................................................. 50 
4.2.2 Government Responsiveness to Community Grievances ........................................................ 51 
4.2.3 Effectiveness of Protests in Raising Grievances ....................................................................... 51 
4.2.4 Competencies of Levels of Government: Protest Against Who? ............................................. 52 
4.2.5 Disgruntlement or Genuine Participation in Protest ............................................................... 52 
4.2.6 Opposition Parties: Motives of Involvement in Protests ......................................................... 53 
PART TWO ............................................................................................................................................. 53 
Understanding the ANC Support and Service Delivery Dissatisfactions ............................................... 53 
4.3.1 ANC Service Delivery Performance .......................................................................................... 53 
4.3.2 Service Delivery Protests: Who are Participants? .................................................................... 55 
4.3.3 Differentiation between ANC and Government on Service Delivery Responsibility ............... 55 
4.3.4 ANC and Government: Viewed Using the Same Lens .............................................................. 56 
PART THREE ........................................................................................................................................... 57 
Understanding Reasons for Voter Participation in Elections ................................................................ 57 
4.4.1 Voter Apathy and Participation since 1994 ............................................................................. 57 
4.4.2 The Impact of Voting on Service Delivery Provision ................................................................ 58 
4.4.3 The Effect of Party Manifestos on Voter Turnout.................................................................... 58 
4.4.4 The Contribution of Participation to Electoral Democracy ...................................................... 58 
4.4.5 The Track Record of IEC and Party Promises ........................................................................... 59 
 
 
 
 
4.4.6 The Impact of Service Delivery to Communities on Voter Turnout ......................................... 59 
4.4.7 The Impact of Voting Logistics on Voter Participation............................................................. 60 
CHAPTER 5 ............................................................................................................................................ 61 
DISCUSSIONS OF FINDINGS ................................................................................................................... 61 
5.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 61 
5.2 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS ............................................................................................................. 61 
CHAPTER SIX .......................................................................................................................................... 68 
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................. 68 
6.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 68 
6.2 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION ............................................................................... 68 
6.3 REVISITATION OF THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ............................................................................... 70 
6.4 REVISITATION OF THEORETICAL UNDERPINNING........................................................................... 71 
6.5 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................... 71 
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 73 
APPENDIX 1 ........................................................................................................................................... 87 
 
 
LIST OF FIGURES 
Figure 1: The Number of service delivery protests between 2004 and 2012………..02 
Figure 2: 2014 National Election Results……………………………………..…..…….27  
Figure 3: Acts and Reports………………………………………………………………..44  
  
1 
 
CHAPTER ONE 
INTRODUCTION 
1.1. Background 
 
The year 2015 marked 21st years of South Africa’s democratic dispensation. 
Since 1994 the country has been viewed as a standard bearer for democracy and 
a beacon for democratic change within the African continent and globally. 
However the country presents an array of contradictory images, some of which 
are profoundly depressing; cold, under-clad children huddled outside shacks 
juxtaposed with all the urbanity of high rise, modern society; groups of 
unemployed young men idling on the street corners or rummaging through 
rubbish bins; and the continuing poverty of under-resourced rural areas. 
Conversely, a whole range of sights are immensely positive, for example, 
confident, emancipated individuals, for the first time taking opportunities 
previously denied to them; the belief of a range of political representatives in 
public service and commitment to the community; and the genuine feelings of 
many black, coloured and white South Africans that all people can work together 
in peace and harmony (Deegan, 2003: xvii). 
Though South Africa is observed as a standard bearer for democracy and a 
beacon for democratic change continentally and globally, since 2004 service 
delivery protests have been widespread in local communities across the country, 
with angry residents taking to the streets in demonstration against the poor 
delivery of services by municipalities. These protests have at times turned violent 
and led to the destruction of properties, clashes with security leading to injuries 
and even deaths.  May 18, 2011 saw South Africans once again going to the 
elections to vote for their preferred municipal councillors and political parties. 
These elections and others in the past were significant in the work of local 
government and democratic political participation in local communities. This is 
because these elections legitimize and obligate this sphere of government as a 
custodian of service delivery to local communities. Section 152 (b) of chapter 7 of 
  
2 
 
the constitution empowers the local sphere of government, through 
municipalities, to deliver services such as water, housing and electricity (Act 108 
of 1996).  
To this end, residents across South Africa have been demanding better quality 
services from their local authorities. For example, in the year 2009, 3000 
residents of Diepsloot (Gauteng province) took to the streets demanding basic 
services. In 2013 in Durban (KwaZulu-Natal province), 5000 people from informal 
settlements marched through the city centre demanding houses and services. In 
2007, in Mitchells Plain (Western Cape Province) barricades were erected and 
tyres were burned, excrement and rubbish were dumped onto the streets. In a 
protest in 2011, in Ficksburg (Free State Province) a boy and a community 
activist  were killed during a brawl with police. In 2006, a typhoid outbreak in 
Delmas (Mpumalanga Province) led to protesters demanding the resignation of 
the municipal manager who according to them stalled provision of service 
delivery to the community. In 2011, in Mahikeng (North West Province) a youth 
activist was killed by a bullet from the police during a brawl with protesters. Port 
Elizabeth (Eastern Cape Province) suffered weeks of protest in 2012 by 
thousands of people from informal settlements who demanded public services. 
Angry residents complained about dirty water, frequent electricity outages, faulty 
street lights and overflowing sanitation infrastructure (Stanton, 2009). Figure 1 
below quantifies service delivery protests in South Africa since 2004 to July 2012 
in numbers. 
 
Figure 1: The Number of Service Delivery Protests between 2004 and 2012 
 
Source: Municipal IQ, 2012 
In analysing reasons behind service delivery protests, Burger (2009) posits that there 
appears to be frustrations and displeasure with the slow pace at which municipalities 
10 
34 
2 
32 27 
105 111 
81 
113 
0
50
100
150
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
  
3 
 
are delivering basic services such as electricity, running water and toilets, more so at 
squatter camps which are lately known as informal settlements within various local 
communities. Unemployment which is officially at around 23% worsens the problems 
of overcrowding at informal settlements, lack of houses, high levels of poverty and 
poor infrastructure at poor local communities. This is as a result of promises 
expressed in various political party manifestos during the election period. Electorates 
are promised that their service delivery needs would be addressed once the new 
government is in place. In this regard it is perhaps also worth considering the fact 
that South African elections normally take place in the April/May period, immediately 
before winter when its harsh realities exacerbate the absence of life’s immediate 
necessities such as decent housing and electricity. Burger (2009) contends that a 
number of other reasons or causes of the public protests are also provided which 
include allegations of rampant corruption and nepotism within local government 
structures. The late Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, 
Sicelo Shiceka, speaking to the South African Local Government Association 
(SALGA) in East London on Wednesday 22 April 2009, admitted that many of South 
Africa’s municipalities are in a state of paralysis and dysfunction.  
Despite the above socio-economic difficulties, the election process has become 
tremendously peaceful, effectively managed, and increasingly routine. Many who 
lived through the apartheid years marvel at the fact that they can now discuss South 
African politics in terms of non-violent political competition, rather than by counting 
politically motivated incidents of intimidation, violence and intolerance (Piombo and 
Nijzink, 2006:03).The African National Congress (ANC) has since 1994 managed to 
gather the necessary electoral support during their election campaigns through their 
well thought-out and coherent manifestos. In all their election manifestos the line 
“Better life for all” keeps cropping up. Many voters (especially the poor) embraced 
these manifestos primarily because they could easily relate to them and such 
manifestos addressed their situation directly. As was expected, these manifestos 
appealed to the majority of voters, most of whom are black and poor. For instance, in 
the ANC’s 1994 national election manifesto (ANC, 1994) they promised among 
others; a government of the people, improved quality of life, jobs and better salaries 
through the introduction of a minimum wage, a growing economy, opportunities for 
small businesses, workers’ rights, ending rural poverty, housing and services for all. 
  
4 
 
Furthermore manifestos that have followed  since 1994 have had the above as 
central themes, hence the ANC 2006 Local Government Manifesto pledged that by 
2014 the ANC-led local governments would have built a South Africa where: 
“a growing economy will enable us to reduce unemployment and poverty by half; the 
economy will have the skills it needs to grow and our people the education they need 
to find employment; everyone will have access to water, electricity and sanitation; 
every South African will be able progressively to exercise their constitutional rights 
and enjoy the full dignity of freedom; there will be fairer distribution of land; there will 
be compassionate government service to the people; health services will be better 
for all and fewer people will be victims of tuberculosis, diabetes and other diseases; 
serious and priority crimes will be reduced, and the time for accused persons to 
await trial will be reduced; our country will be an effective force in international 
relations, and contribute to peace and development in Africa and the creation of a 
better world.”  
These ANC manifestos were inspired by the previous denial of socio-economic rights 
to black South Africans starting with secure residence, decent houses, water, 
electricity and other services during apartheid. Hence the expectation by local 
communities in various municipalities was that all these promises made through 
manifestos should become a reality. Similarly a fast turnaround was not only 
expected, but also demanded, particularly by the urban constituencies (Hemson and 
Owusu-Ampomah. 2005:511). The contents of these election manifestos provided 
comfort, solace and hope to the political and socio-economic historical situation of 
majority of the black South Africans. 
It is against this backdrop that the constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 
108 of 1996 granted local government unprecedented status as a sphere of 
government ‘distinctive, interdependent and interrelated’ with national and provincial 
spheres, which  is charged with the responsibility of addressing years of service 
delivery backlogs created by apartheid.  
The municipality’s right to govern ‘on its own initiative’ and subject only to national 
and provincial legislation has been widely hailed as creating an unusually 
autonomous model of local government. Greÿling (2012) posits that national and 
provincial governments should not hinder or inhibit the right or ability of a 
  
5 
 
municipality to exercise its legislative powers to perform its constitutional functions. 
The objects of local government is to provide a democratic and accountable 
government at local communities, promote social and economic development, 
promote a healthy and safe environment, encourage community involvement in local 
government matters and to provide sustainable services to local communities (Act 
108 of 1996).  
Moreover, municipalities are charged with the responsibility to put in place effective 
administration, budget, plans and develop the communities economically (Hollands 
and Mageza, 2010:09). However, governance failures of municipalities have been 
highlighted by the growing service delivery protests in local communities, which have 
become a routine feature of municipal governance in South Africa in recent years. 
According to Municipal IQ (2012), 2009 and 2010 recorded the highest number of 
service delivery protests and 2011 recorded a decline (Municipal IQ 2012). This 
decline in 2011 is a result of municipal elections of May 2011, which recorded the 
highest voter turnout in the history of municipal elections since 1994 (Independent 
Electoral Commission, 2011). The period leading to the 2011 municipal elections 
was volatile, mainly due to the candidate nomination process of the ANC (Ndletyana, 
2011). 
At the centre of the community protests across the country where service delivery 
issues. In Ficksburg, Andries Tatane one of the protestors died at the hands of the 
police during a community protest (Municipal IQ, 2012). However, these protests 
declined during the months of April and May 2011, this prompted Municipal IQ 
(2012) to conclude that the community consultations during election period by 
political parties mitigated against protest actions by communities. 
There is a likelihood that a number of voters may have made political decisions 
without comparing party manifestos in order to make informed political choice, let 
alone an honest one. Manifestos provide voters with an opportunity to choose the 
party that promises them relevant and realistic policies (Chazan, 1983).  The fact 
that voters may not be knowledgeable about politics does not suggest that they vote 
haphazardly (Wittman, 1989). Voters use other methods to receive information about 
candidates and contesting parties such as following news on the media and 
interaction with peers (Downs, 1957; Lupia and McCunnins, 1998; Key, 1966). North 
  
6 
 
West is among the 8 provinces governed by the ANC in both provincial and local 
government, and also falls amongst the provinces that experience service delivery 
protests. This study has its focus in investigating the relationship between service 
delivery protest and voter turnout in the North West province between 2004 
and2015. 
1.2 Problem Statement 
 
Although South Africa is characterized and described as arguably the most excellent 
model of democracy in Africa and the world, the country has experienced an 
increased number of service delivery protests since the year 2004. North West has 
been one of the provinces experiencing such protests.  The consequences for some 
of these protests have been property destruction, injuries and even worse - deaths. 
Despite people taking to the streets year in and year out since 2004, the ANC has 
continued to enjoy the overwhelming support and confidence of electorates during 
elections, and North West Province remains one province where the ANC has 
remained unshaken at provincial and local government polls. This is because since 
the dawn of democracy the ANC has governed the North West provincial 
government and all local and district municipalities. This therefore suggests that 
there are underlying reasons why people continue to vote for the ANC at every 
election, but soon after stage socio-economic protests demanding basic services 
which include water, electricity, health, education and road infrastructure and houses 
from the ANC-led government.  North West province remains amongst those 
provinces where the ANC has consistently maintained dominance in municipalities 
since the advent of democracy. 
Various studies are yet to succinctly provide scientific explanations why local 
communities protest against the sitting government but during elections, vote the 
ruling party back into office despite its failures in terms of provision of basic services. 
Thus studies conducted prior to the current study have inadequacies in terms of  
offering explanations on whether such service delivery protests ultimately achieve 
their intended objectives or not. In addition from the perspective of this study, 
reasons for voter turnout appear not to have been thoroughly scholarly examined, 
despite the fact that the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has played a 
  
7 
 
significant role (through its civic and voter education programmes) in ensuring that 
the majority of South Africans went to voting stations across the country to cast their 
votes. Also of importance is whether there is a relationship between service delivery 
protests and voter turnout. Though this study focuses on the North West, it can 
provide hypotheses on the relationship between service delivery protests and voter 
turnout that could possibly be tested against the rest of South Africa, particularly 
provinces where the ANC consistently takes the leadership of municipalities.  
1.3. Research Questions 
Based on the above background and problem statement the following questions 
can be posed: 
 Have service delivery protests achieved their objectives in various 
communities in the North West Province? 
 What informs voter support for the ANC irrespective of dissatisfaction with 
service delivery in the North West Province? 
 What informs voter turnout at the voting stations in the North West 
Province? 
1.4. Aim and Objectives 
The main aim of this study is to examine the relationship between service 
delivery protests and voter turnout in the North West Province. The specific 
objectives of the study are to: 
 Investigate whether service delivery protest do achieve their objectives in 
various communities in the North West Province.  
 Provide reasons for what informs voter support for the African National 
Congress irrespective of dissatisfaction with service delivery the North 
West Province.  
 To investigate and explain factors contributing to voter turnout at various 
voting stations. 
1.5. Outline of Chapters 
 
  
8 
 
The chapters are structured and briefly elucidated below: 
Chapter One-Introduction   
This chapter provides an overview of this current study. This is carried out through 
providing the background and research problem and also outlining the research 
questions and objectives which guide the empirical inquiry of the study.  
Chapter Two- Theoretical Framework and Literature Review 
Chapter two presents the theory guiding the study scholarly inquiry of this study. The 
chapter further pounders on the existing literature on this subject through specifically 
revealing the gaps and limitations providing the necessity for this study to be carried 
out.  
Chapter Three-Research Methodology  
Chapter three outlines and explains the research method and data collection 
techniques employed in the process of sourcing data. In addition, explanations are 
provided to justify the usage of the research methods and data collection techniques. 
Included also in this chapter is the presentation of the research site. Moreover, 
reasons are also provided for choosing this specific site. 
Chapter Four-Presentation of Findings  
This chapter presents the research findings from the fieldwork in line with the 
research questions posed and the research instruments. 
Chapter Five-Discussion of Findings  
Chapter five discusses the findings presented in chapter four against the literature 
reviewed in chapter two. This is carried out to map out the correlation of the findings 
with the literature and also indicate contribution of this current study in expanding on 
the existing literature.  
 
Chapter Six-Conclusion and Recommendations  
  
9 
 
This chapter presents conclusions of this study and also attempts to suggest and 
identify future research that could possibly be conducted on this subject. Finally, 
recommendations are presented for various parties that may be interested such as 
government, political parties and Electoral Commission for future policy 
implementation and actions.   
 
1.6 Summary 
This chapter presented the background to the study and the problem statement. It 
further presented the research questions which were followed by the objectives of 
the study. The chapter presented the layout of the study from the first to the last 
chapter. The following chapter has its focus on the theoretical framework and the 
literature review. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
10 
 
CHAPTER TWO 
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW 
2.1 Introduction 
This chapter focuses on the theoretical lenses applied in the study. It is a 
composition of a theoretical framework and review of literature on elections, political 
participation and service delivery. Literature is captured on variables of the study 
from credible sources and in the end, the study gap is succinctly demonstrated 
emerging from the literature presented. 
2.2 Theoretical Framework 
The following section specifically focuses on the theory guiding the study. 
2.2.1. Relative Deprivation Theory 
 
Relative deprivation theory was employed because of its specific applicability to the 
study on the basis that it captures adequately and further characterizes factors that 
explain social discontentment and social movements for change. According to Flynn 
(2011) social deprivation theory refers to   feelings of deprivation and discontent 
which arise when desires become legitimate expectations and those desires are not 
met. It has two variants: egoistic and fraternal deprivation (group deprivation). On the 
one hand, egoistic deprivation refers to single individual feelings of comparative 
deprivation. On the other hand, fraternal deprivation refers to the discontent arising 
from the status of the entire group as compared to another group as a reference. In 
situation were fraternal deprivation is too extensive and widespread the possibility of 
violence becomes high (Gurr, 1975). Thus, when people have a feeling and are 
aware that there is an impediment to the realization of their expectations, there is the 
likelihood of a social protest (Gurr, 1975). Relative deprivation is what people 
perceive as a contradiction between value expectation and value capability 
(Runciman, 1966). The essence of social deprivation is that people’s expectations 
are not in line with the realities. 
  
11 
 
This explanation of relative deprivation theory is helpful because it teases-out major 
characteristics of the drivers of social unrest and their linkages to service delivery in 
South Africa. The objects of local government for instance legally oblige local 
government in particular to ensure the provision of services to communities in a 
sustainable manner and also promote social and economic development (RSA, 
1996). However, most local communities embark on protest or social unrest due to 
the failure of local government to meet its constitutional obligations. To this end, the 
social deprivation theory resonates well with this situation since there is an 
impediment to people’s realization of their expectations and constitutional rights and 
this result in protests. In this regard, local communities that are often protesting 
against local government feel that their expectations of government concerning its 
responsibility of providing basic services are not in line with their reality. Due to the 
latter observation, unmet expectations mount into frustrations which instigate violent 
community protest against local government.  
2.3. Literature Review 
The following section specifically looks into the theory guiding this study. 
2.3.1. Service Delivery Protests and their objectives in South Africa 
 
It is commonly understood that service delivery is the provision of public goods or 
services to the public or those who need such service by an organization or 
government (Mc Lennan and Munslow, 2009). In the context of South Africa, service 
delivery can be defined in line with the history of the country. According to Hemson 
and Owusu-Ampomah (2005), it encompasses the social, economic and political 
redress in order to uplift the living standard of the majority in the country and to affirm 
that the previously disadvantaged groups are part of the new South Africa. For 
instance, given the apartheid legacy and history of South Africa, service delivery by 
government is strongly associated with social justice, economic growth, poverty 
alleviation and redistribution (Shaidi, 2013). This is in line with section 152 (1) (b) of 
the constitution which states that the object of local governments is “to ensure the 
provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner”.  
 
  
12 
 
Government has been implementing such section of the constitution through 
providing quality services to the many local communities across the country. 
Contrary to this, the government has equally failed to optimally render services 
needed by the local communities timeously if they do at all.  The failure of 
government to provide quality services to the communities can be attributed to the 
three factors as it is described by Nyamukachi (2009). According to Nyamukachi 
(2009) government is unable to achieve the service delivery targets it has budgeted 
and planned for. While at the same time, government is also unable to provide 
services that are not budgeted and planned for (Nyamukachi, 2009)  ; and the 
incompetency of government to render services, for instance, the poor state or 
quality of built RDP houses, roads and the number of hospitals and clinics that are 
poorly equipped.   
Likewise, Hemson (2009) also opined that it is evident that South African 
government lacked the skills, relevant human capital and the know-how to manage 
the sophisticated systems put in place by government and the competency to 
efficiently deliver on its constitutional mandate of public service provision.  Naturally, 
this point is exonerated by the high number of protests reported in many 
communities since 2004.  As a sphere that is closer to the people, municipalities find 
it hard to come up with coherent strategies for provision of affordable public services 
to the people. To circumvent this competency problem Ntlebi and Maphunye (2003) 
contend that municipal workers must at all times endeavour to perform in a manner 
that will optimally increase their efficiency and improvement of the quality of service 
delivery by such an important institution.  
However, Ntlebi and Maphunye (2003) and Hemson (2009) do not suggest concrete 
ways in which local government can effectively deliver services to the communities. 
Additionally, these scholars do not reveal whether service delivery protests are 
justified or have an objective they intend to achieve. In light of this, this study 
acknowledges the efforts made by government to render services to the people, 
albeit not effectively and timeously as it would have liked. In order to circumvent the 
incapacity of public officials and improve the speed at which services are rendered, 
the national sphere of government should conduct qualifications and relevant 
experience audit on all its employees especially at local government level. This is 
  
13 
 
important because this sphere is closer to the people and it is empowered by the 
constitution to render services to the people.  
 
On the other hand, South Africa has recorded a steady rise in the number of service 
delivery protests since 2004. In 2004 the accounted numbers of protests stood at 10; 
in 2012 they dramatically rose to 173. The causes of these protests elude the policy-
makers and the academic fraternity. This has as a result made efforts to resolve this 
phenomenon difficult.  Kunene and Maseng (2011) assert that ‘causes of service 
delivery protests in South Africa are seriously complex.’ Therefore it means efforts to 
resolve them would vary according to the specific demands and necessities from one 
community to another, rather than just using a blanket approach.  
 
A layman would argue that the causes of this phenomenon are very simple and 
direct, and state the lack of delivery of services. Therefore delivery of services would 
solve this problem. Questions that arise are who determines what services should be 
delivered to the masses how and when, and what are the expectations of the people 
as far as delivery of services is concerned. Do the people demand what has been 
promised by political parties, do they get mobilized to fight political battles of some 
political principals or are they genuine about lack of delivery of services and why is 
the government not able to deliver services? As South Africans demonstrate their 
dissatisfaction about the lack of service delivery, they engage in other criminal 
activities. 
 
Allan and Heese (2014) argue the common class that protests are the poorer, in 
particular the marginalized parts of urban townships. Members of these communities 
compare their sense of deprivation with their daily misfortunes, lack of sanitation, 
lack of water and electricity and marginally more developed neighbouring towns and 
townships. As such, more developed area in which RDP houses have been built, or 
schools built or roads constructed become magnets for migration. 
 
This consistent eruption of service delivery protest in South Africa led Alexandra 
(2012) to declare South Africa a ‘protest capital of the world’. Ngwane (2014) asserts 
that protests and strikes are an expression of the organic capacity of the working 
  
14 
 
class to engage in collective action and organization that can effect fundamental 
change because of its historical and structural location in capitalist society 
(Grossman, 1985; Marx and Engels, 2005). This premise is at the centre of practical 
Marxism but the advent of “globalisation” and the changes that it engenders has 
raised new questions and new difficulties, including the argument that the changing 
composition of the working class has greatly reduced the scope and applicability of 
this notion. It has been suggested, for example, that labour market bifurcation in 
South Africa has led to the fragmentation of the working class creating divisions 
between employed, unemployed and precariously employed workers (Moody, 1997; 
Munck, 1999; Standing, 1999). This has led to the argument that: “In Marxist terms, 
the [economic] growth path had the consequence of putting the unemployed, most of 
whom were unskilled and inexperienced, in an objectively different relation to 
productive forces than the employed” (Seekings and Nattrass, 2005, p. 294). This 
raises the question of whether: “Can we still speak about the working class in South 
Africa?” (Ceruti, 2010a). 
Nleya (2011) asks if community protests take place in high number at informal 
settlements that formal settlement. In other words, if the service delivery is at the 
core of community protests then informal settlements would be recording higher 
number of protests than formal settlement. It should be considered that informal 
settlements are the host of unemployment and poverty (CCT, 2005). With this in 
mind, it is possible that both unemployment and poverty could be the main catalysts 
of community protests. The three realities of unemployment, poverty and lack of 
service delivery at local communities might gather the feelings of deprivation 
suffered residents of informal settlements and decide to protest and not necessarily 
protesting for poor service delivery.     
Allan and Heese (2014) maintain that with high number of protests taking place 
during 2014 the public could be concerned about when, why and where will they 
happen next. The absence of response from authorities and analysts do not help to 
cool off this public concern. The real causes of the protest are generally 
misunderstood and this has allowed for many speculations and even questioning if 
indeed the protests are as a result of poor service delivery. But for Municipal IQ 
(2012), the term “service delivery protest if not always absolutely accurate is wholly 
adequate – it describes a protest which is galvanized by inadequate local services or 
  
15 
 
tardy service delivery, the responsibility for which lies with a municipality. The term is 
also useful in that it makes clear that there are similar protests occurring across the 
country – to re-define such protests in different ways confuses the issue and draws 
attention away from the fact that this is a national phenomenon with some pressing 
causes.” 
Futhermore, protest happens because the people can do it and they want to engage 
in it. The question that follows now is what do the protests intend to achieve. 
According to Klandermans (1984) people participate in protest because they are 
motivated to do so. In this case such a motivation is the non-provision of services to 
the people by the government. These services (water, electricity, clinics, and roads) 
are regarded as very essential to the communities as they are needed for daily lively 
hood. Once they find the motivation they weigh it against the cost of the protest 
action so that they can reap the benefits from such actions.  
 
Related to service delivery, Seokoma (2010) asserts that in a democratic country 
municipalities should prioritize meetings between the people and municipalities 
regarding which services are mostly needed over others. This will establish a good 
partnership between the people and municipalities; and will allow government to 
know which services are needed and also give account of their progress on service 
delivery issues.  This assertion does not guarantee whether or not service delivery 
protests will stop should municipalities prioritise community engagements. 
Community engagements are encouraged but there is no guarantee that public 
officials will do the actual implementation of what was agreed on during the 
meetings. 
 
As such, service delivery protests have taken many forms in different communities 
depending on their causes. It can only be observed that different community needs 
caused protests. However, there are services that are common to majority of 
communities; such are water, electricity, employment and health care services. What 
is also observed from this section is that many communities do not achieve the 
objectives of their protests. Some reasons for this is that after the a community 
engages in a protest more than once with similar demands, the public officials do not 
respect and stick to the response period given by protestors and in some instances 
  
16 
 
those who lead protests withdraw themselves from it due to being employed or have 
a position in a party.  
 
Although the literature reviewed in this section points out the reasons and causes of 
service delivery protests in commonly rural or township areas, scholarship reviewed 
did not conduct a comparative analysis between service delivery protests that are 
taking place at rural and urban areas. The two settings are not the same in terms of 
services they require hence it is vital that scholars draw a link between service 
delivery protests objectives and voting behaviour in a rural setting versus the one in 
an urban setting. The existing literature fails to provide insights on whether service 
delivery protests do achieve their intended objectives. On the same note, the current 
literature does not provide accounts on why communities protest against the ruling 
party and at the same time vote for this party during elections.  
 
  
2.3.2. The politics of voting and party preferences 
 
Studies conducted by Merriam and Gosnell (1924) reveal that the major cause of 
non-voting is indifference whereas those who vote do so due to the political or 
candidate preferences they need to express, and those who abstain from voting do 
not simply care about who wins or loses elections. Political and journalism scholars 
agree that a low or high voter turnout is informed by the voters’ preference on 
candidates or parties contesting elections at that time (Blais, 2010). 
 
In order to understand the voting and party preferences in a society, Letsholo (2005) 
argues that the concept of voting behaviour must be examined. As such, voting 
behaviour means that there are elements which electorates use to determine which 
political parties they should vote for and why. These determinants include public 
policy preference, political attitude and partisanship and the current socio-political 
and economic conditions within which elections are taking place (Letsholo, 2005). 
 
According to Redlawsk and Lau (2006), the main platform for political and electoral 
representation in contemporary system of representative democracy is competitive, 
  
17 
 
regular, free and credible elections.  Such elections allow the citizens to influence 
which party must be elected, the shape of public policy of the party and the shape of 
government. It is imperative that on election day every eligible voter goes to the 
voting station and make the correct choice on the ballot. Barro (1973) and Ferejohn 
(1986) add that elections are a critical bridge between the politicians and party and 
the citizens in that if the citizens are not happy with parties or politicians performance 
in office, elections afford them the chance to ‘throw the rascals out’.  However, the 
electoral system used, such as PR, may limit the power of that vote. PR allows for 
parties to identify who becomes a leader and it gives the parties the power to recall 
or not elected representatives irrespective of their performance. Marsh and 
Gallagher (1998) stress that even if the constituency-based system is used in an 
election, political parties present a very restricted list of candidates for different 
constituencies. In this manner, candidates are selected by parties through what 
Marsh and Gallagher (1998) label ‘black box of party politics or the secret garden of 
candidate nomination’. There are number of ways to examine party support during 
elections and some are discussed briefly below: 
 
These days political parties are engaged in constant and permanent political 
campaigning to get voter support during elections (Norris, 2000). But, before any 
campaigning can be effectively carried out by political parties or candidates the 
election date must be known by everybody. Political campaigns are regarded as 
worthy as they permit voters to choose wisely. The importance of political 
campaigning in electoral democracy is that it serves the purpose of influencing the 
voters to vote for a party that is campaigning. The nature of the campaign will either 
induce the voters or make no impact on their choice of parties (Baron, 1994).  
Moreover, political parties use informative campaigns to induce voters to support 
them and believe in their policies. Differently put, Baron (1994) says the electorates 
believe, follow and support a party that invests in informative campaigning. 
Therefore, political parties tend to focus more on groups that their campaigns may 
have more impact. As a result, these groups produce high voter turnout in relation to 
campaigning, change of mind from the opposition members to a campaigning party 
and secure voter support from such electorate (Butler, 2003). 
 
  
18 
 
Attached to political campaigning is the funding for political parties. Opposition 
parties contend that the current system of funds allocation puts the ruling party at an 
advantage as it allocates the ruling party far more than other political parties. The 
system that is in use in South Africa is guided by the public funding of represented 
political parties Act 103 of 1997. In terms of allocation of funds the Act states under 
section 2 that “ (2) (a) Allocations from the Fund must be made and paid to each of 
the political parties concerned in accordance with a prescribed formula based 
 a weighted scale of representation for an allocation to each of the political 
parties represented 
 (aaa) in the National Assembly; or (bbb) in any provincial legislature; or (ccc) 
both in the National Assembly and any provincial legislature.” 
 
In other words, the Act and its regulations allocate the funds to political parties 
according to proportional representation of parties at National Assembly and / or the 
Provincial Legislatures. This funding has helped the ANC to consolidate its power 
over the years in South African politics to the disadvantage of other parties (Booysen 
and Masterson, 2009). The ruling ANC has more resources than any other party to 
effectively engage in mobilization during election time. For instance, the IEC in 2009 
made an allocation of R 88 million to all represented parties and the ANC alone 
received R 61 million, the DA received R 10.5 million and the rest of the parties 
shared the remaining R16.5 million (Booysen and Masterson, 2009). This means 
that, according to this Act, the smaller parties such as UCDP, PAC, ACDP that are 
contesting elections in the Ngaka Modiri Molema district municipality do not stand a 
chance against the ANC.  Therefore, the application of this Act arguably continues to 
put the ruling ANC as the favourite party as its financial strength allows it to distribute 
resources to its constituencies and the constituencies in turn continue to vote for the 
ANC. 
 
Another factor associated with party preference is partisanship. Partisanship permits 
voters of each party to stand out from the rest. This is because a party would 
distribute resources to its stronghold in a ward and such stronghold voters tend to 
brag to the others about how effective and considerate their party is. To these voters, 
it does not really matter if their party’s leadership is credible, or their policies are 
  
19 
 
good or bad, they only support their party due to being provided for by the party in 
the past and the present (Gerber and Huber, 2010; Green, Schickler, and Palmquist, 
2002). As such, if one party constantly provides and distributes resources to a 
constituency, such constituency is more likely to vote for that party over and over 
again (Holbrook and McClurg, 2005). 
 
In other instances voting and party preference are realised on the basis of an 
established clientelism. The people who are in an established clientele relationship 
do not care too much about the ideology of a candidate or party, they simply vote on 
the basis of their relationship. Vicente and Wantchkon (2009) argue that in most 
democratic systems around the world the bad policies make good politics and 
conversely, good policies make bad politics. During election period all that is 
important to parties and candidates is the voting support and not necessarily good 
policies.   
 
Although clientelism has different forms, in the end it involves a patron and client 
service which benefits both parties. Young (2009) posits that clientelism is generally 
regarded as a constituency service where no personal favours is given to the client 
by the patron in exchange for a vote; a case in point is that of Robert Byrd who built 
bridges for the people of West Virginia and in returns they continuously vote for him 
every elections. Naturally, voters (clients) feel a sense of obligation to vote for the 
buyer (patron) after an exchange of any material resource in return of a vote. This 
compels the voters to party preferences in accordance with the gentlemen 
agreement into between client and patron. Obviously, such a material or any benefit 
would force voters to one party or candidate over others even if their policies are 
bad. 
 
Given this, both participants of the client-patron relationship are automatically 
participants in elections and have a reasonable expectation of election victory. As 
much as the Young and Vicente and Wantchkon have conducted studies on this 
clientelism subject, they have not tested whether clientelism is bad or good for Africa 
in particular. Despite the fact that clientelism is closer to vote buying, it should be 
credited for ensuring that many voters participate in elections to determine who 
should be in government even if they have illicit voting reasons. 
  
20 
 
 
This section revealed that a majority of voters in SA continues to vote for the ANC 
despite any negative evaluation that can be made against it. The ANC’s dominance 
and historic position as the liberation movement also play a role on why it still 
commands the voters’ respect in every election as many voters want to be 
associated with it. The opposition parties continue to cry foul at the implementation 
of the public funding system in the country in that it is not inclusive, and advantages 
the ANC as a party with majority in parliament at the expense of other parties. This 
section also observed that the electoral system (PR) currently used in South Africa 
also ensures that many parties get representation in parliament with ANC as a 
dominant party. This dominance allows and gives platform to the ANC to cover 
broader parts of the country during their campaigns, to have a possible clientelism 
character and attract private investment and funding. These are the most probable 
reasons behind ANC’s electoral victory over the years.  
 
Protests do not necessarily suggest that the protesters do not support the incumbent 
political party (Booysen, 2011). If anything, protesters may as well be members of 
the ruling party that protestation is staged against. What can be deduced from this 
section is that voter support for the ANC is not impacted by community protests or 
the causes/reasons thereof.  Even though scholars reviewed in this section point out 
various reasons for party preference and support during elections, it also provide 
very limited explanations and reasons why communities protests against the lack of 
service delivery by ANC government but still continue to vote for the ANC in majority 
during elections.  
 
2.3.3. Factors of Voter-turnout in South Africa 
  
Voter turnout is defined as the total number of people who cast their vote in a 
particular election and normally is announced in a percentage format. Contrary to 
how simple this definition sounds, there is a controversy about the methods of 
achieving a voter turnout percentage. Pintor (2002) states that the main method for 
achieving voter turnout percentage is through determining the total votes cast. One 
negative factor about this method is that it includes both valid and invalid votes. It 
  
21 
 
also provides no independent comparison to voters who decided to abstain in an 
election. On the other hand, this method takes the total votes cast and divides that 
number by the number of registered voters on the voters roll. This is the method that 
is used by the IEC in SA.  
 
According to Schulz-Herzenberg (2014) and Malada (2015), for the May 2014 
national and provincial elections of South Africa, the Electoral Commission of South 
Africa (IEC) registered 25, 3 million voters.  According to the IEC, the overall 
registration level increased to 81% of all eligible voters (the voting age population, or 
VAP, constitutes all citizens aged 18 years and over). The IEC bases its calculations 
on Statistics South Africa census figures, which indicated that there were 31, 4 
million eligible voters in 2011. However, South Africa’s population has grown since 
2011. The 2013 population estimates suggest that the VAP is 32,7 million people 
(Figure 1).  On this basis, the overall registration level was 78% in 2014. The 
recalculation of the VAP using the latest census estimates makes it clear that well 
over 7 million people remained unregistered at the 2014 elections, instead of the 6 
million suggested by IEC figures. Registration levels at provincial level show that the 
largest voter populations are found in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), and the 
Eastern and Western Cape. The highest voter registration levels are in the Free 
State and the Eastern Cape, while the lowest are in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the 
Western Cape. Some of the most populous provinces thus have the lowest levels of 
registered voters (Gauteng and Western Cape). 
 
73% of voters participated in the 2014 national elections was 73%, this points out 
that there is a decline of 4%  if compared to the last two elections’ turnouts of 77%. 
Voter turnout is examined as a proportion of the eligible voting-age population 
turnout that participated in a specific election. Therefore, the above statistics indicate 
that voter turnout has declined from 86% in 1994 to 72% in 1999 and 58% in 2004. 
Although there was small voter turnout increase to 60% in 2009, in 2014 voter 
turnout decreased by 3% and dropped to 57%. Drawing from these figures, it 
appears that the number of South Africans who are eligible to vote but are not 
participating in elections is growing steadily. This fact might be due to the fact that 
  
22 
 
the fraternal deprivation group lost hope on participating in the elections due to lack 
of changes in their socio-economic status.  
 
To this end, this study focuses on partisanship and voter apathy as voter turnout 
factors. Partisanship is seen when political parties favour constituencies that have a  
majority of their support. Larcinese, Snyder and Testa (2013) hold the view that 
parties pay attention to such constituencies in order to induce high voter turnout 
during elections, or even to soften them for their support for major policy shifts. The 
primary purpose of this inducement is for parties to receive more votes come 
election time. Cox and  McCubbins (1986), Dixit (1998)  and  Londregan (1996) go 
further to agree that parties even use ‘political networks’ as researchers of the urgent 
needs of the people so that distribution of resources and goods are well facilitated. 
The two main reasons for this approach is for parties to build permanent party 
loyalists and have a long term electoral benefit (Dixit and Londregan, 1996). 
 
Abramowitz and Webster (2015) add that partisanship also divides communities as 
supporters of different major parties do not get along due to political affiliations. Due 
to this, voters of each party regard others as different from themselves in relation to 
their social beliefs, norms and values.  Given this, supporters of each party view 
other party leaders negatively and are very unlikely to vote for them in any election 
(Bafumi and Shapiro, 2009). In many instances partisanship affects the ability of 
voters to make subjective judgements such as which leader would make a better 
president, and objective assessment such as evaluation of the economy (Bartels, 
2002 and Gerber and Huber, 2010). Supporters may support a certain party position 
that is in line with their partisanship, not because it necessarily correct but because it 
is a way Act of displaying their support to their party (Gerber and Huber, 2010; 
Green, Schickler, and Palmquist, 2002) 
 
Partisanship and distributive politics normally happen in the pre-election period. They 
have electoral effects on voter participation in elections. According to Dixit and 
Londregan (1996) and Stokes (2005), voters have two interests during elections: 
ideological preferences and receiving distributive benefits. Aldrich (1993) also states 
that because the Act of turnout is costly to voters, voters go out and vote only if their 
preferred candidate is adequately strong. 
  
23 
 
 
Moreover, Chen (2012) posits that partisanship and distributive politics (before 
elections) may have one of three effects on voters. Firstly, the delivering of 
resources before elections to a voter with a strong ideological favour towards the 
incumbent may motivate them to turn out and secure re-election of the incumbent. 
Secondly, the delivering of resources before elections to a voter with a strong 
ideological favour to the challenger may persuade the voter not to turn out to justify 
their indifference towards the incumbent. And lastly, the delivering of resources 
before elections to a voter with no ideological favour to the two candidates may 
influence the voter to a preferred candidate and turn out. 
 
Furthermore, partisanship is not a cast in stone; it may shift from one election to 
another (Sigelman and Jewell, 1986). In order to realize this shift, voters of one party 
must increase and be more than those of the opposition. This shift may not be too 
large though, as partisanship shift is quite a mammoth experience. According to 
Holbrook and McClurg (2005) parties should spend their money to efficiently 
mobilize and canvass support of partisans and non-partisans in order to secure 
election victory. There are two reasons for turnout increase through effective 
mobilization campaign. The first benefit is that it provides partisans with voter 
education and much-needed resources. This mobilization will create an exciting 
election atmosphere and boost the psychological benefits of turnout (Verba et 
al,1995). The second benefit is that it activates the electorates about the election 
day. Coates and Humphreys (2005) add that this is a psychological benefit of 
turnout. Some supporters are like sports supporters who are most likely to go to a 
stadium to support their team if does well. Similarly, if their party is not doing well 
they do not go and vote during elections (Marcus et al, 2000).  
 
Another factor of voter turnout is voter apathy. According to Crewe et al (1992) there 
exist different perceptions that explain voter apathy. According to Yakubu (2012) 
voter apathy is the lack of interest on the part of a voter to participate in election 
processes, including voting on election day. Cloud (2010) also suggests that low 
voter turnout is brought about voter electorates who are eligible to vote in elections 
but do not. While both Yakubu (2012) and Cloud (2010) maintain that voters may 
lose interest in participating in elections and be discouraged to take part in voting, 
  
24 
 
they do not clarify further why is that voter turnout continue to be high during general 
elections. Taking this to South African context, both scholars do not explain the 
reasons for over 50% voter turnout in all national and provincial elections in South 
Africa since 1994. To take it further, voter apathy as a political behaviour may be 
giving allowing a dominant party (in this case the ANC) to win elections and 
disadvantage opposition parties. As discussed in the previous sections, ANC’s 
electoral strength is historical and very unlikely to lose power any time soon. This is 
despite all the negative perceptions or facts associated with it and are validated by 
the ANC’s victory in previous polls.  
 
At the same time qualifying non-voters and inactive citizens could be a problem to 
the legitimacy of a properly elected government.  This is because a government that 
is elected by few voters does not reflect and represent the aspirations, values and 
beliefs of the greater citizenry (Roberts 2009). Chinsinga (2006) points out that even 
if voter turnout is an important measure of electoral democracy and legitimacy of 
elected officials, voters could be expressing their indifference towards the system. 
 
During election campaigns, the candidates and parties use the election hype 
atmosphere to make promises to the electorates that are often not met after 
elections and this leads to voter apathy and low voter turnout (Falade, 2008). The 
expectation of voters from parties is for parties to present good candidates and 
relevant policy positions (Amdi, 2014). This means that voters are more likely to vote 
for a party that meets their expectation. If their expectations are not represented by 
any party they are likely to stay away from voting.  
 
In the end,, efforts made by political parties through canvassing and servicing their 
constituencies play a significant role in whether people go out and vote on election 
day. Through partisanship, this section revealed that if parties are taking care of their 
strong holds such masses are more likely to vote on election day as opposed to 
constituencies that are not attended. However, the scholars reviewed above do give 
a good account on factors affecting voter turnout at voting stations but does not 
sharply give an insight on which party benefit directly through such a turnout. There 
is a possibility of an election victory for the opposition even if such voters have 
received distributed resources. Conversely, voters may decide not to vote in an 
  
25 
 
election due to not preferred candidates contesting, corruption or perceived 
corruption of the candidates or parties. Thus, a positive voter turnout is entirely a 
shared responsibility between election contestants, election management body, 
voters and all election stakeholders.    
 
2.3.4. Elections in South Africa, a vehicle of political contestations 
 
Elections are a prominent vehicle in terms of facilitating political participation and 
procedural democracy. For instance, Huntington (1991) and Ndletyana (2015) state 
that elections have been identified as one the most significant elements of 
democratisation. The more regularly elections are held the better, and the likelihood 
of chances for democratic consolidation.    
Some scholars hold the view that regular elections provide an important 
accountability mechanism by allowing citizens to decide whether or not to extend a 
government’s tenure (Lumumba-Kasongo, 2005; Schulz-Herzenberg, 2009a; 
Ndletyana, 2015). De Kock (2011), also contributes to the latter assertion through 
observing that elections contribute to consolidation of democracy in the following 
facets of political life: 
 Political participation  
 Deciding who leads or not,  
 Consolidation of power of the ruling party or leaders,  
 Campaign by leaders to occupy political office and also 
 Political socialization of society.  
Regarding political participation, in accordance with Munroe’s (2002) definition, 
political participation is the extent to which voters’ involvement in political processes 
is very active. For Huntington and Nelson (1976) political participation is an Act of 
private citizens to make a contribution and influence how the government is run, and 
its decision making.  These Acts and involvement should not be restricted to 
conventional forms such as participation in protest, hunger strikes, demonstrations, 
sit-ins, boycotts, free speech and voting (Martinielo, 2005).   
 
  
26 
 
The above stated authors’ arguments importantly are in line with the assertion that 
democracy is regarded as the rule of the people for the people and by the people. 
This places the word “the people” as the common denominator, that is, in the centre 
of any democratic government. Therefore participatory democracy demands 
involvement of active citizenship in the affairs of the any democratic nation. 
According to Kanyinga (2014), this is a democratic principle that is accepted 
universally as a basis for a just and inclusive society.   
 
Furthermore, political participation is not just a domestic affair of a country but and 
international principle. It is stated under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 
(UDHR) (1948) that “everyone has the right to take part in the government of his/her 
country, directly or through freely chosen representatives”.  To emphasize this 
further, it is also stated under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 
(ICCPR) (1996) that all citizens shall have the opportunity and rights to “(a) take part 
in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives, (b) 
vote and be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and 
equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of 
the will of the electors and (c) have access, on general terms of equality, to public 
service in his (or her) country”. 
 
Kanyinga (2014) states that if government provides to the citizens platforms of 
participation, making political choices during elections and referenda, such actions 
are very significant in consolidating democracy. Such participation permits the 
citizens to install a government that is responsive to their needs and can hold such 
government accountable during their tenure in office. This could allow a democratic 
space wherein government enforces laws without favour or prejudice and in turn the 
citizens obey and respect the laws conscientiously (Kanyinga, 2014). 
 
According to Mapuva (2010), in Africa, elections are a period were the next day is 
not guaranteed to be seen. This is the period where contesting parties and 
candidates despair. For a number of stakeholder it is a time of anxiety, it is a time 
where the ruling parties and politicians assess whether the masses will put them 
back into power or not (Masunugure, 2009 and Vorobyev, 2010). As for the 
opposition parties, elections are a time where they need to prove and display that 
  
27 
 
their policies are far better than those of the incumbent parties, the time to illustrate 
that they may be a better option for the people (Mapuva, 2014). Melber (2002) adds 
that it is a time for opposition to develop a thick skin to face the harsh reality of an 
uneven playing field, harassment of its members, abuse of state resources, and 
even worse, killings of their members. And, Hammar (2008) states, that it is a time 
where electorates are being taken for a ride with false promises and subjected to 
distributive (especially food) politics. It is for these reasons that Duodu (2010) loosely 
defines elections as the most dangerous period in politics. 
 
According to Stigler (1972) political contestation is a feature of any democratic 
politics and as such Frejohn (1986) points out that the ruling party provides the 
policies that are in sync with the needs and aspirations of the electorates during 
election time. Dahl (1971) argues that this contestation may be dissected into two 
parts, namely (a) the rationality of the contestation is that there is political power 
competition and (b) it is the cornerstone for free and fair elections and credible 
democracy. Therefore Vanhanen (1990 and 1997) argues that political party 
competition is beneficial to the voters in that they seek to develop and implement 
programmes that are demanded by electorates. Political plurality is the demand that 
occurs equally at all levels of elections (local, regional or national). Chhibber and 
Kollman (1998) and Cox (1999) assert that if there is a close linkage of elections at 
different levels then it implies that there is more political plurality at national level 
than in other spheres. 
 
Finally, Cox (1997) and Iversen (1994) argue that it is important for power 
contestation to exist because the needs and preferences of the leaders and voters 
diverge. This is because the leaders have a better knowledge of how government is 
run and can abuse their power easily. The self-imposed leader tends to have 
different preferences to those of the people (Iversen, 1994). Similarly, emphasis is 
made by Lust (2009) that elections play an important role in facilitating the access to 
state power and resources by the political parties through political contestation. This 
contestation implies that there is varying party preferences and parties contest for 
votes of such voters who may still to decide which party to vote for.  As discussed 
above, elections are the main event for political participation and contestation in 
every country. However, not much is discussed about how such contestation 
  
28 
 
encourages voter turnout or even whether such contestation helps protests achieve 
their objectives or not.  
 
2.3.5. Functions of Elections in the South African Context  
 
Anglin (1998) contends that elections remain the primary cardinal of any democratic 
system which the citizens could use to elect and remove leaders from power. At the 
same time, Powel (2000) contends that elections are the mechanism which the 
citizens can utilize to ‘compel or encourage the policy-makers to pay attention to 
citizens’. This implies that the ruling party is temporarily holding power and mandate 
of all the citizens until fresh elections are due. The opposition parties are important 
role-players in a democracy as they provide a test to the ruling party and without 
them there is no way to test the competency of the ruling party (Mesfin, 2008).  
 
Furthermore, studies conducted by Kiisa (2005), Lonescu and Madariaga (1968) 
reveal that elections need the existence of multipartyism in order for citizens to make 
informed political decisions when voting for parties with programmes that are in line 
with their political beliefs, norms  and values. Multipartyism should be in a form of 
different opposition parties so that they can criticise and check the performance of 
the ruling party by pointing out flaws of the governing party’s policies and provide 
alternatives with the hope that voters will put them into power during the next 
elections (Kiisa, 2005). 
 
Since 1994, South Africa has held consecutive elections for national, provincial and 
local government levels. If it is true that ‘elections are regarded as a sanctioning 
device that induces elected officials to do what the voters want,’ then in South Africa 
and probably in other parts of the world, elections can be a device that the ruling 
party can use to remain in power.  
Different meaning can be attached to the outcome of elections. For an example, 
Mqobsi (2008) captured the views of Afrikaners in their election victory of 1948 thus; 
‘the Afrikaners’ historical source of anxiety, the fear that their language and culture 
would be buried in the darkness of barbarism from within or swamped by the 
predators from abroad was momentarily allayed. So to some, elections symbolise 
  
29 
 
cultural, religious, ethnic, racial and ideological value. In supporting this view, 
Terreblanch (1999) observes that ‘without any experience of the proper use of the 
political power, and carried away by the emotional élan of the volksbewegin 
(nationalist movement) the NP (National Party) misused its political power on a 
grand scale: it manipulated the constitutional system to perpetuate NP rule, and 
passed a plethora of racial laws to suppress and exploit blacks to an greater degree 
than the white governments that had preceded it.’ This view purports the sentiments 
that elections are indeed a device that can be used in a good or bad way in a 
particular political system. Elections are not exclusively a feature for a democratic 
rule. Mqobsi (2008) regards the 1948 election as a travesty, a mockery and can be 
utterly discredited. 
 
Generally, the success and shortfalls of an election can be measured by the degree 
to which it contributes to or sabotages political stability in a country. The quality of 
elections has important domestic and international consequences worthy of 
consideration by all election stakeholders (Abuya, 2010). For example, the outcome 
of the Zimbabwean presidential elections of 2008 did not trigger destruction of 
properties, widespread violence or death of civilians as was the case in Kenya’s 
2007 presidential elections. However, the situation in the country (Zimbabwe) was 
not calm, in fact widespread violation of human rights were reported in the period 
leading up to, during and after elections.   
 
In addition, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Good Governance 
stresses the significance of elections in the process of power change. In line with 
these assertions, it is supposed that political elections afford the people the chance 
to vote and choose what happens to the future of their country (Heywood, 2002).  
This gives the impression that elections are equal to democracy, but this statement 
is hotly debated in the corners of academia. For example, elections are perceived as 
a platform that gives the public an opportunity to hold politicians accountable and 
coerce them to introduce policies that reflect the opinion of the public.  Conversely, 
Ginsberg (1982) radically states that elections are a platform, through which 
politicians and governments nicely control their constituency, inactivating their 
activeness and govern them without any problem or opposition.  
  
30 
 
 
In line with the assertion of Wojtasik (2013), competitive elections are key 
determinants of public authority legitimacy.  Such competition ensures legitimacy of 
public representative’s decision provided that all eligible adults are able to participate 
in an election freely. What adds more legitimacy in any democratic system is three 
features, (a) the electoral outcome must remain uncertain to everybody until election 
results are formally announced, (b) real chances of power alternation and (c) the 
emergence of splinter group formations from those in power (Wojtasik, 2013). 
Heywood (2000) argues that through these features the citizens may decide who 
ascends power, for how long and to what degree they give a party legitimacy to run 
state affairs on their behalf. 
  
Further, Heywood (2000) notes that what is very significant is that the decisions 
taken during elections are binding and not reversible until the next election. The 
possible inclusive electoral participation, the decision-making and mandate provision 
to the representatives and legitimization of those in power are the levelling features 
that give legitimacy to the political system (Banducci and Karp, 2003). General 
elections also assist in the maintenance and legitimacy of the democracy and 
political systems by mobilizing and lobbying participation from voters who according 
to Rose and Mosswir (1967), will vote against the radical politicians, candidates, 
political parties and their radical postulates. 
 
One critical means for the promotion of accountability is elections. This involves not 
only the decision to recall elected officials out of office, holding them to account, but 
also providing an opportunity for politicians to clarify policies and issues and offering 
the public the space to renew their mandate. Similarly, trust is an important element 
in elections. Voters should be able to have trust in the elected officials and also trust 
that officials will carry out their mandate as deployed, officials will not misuse public 
funds, will respond to the needs of their constituency and will govern democratically. 
Voters should have trust that even if their preferred parties (officials) lose elections 
they still stand a free and equal chance to participate and win them next time, and 
the administration of the election processes is free and fair. 
 
  
31 
 
Finally, elections bring democratic legitimacy to those in power (Raciborski, 2003).  
They offer a moral right to rule and allow politicians to make decisions on behalf of 
the people. Ghandi and Przeworski (2009) suggest that outside the political system, 
elections can be examined as a result of those in power and their strategies to 
maintain power in every election. Heywood (2000), Banducci and Karp (2003) et al 
agree on the importance of elections and its function in ensuring stable democracy 
and freedom. However, their work does not assist in explaining why people vote for 
the ANC but protests against it, nor whether such protests do achieve their intended 
objectives or not. 
 
  
2.3.6. Electoral system and One Party Dominance in South Africa 
Globally, there are many electoral systems in the world and there is none that has 
been proven to be the best system to promote and political stability and political 
governance. The country’s history and political context influences the choice of a 
certain electoral system. The chosen system is also expected to contribute toward 
democratic consolidation and democratic governance. 
Some African countries have decided to enforce electoral reforms in order for their 
electoral systems to equally address challenges of mis-representation, political 
instability and unaccountability.  However, some countries still use electoral systems 
that were used by their colonizers, some of which are expensive and don’t have 
relevance to the socio-economy and political conditions of the country.  
Norris (1997) holds that the most stable democratic institution is electoral system.   
Minor tampering with political and election rules in before and during elections is 
common in many election competition. Such rules include legislative amendments 
related to electoral broadcast, demarcation of constituency boundaries or party 
funding disclosure. Sometimes in other countries during the post-war period the law 
makers swaps electoral systems between d'Hondt and LR-Hare, adjusting the 
current election threshold, and increase the size of their assemblies (Lijphart, 1994). 
France has been consistent in its hesitation between proportional and majoritarian 
systems during its elections. Lipset and Rokkan (1967) describe the Westen Europe 
  
32 
 
party system as "frozen" in the mould established at the turn of the century with the 
enfranchisement of the working class.”  
Similar, liberal democracies have concretised their application of electoral systems. 
Generally, the ruling parties prefer and maintain the systems that put them into 
power. The endeavours of opposition parties and civil society organizations that are 
defeated by the election process to amend the electoral system fall into deaf ears as 
nothing changes.  
In South Africa, the PR system was adopted by the interim constitution as the 
electoral system for the first national elections. It was adopted with the condition that 
it would be reviewed once the final constitution had been adopted.  In 2003 the task 
team appointed by the Cabinet adopted the guidelines that would guide the 
appropriate system. These included accountability, inclusiveness, simplicity, 
legitimacy and fairness. 
The South African Constitution (Act 108 of 1996) necessitates an electoral system 
which results in proportional representation (PR). All elections held in South Africa 
from 1994 to 2014 were administered through the single party list of PR. The PR 
system is used for national, provincial and half of all municipal elections in South 
Africa. On the local level a constituency-based system is used for half the seats and 
the PR system is used for the other half. The constituency-based system allows for 
half of the councillors to be elected in the first-past-the-post (FPTP) ward elections, 
and the other half of the councillors are elected through the PR system on a local list.    
In the South African context, a closed PR system allows voters to vote for parties 
and not individual candidates in an election. The parties contesting election submit a 
list of candidates (in order of preference) and the candidates from the list are 
awarded seats according to the percentage of votes the party won in an election.  
There are 400 seats in the National Assembly (NA). The number of seats a party 
occupies is proportionate to the total votes the party received in an election. For 
instance, figure 2 below shows percentage of votes and seat allocation for the top 
four parties in the NA. Giliomee (1999) emphasizes the significance of the selected 
election system in shaping the type of ruling party, how the ruling party governs its 
constituency and the nature of its opposition parties. For instance, de Jager (2010) 
  
33 
 
points out that in South Africa, the PR system gave the ruling ANC the capacity to 
manage its constituency and deployed members of parliament.  
 
 
Figure 2: 2014 National Election Results 
Party Votes % Seat in National Parliament 
ANC 11 436 921 62,15 249 
DA   4 091 584 22,23   89 
EFF   1 169 259   6,35   25 
IFP      441 854   2,40   10 
Source: IEC, 2015 
 
The first ten years of democracy in SA saw party politics changing to the 
establishment of the ANC as the dominant party while recording the demise and 
hegemony of the National Party (NP). The ANC has been winning elections in SA 
since 1994 under the PR electoral system. SA has held five (1994, 1999, 2004, 2009 
and 2014) general elections since 1994 and South African voters have pledged their 
support to this former liberation movement by ensuring it victory in all general 
elections. This outright election victory of the ANC prompts us to check if the ANC 
has asserted itself as a dominant party in South African politics. According to de 
Jager (2010), since 1994 the PR system is regarded as being very instrumental in 
nation-building due to its ability to allow for representation of minority parties in 
parliament. This is an important positive aspect because it is the direct opposite of 
the system that was used under the apartheid regime.  
de Jager (2010) holds that the many dominant parties have more cordial and close 
links with social interest groups than the opposition parties because they have 
established themselves as broad multi-class and multi-ethnic character. Be that as it 
may, because this dominance is in a democracy, it therefore needs to be 
continuously maintained through methods such as (a) delegitimization of the 
opposition parties, (b) constant emphasis of ‘kingship’ link between the state and the 
people, (c) the public agenda monopoly and (d) unite people against a created or 
real common enemy (Duverger, 1959). 
  
34 
 
 
In a democratic country, a party aspiring to be dominant must transcend various 
cleavages, mobilize and canvass different interest groups of society and incorporate 
them into the party (Erdmann, 2004). In countries like Malaysia, Mexico and South 
Africa the dominant parties mastered transcending class divisions successfully 
(Giliomee, 1999).  Immediately after a party has attained its position of dominance it 
looks to strengthen its relations with society.    
 
The dominance of the ANC in South Africa as a dominant party is demonstrated by 
the election victories in 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014. A dominant party system 
allows for contestation of multiple parties and the party that wins elections 
consecutively is regarded as a dominant party (Lodge, 2003).  Being the liberation 
party has positioned the ANC as the preferred party by its majority during elections 
regardless of the performance of the party (Lodge, 2003). This suggests that in 
South Africa the ANC is regarded as the driving force and true driver of the struggle 
for liberation for the majority of South Africans.   
 
Ferim (2010) argues that the result of having a dominant party in some democracies 
renders democracy uncompetitive because the dominant party tends to deploy 
loyalists and elites to strategic positions in government, and portrays government 
functions as their own through songs and slogans praising the ruling party. The 
dominant party system encourages the ruling party to restrict the influence of the 
opposition parties and there is very little the opposition parties can do to win 
elections (de Jager, 2010). In other instances, Butler (2005) stresses that dominant 
parties tend to be very undemocratic through suppression and intimidation of the 
opposition parties and minorities, state looting, abuse of power and participating only 
in elections where they are guaranteed a victory. Brandtstedt (2012) further adds 
that in South Africa, the ANC’s dominance has harmful effects on the democratic 
system of the country. The socio-economic conditions (poverty, unemployment, and 
growing inequality) have not changed for the better for the past 12 years. The black 
majority have expressed their dissatisfaction towards the government through a 
series of service delivery protests (Brooks, 2004). KAS (2006) seminar report states 
that the failure of 6.76 million voters to register for the 2004 elections should be 
interpreted in the context of the rising ANC dominance. Accordingly, Butler (2005) 
  
35 
 
adds, that the longer dominant parties stay in power the more undemocratic they 
become.  
 
Scholars such as Pempel (1990), Arian and Barnes (1974), Reddy (2006), 
Middlebrook (2004) and Baer (1999) argue that one party dominance is not always a 
bad system and its positives are very significant and should be appreciated. This 
dominance, they assert, can be used to maintain and sustain political stability of a 
country thereby ensuring the creation of long term entrenchment of democracy in a 
country (de Jager, 2010). The dominant party is a better instrument for political 
stability than fragmented political parties because it marginalises radical politics, 
entrenches institutions of democracy and neutralizes the ethnic divisions through 
establishing a platform for compromise for all (Pempel, 1990).  
 
In support of this argument, de Jager (2010) picks up the ANC in SA as an example. 
The first democratically elected president of SA, Nelson Mandela, implemented a 
policy of reconciliation which sought to unite all racial and ethnic groups. More so, in 
Mexico, Middlebrook (2004) states that the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) 
ended the factional groups and attained political stability through uniting the 
‘revolutionary forces’ from Mexico’s 1910 to 1920’s social revolution. This dominance 
serves as a key element for a durable liberal democracy once its rule is combined 
with the protection and respect of the rule of law and electoral and political 
completions (Arian and Barnes, 1974). Reddy (2006) gives credence to this 
argument by making an example about the Indian National Congress (INC) party 
which defined itself as a ‘broad-based movement’ with various diverse factions of 
interest groups. In doing so, the factions allowed the appointment of new leadership 
and managed to avoid breakaway grouping through internal dialogues through 
debates (de Jager, 2010).  
 
In conclusion, Brooks (2004) still contends that these have little if any impact on the 
results of elections in SA because voters who are affected by these service delivery 
problems are either loyal to the ANC or refrain from voting. This is demonstrable by 
the decline in voter turnout (1999 recorded 89.3% and 2004 recorded 76.73%) 
during elections which is attributed to the ANC’s dominance in SA politics 
  
36 
 
(Brandtstedt, 2012). The black majority vote for the ANC is not guaranteed forever 
but unless the opposition parties position themselves as the credible and relevant 
alternative to the ANC, the majority of the voters will continue to vote along racial 
and historical lines (Brooks, 2004). The PR system in SA has significantly shaped 
the political discourse of the country and the type and nature of the opposition 
parties. Despite the dominance of the ANC the PR system has allowed the 
opposition parties and minorities to be represented in parliament. Despite the 
negative criticism of the PR system on positioning constituencies away from elected 
representatives (discouraging direct accountability) and the delegitimization of 
opposition parties by the dominant parties, both the PR system and dominant party 
system of SA unified historically divided races and allowed civil and political liberties 
for all groups. This is very important for democratic participation and consolidation; 
such liberties and unity were never a priority for the pre-1994 regime. Having said 
this, the reviewed literature still does not indicate how the current electoral system 
helps the ANC to enjoy voter support during elections. Similarly, the Brooks (2004), 
Brandtstedt (2012) et al fall short in their arguments about the contribution of ANCs 
dominance on voter turnout at various voting stations. 
 
2.3.7. The Role of Political Participation in South Africa’s Electoral 
Democracy  
 
South Africa's history was described by elevated amounts of state tyranny and state-
societal clash from colonialism period through to the start of an inclusive and 
representative democracy in 1994. Social movements that opposed the apartheid 
state began to emerge during the period of 1950s and 1980s. This emergence of 
strong social movements especially in the 1980s gave a platform for the formation of 
political parties, civic, labour and youth movements which fought apartheid through 
mobilization of communities against the state. To a great extent, this period meant 
the time of the headway of the idea of People's Power towards a People's 
Government. 
 
The South African political environment has been marked by political participation by 
the population since 1994. This is arguably because the apartheid system had for a 
  
37 
 
long time excluded the general public from participating in political and electoral 
processes of the country (De Villiers, 2001). The apartheid system had specifically 
excluded other racial groups from participating in such processes except the white 
minority group. Gomolia (2006) argues that given this historic limitation of political 
processes from everybody, organizations and strong activism were founded with 
intentions to redress the situation.  This history explains the high political culture in 
South Africa post-1994. 
 
This experience of participation and representative democracy gave the premise to 
majority rule government in South Africa. For many political leaders and activists, 
exposure to political participation was a result of participation in community 
structures, youth organizations, trade unions and civic associations. South Africans 
of all political beliefs organized themselves into multitude of groupings to establish 
political parties and organisations, this advanced democratic ideals. The drafting of 
the South African constitution in 1996 changed the character and focus of public 
participation in South Africa.  
 
Since 1994, the policy-making processes followed by government changed 
drastically.   During the apartheid era, policy-making process was an elitist business 
with little public participation. The new South African constitution changed this; it puts 
the people in the centre of participatory and representative democracy. The 
Constitution asserts for transparency and public access and involvement in the state 
affairs.  
 
All South Africans are permitted to participate in all legislative process irrespective of 
their status in society. The nine provincial legislatures in the provinces are entrusted 
with the legislative authority. As spheres of government, provincial governments are 
detached from the nation sphere in order to allow them to design and implement 
systems, policies and legislation that would have direct impact on the people of such 
province. This suggests that it is the responsibility of every provincial legislature to 
ensure maximum public participation of the people in decision-making processes in 
their provinces.  
 
  
38 
 
The main aim of the provision of public participation in the constitution is to influence 
and direct policy outcomes of government to directly reflect the will of the people. 
Consequently, an active civil society contributes meaningfully in nurturing 
democracy. Its role is to ensure public interaction with government departments, 
including parliament and legislatures, and asserts the legitimacy of policies, laws and 
institutions among the people. A vibrant parliament and legislatures need a vibrant 
civil society and people in order to remain relevant and reflect the will of the people. 
Above all, legislatures and parliament are designed to be people orientated; hence 
they are referred to as the people’s parliament and legislatures. Therefore, as a 
defining character of a vibrant parliament and legislature- it must be inclusive and 
strive for the involvement of all citizens in issues pertinent to service delivery and 
governance.  
 
Another important role of parliament and provincial legislatures is not to only to hold 
the executive and government accountable but also hold itself very accountable to 
the people. The constitution created them to be the most powerful institutions in the 
world. Although the political landscape of South Africa has progressively transformed 
to the better, it also worth noting that all cases of unemployment, poverty, inequality, 
poor service delivery are as a result of the apartheid legacy. Therefore, by 
encouraging public participation in all legislative bodies empowers those who were 
excluded by the previous apartheid regime.  
 
Participation of the people in the elections is a key feature of democracy. The most 
common form of political participation is registering for elections and voting during 
elections. These encompass a number of electoral processes such as participation 
in election-related political party campaigns, standing for political office, attending 
and taking part in political meetings. The Constitution of Republic of the South Africa 
(Act 108 of 1998) under chapter 2 of the Bill of Rights (sec 19) gives provision for 
political rights which include: 
 To form a political party. 
 To participate in activities of, or recruit members for, a political party.  
 To campaign for a political party or cause. 
 To vote in all legislative elections in the country, and  
  
39 
 
 To stand for public office and if elected, to hold that office. 
 
This confirms that South African citizens’ rights to participate in elections and politics 
are protected by the biggest law of the country. Other political participation involves 
citizens engaging at community level where they reside on interacting with their local 
councillors through meetings signing petitions on burning issues, being part of civil 
protests. The above listed forms of participation are not exhaustive. 
 
In addition, public participation refers to the role played by the members of the 
community in the elections that would determine the health and strength of 
democratic system (Lumumba-Kasongo, 2005). To further validate this view, the 
public participation framework for the South African Legislative Sector of 2013 states 
that, “the South African Constitution asserts the need for the realisation of a 
participatory democracy which calls for the active involvement and participation of 
the citizenry as well as more defined interest groups.”  
 
Public participation serves to reinforce foundations of representative democracy by 
democratizing those organizations. The people are at the centre of a participatory 
democracy and at the heart of every decision making process. Many elements of 
political participation were confirmed by the interfaces between constituencies and 
their elected representatives including through the introduction of ward committees in 
1999. Other initiatives such as the Izimbizo project which was launched in 2001, and 
the Community Development Workers (CDW) programme that was launched in 2003 
were established to create effective participatory relations between the government 
and the people (DPLG, 2005). 
 
This section showed that political participation is an important activity in any country, 
especially in a young democracy like South Africa. Government, political parties, 
academia should play meaningful role in encouraging and canvassing the people to 
participate in the politics of the country. Of course, active political participation does 
not make guarantee that all will be well in a country. In fact, such participation should 
provide a platform for the people to influence the character and quality of their 
leadership, policies and systems of government as well improving their socio-
economic material conditions. Even though the literature reviewed in this section 
  
40 
 
indicated various ways, reasons and methods of political participation, it was notably 
inadequate in showing how such participation give the ANC electoral support more 
than other parties. Also, not much factual information is provided to indicate whether 
service delivery protests achieve their intended goals in such a participatory 
environment. 
 
2.4 Conclusion 
 
This section of the dissertation started with the theoretical framework employed in 
the study. The study used relative deprivation theory due to characterise and explain 
the social discontentment and social movements for change. The section continued 
to review a wide range of literature through certain lenses. This review was divided 
into different topical themes as summarised here under. .  
 
An election is a process through which the leadership is put in positions of authority 
for distribution and allocation of values in a society. It is a process that strengthens 
and consolidates democracy. However, of paramount importance to this process is 
the participation of voters. Ideally, voters elect their leaders on the basis of the fact 
that the parties that were in power delivered required services for improvement of 
their lives. A party that has failed to deliver required services is, ideally, replaced by 
a party that carries the potential to deliver on its promises. In South Africa, parties 
get seats in parliament according to the percentage of votes they accumulated in an 
election. This system is called proportional representation. Parties are proportionally 
allocated seats according to the votes cast in their favour. Since 1994, the ANC has 
been dominating in occupation of seats in parliament. Of greatest concern to this 
study is the fact that since 2004, there has been rise of protests among South 
African communities, pertaining among others to lack of service delivery by the ANC-
led government, but it continues to enjoy popularity among South Africans. The 
question is, how South Africans could continuously vote for a party that doesn’t 
deliver on its promises.  The media has dubbed these protests, ‘service delivery 
protests’, however, given the complexities of their nature, it is safe to argue that they 
are community protests. 
 
  
41 
 
As Mafeje (2008) argues, the electoral dominance of the ANC should not be blamed 
on this party, but the weakness of opposition parties. And this phenomenon does not 
qualify the political system in South Africa, as a one-party State. There is a 
difference between a party’s dominance on the basis of weak opposition parties, or 
lack of appeal to the voters, and one party with no opposition altogether. Democracy 
cannot be defined by the existence of political parties contesting elections but the 
social, political and economic liberties afforded to the citizens by the State, and 
furthermore, the protection of vulnerable groups by the State. All of these should be 
prescribed in the constitution, as a supreme document guiding the political, 
economic, and social relations of the people in a particular State. The glaring gap 
from the literature is the reason for the continuous electoral dominance of the ANC 
regardless of the dissatisfaction by the citizenry about the government’s lack of 
delivery of services. This study seeks to close this gap by analysing the linkage 
between service delivery protests and voter turnout during elections. 
 
Election period presents candidates and parties with platform to deliver their election 
manifestos to their constituencies. The content of the manifesto will either entice or 
discourage voters to go out and vote on election day. Voters use the promises made 
by parties as voting yardstick in that they expect delivery of the promises after 
elections.  In the quest to lure voters parties and candidates go all out to be seen on 
the ground and working for their constituencies. Given the stiff competition between 
parties contesting election, no election victory is guaranteed until results are 
declared, even at the perceived or previously strong hold a party. 
 
Service delivery protests have been on the rise since 2004 in South Africa. Some 
scholars likened them to protests that took place before 1994 during the apartheid 
regime. Clearly, both the condition and environment under which the protests are 
taking place differ drastically. One was under a government that was not willing to 
uplift the lives of black majority in the country and the other is under the liberation 
party which is has always assured the black majority of its commitment to give them 
a better life.  These protests are triggered by the lack or non-provision of public 
services to the communities. Mostly, these protests are directed at government at 
local municipalities where the people are close to. Despite the commitment by 
  
42 
 
government to positively respond to the demands of the protestors, no actual results 
are achieved after protests. 
 
The above shortcomings from the ruling party do not have a significant negative 
bearing on the general performance of the ANC during elections. Voters still regard 
the ANC as their saviour from the oppressive apartheid government which denied 
them all sorts of franchises, especially voting right. As a result of this sentimental 
relationship between the ANC and black voters- the ANC still enjoys electoral 
hegemony in South Africa. However, the opposition parties attribute the electoral 
success of the ANC to the currently used electoral system (Proportional 
Representation System) and party funding system (Public Funding of Represented 
Political Parties Act). Both these laws allocate votes and funds according to the 
numbers of votes and seats allocated to a party. In respect of party funding, the ANC 
gets more party funding than all political parties represented due to its high number 
of seats in parliament.  This advantage allows the ANC to have efficient campaigns, 
mobilization and wider coverage of its constituencies given the money it gets as a 
result of the party funding act. This suggests that the ANC is more likely to win 
elections for a while as long as laws and political environment remain unchanged.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
43 
 
CHAPTER THREE 
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 
3.1 Research Design 
 
This study utilized the qualitative research method. Qualitative research 
method is mostly concerned with understanding why people behave the way 
they do and how their knowledge, attitude, beliefs, and fears structure 
behaviour. This type of research builds a natural relationship between the 
participants and a researcher about a study as revealed by Halloway and 
Wheeler (1996). Unlike quantitative method which focuses on posed 
questions be clearly answered and very rigid on its intended results of the 
questionnaire (Broom and Willies, 2007), qualitative method is relevant to this 
study as it (Nicholls, 2009)  allows participants to be free and engage with the 
questions posed to them freely and even provide additional information. The 
researcher did not use quantitative method because this type of research 
mainly uses data analysis techniques and questionnaires that utilize 
numerical statistics (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2007). Cresswell (2009) 
observes that qualitative research is a means of exploring and understanding 
the meaning individuals ascribe to a social or human problem (see also 
Penskin, 1993) hence its usage its usage in the current study. This study 
therefore employed qualitative research method through using primary and 
secondary sources of data in order to examine the relationship between 
service delivery protests and voter turnout in the North West Province.  
3.2 Research Site 
 
The study was conducted in the Ngaka Modiri Molema region of the North West 
province. The specific area of focus was Ngaka Modiri Molema district municipality 
which comprises of Ratlou, Tswaing, Mahikeng, Ditsobotla and Ramotshere Moiloa 
local municipalities. This region was chosen primarily because it has experienced 
more service delivery protests than the other three regions (Bojanala, Dr Ruth 
  
44 
 
Segomotsi Mompati and Dr Kenneth Kaunda) in the province.  In addition, the region 
was chosen because it has proven to be a strong hold of the ANC, meaning that the 
ANC has won both provincial and municipal elections in this region since 1994. This 
region is also hosting the capital city (Mahikeng) of the province, provincial 
government (including provincial legislature) as well as the provincial office of the 
ANC. The following sections present the manner in which primary and secondary 
data were sourced. 
3.3 Data Collection Techniques 
 
In their study, Leedy and Ormrod (2005) explain primary data collection as 
information collected and used by the researcher to address the current study. Just 
as it is the case with this study, this included gathering information through surveys 
and interviews from participants. The Primary data used included the following: 
3.3.1. Document Analysis  
The main purpose of document analysis is to provide and clarify relevance of the 
policies, regulations, policies and reforms through highlighting the methodology used 
to analyze documents. As shown in figure 3, the researcher analyzed the below 
documents as justified: 
 
 Figure 3: Acts and Reports 
Document Justification 
RSA. 1998. Electoral Act 73 of 1998 
 
The researcher used this act to provide 
insight into the electoral processes in 
South Africa.  
RSA. 1996. Electoral Commission Act 
51 of 1996 
 
The researcher used this act to provide 
insight into the responsibility of the IEC 
regarding voter registration, voter 
education and political party’s 
engagement. 
RSA. 2000. Local Government: 
Municipal Electoral Act 27 of 2000 
The researcher used this act to provide 
insight into the electoral processes in 
  
45 
 
 South Africa 
RSA. 1998. Local Government: 
Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998 
 
The researcher used this act to provide 
insight into the responsibilities of elected 
councillors toward their constituencies. 
RSA. 1999. Public Finance 
Management Act 29 of 1999 
The researcher used this act to provide 
insight into financial compliance or 
contraventions by public institutions and 
officials.  
RSA. 1997. Public Funding of 
Represented Political Parties Act 103 
of 1997  
The researcher used this act to analyze the 
funding model and framework used to fund 
political parties in South Africa. 
RSA. 1996. Constitution of the 
Republic of South Africa Act 108 of 
1996 
The researcher used this act to analyze the 
obligation and responsibilities of local 
government in service delivery. 
Independent Electoral Commission. 
Introduction. An end to waiting: the 
story of South Africa’s elections 
The researcher used this report to provide 
insight into voting statistics during elections 
in South Africa. 
Independent Electoral Commission. 
Introduction. Electoral Democracy in 
South Africa 
The researcher used this report to provide 
insight into activities and efforts employed 
by the IEC to encourage communities to 
participation in elections. 
Municipal IQ. 2012. Press Release: 
Municipal IQ’s Municipal Hotspot 
Results, 16 February 2012. 
 
The researcher used this report to provide 
insight into the nature and causes of 
community protests. 
Public Service Commission. 2011. 
Citizens Talk – A Citizen Satisfaction 
Survey Report. Commission House. 
 
The researcher used this report to provide 
insight into analyzing the perceptions of 
communities regarding the state of service 
delivery in South Africa. 
 
3.3.2. In-depth interview with protesting communities 
The researcher conducted in depth interviews with protesting community members 
from Ratlou, Tswaing, Mahikeng, Ditsobotla and Ramotshere Moiloa local 
  
46 
 
municipalities falling under the Ngaka Modiri Molema district municipality. Ten 
participants from each municipality were interviewed. These five municipalities fall 
under Ngaka Modiri Molema district municipality.  
3.3.3. Focus Group Discussions with BECs 
In-depth interviews were also conducted with Branch Executive Committee members 
of various political parties registered with the IEC within the Ngaka Modiri Molema 
district. These parties were selected on the basis that they were registered for 
elections in the Ngaka Modiri Molema district. These political parties include the 
ANC, COPE, DA, EFF, UCDP and PAC. The researcher chose these parties 
because they were available and willing to meet with the researcher. These groups 
were key in explaining the reasons majority of voters continuously vote for the ANC 
and not other political parties. This despite these parties having election manifestos 
and the rise in service delivery protests in their communities. 
3.3.4. In-depth interview with PPLC members 
The researcher interviewed members of the Provincial Party Liaison Committee 
(PPLC).1  The in-depth interviews with members of the PPLC were significant for 
providing insights into the reasons why people still turn out to vote amid lack of 
service delivery. Furthermore, PPLC members elucidated narratives regarding the 
organization of elections, voter education campaigns and general mobilization of 
voters to participate in elections. Narratives of the PPLC members are presented in 
chapter four.  
3.4 Sourcing of Secondary Data 
 
The secondary data was sourced from various scholarly publications on the subject 
of this study. The researcher used key words of the topic, research questions and 
objectives to solicit secondary data. Through gathering of data on secondary sources 
the researcher evaluated tested the existing literature against the findings of the 
current study as will be observed in chapter five. Thus the researcher utilized 
secondary data to validate and refute the previous scholarly findings.  
                                                          
1
 PPLC  is a provincial structure that comprises of the Electoral Commission and two 
representatives from political parties that are registered to contest elections in the 
province. 
  
47 
 
3.5 Sample of the Study 
 
The sample of the study was 121 respondents. Out of the 121 respondents, 100 
were Protesters (40 from Mahikeng, 10 from Ratlou, 20 from Ramotshere Moiloa, 10 
from Tswaing and 20 Ditsobotla local municipalities), six were Focused Group 
Discussions (FGDs) with branch members of the Executive Committees (ECs) of the 
ANC of ward 27, Congress of the People (COPE) of ward 26, Democratic Alliance 
(DA) of ward 9, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) of ward 15, Pan Africanist 
Congress (PAC) of ward 28, United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP) of ward 26 
in Mahikeng Local Municipality because these are active and reachable political 
parties, and 16 members of the Provincial Party Liaison Committee (PPLC) of the 
IEC. 
3.6 Applicability of the Objectives against Data Collection Techniques 
 
In the light of the research questions and study objectives stated earlier, the 
following techniques were deemed appropriate and adequate for collecting the 
requisite primary data: (a) in-depth interview, (b) focus group discussion (FGD) and 
(c) key informant interview, and review of relevant official (government) documents. 
 
Data collection techniques were employed for each of the research questions. Each 
research question had specific data collection technique(s) used to source 
information. This is elucidated below: 
 For research question one, the researcher employed in-depth interview to 
source data. This was done to obtain data through a conversational method 
in order to elicit in-depth knowledge about respondents’ views and feelings on 
whether service delivery protests achieve their objectives in various 
communities in the North West Province. The researcher conducted 
interviews with 50 respondents who participated in service delivery protests in 
the five municipalities of Ngaka Modiri Molema region. 
 For research question two, the researcher employed FGDs with EC members 
of ANC, COPE, DA, EFF, UCDP and PAC to elicit rich responses from small 
groups of respondents in an interactive situation to elicit what informs voter 
  
48 
 
support for the African National Congress irrespective of their dissatisfaction 
with service delivery in the North West Province. The researcher conducted 
six FGDs with respondents. 
 For research question three, the researcher employed in-depth interview 
which is a conversational method eliciting in-depth knowledge to explain 
factors contributing to voter turnout at various voting stations. The researcher 
conducted interviews with 50 respondents who participated in service delivery 
protests in the five municipalities of Ngaka Modiri Molema region. 
 
3.7 Ethical Consideration 
 
The researcher abided by the North West University’s ethical code guiding all social 
researchers. Beyond this, the study adhered strictly to the ethics of informed 
consent, voluntary participation, respondent anonymity, and the freedom to withdraw 
from the study at any time should they feel uncomfortable with the study. In other 
words, the physical and psychological welfare of participants will be of great 
importance throughout the data collection process.  
 
As indicated in the previous chapter under in-depth interview sections, the 
researcher relied on the availability of respondents and the times convenient to 
them. Bogdan and Biklen (2003) assert that this approach enhance free participation 
and encourages dialogue between the respondents and the researcher. Despite this, 
some of the respondents withdrew from participating in fear of victimization by other 
community members and ward councillors. As such the researcher used the 
interviewed respondents to recommend potential respondents who would be free to 
participate in the study. Regarding FGDs with BEC members of political parties, 
some parties had to seek approval from their provincial executive committees before 
they could participate in the study. The researcher had to wait for such an approval 
even though it took few rescheduling before FGDs could be conducted. 
  
49 
 
   
CHAPTER FOUR 
PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS 
 
4.1 INTRODUCTION 
 
As indicated in chapter one, this study is informed by three research questions, 
namely: 
 Have service delivery protests achieved their objectives in various 
communities in the North West Province? 
 What informs voter support for the ANC irrespective of their dissatisfaction 
with service delivery in the North West Province? 
 What informs voter turnout at the voting stations in the North West 
Province? 
As such, each of the three research questions informed the themes of parts one, two 
and three of this chapter. The subthemes were developed through a coding system 
informed by the questions posed to respondents to elicit primary data. The sections 
are thus titled in the following manner: 
 Part One: Service Delivery Protests In North West Province Communities: are 
they meeting intended objectives? 
 Part Two: Understanding the ANC support and service delivery 
dissatisfactions  
 Part Three: Understanding reasons for voter participation in elections 
 
Findings of this study in the above themes are elucidated in the following sections 
divided into three parts. 
 
  
50 
 
PART ONE 
Service Delivery Protests In North West Province Communities: Are 
They Meeting Intended Objectives? 
 
4.2.1 Examining the Objective of Service Delivery Protests  
 
Noted from the collected data, the general response from the respondents was that 
service delivery protests did not fully achieve their objectives. This is because after 
handing of a memorandum to the authorities such as their respective municipal and 
other provincial authorities, the situation subsides while waiting for the response, 
which is normally a maximum of one month. One of the reason the protests did not 
yield fruitful results was that the authorities, including, amongst others, the Mayor, 
Member of Executive Council (MEC) or the Premier are rarely available to address 
their grievances and receive the Memoranda of their demands. Rather, local 
communities often meet with junior government officials deployed by senior 
government officials to receive the memoranda of demands. Another reason they 
expressed is that after the protest nothing happens regarding their demands due to 
the unresponsiveness of municipal and provincial authorities. Finally, participants in 
the protest lose hope and the protest loses a momentum for lack of sustenance. 
  
Moreover, respondents indicated that there is nothing to show after their protest. 
They listed lack of or access to clean water, lack of housing and unemployment as 
the biggest services they need. Their frustration is that only those who have money 
are able to install borehole water system in their yards. This system costs about R40 
000 and all households that do not have money for this service would wait for water 
that is brought by water tank truck.  The truck comes twice a week to service a 
particular point in a village and villagers have to queue in line a long time and others 
still had to travel about 2 kilometres to go home. Others complained that government 
builds houses in a certain area within the ward and not in other areas. There is an 
assumption that the houses that were built were given to friends, relatives and close 
comrades of the Councillors and Mayors. This is the same with unemployment. 
Many young people went to school and finished their matric but they are sitting at 
  
51 
 
home doing nothing because their parents did not have money for them to access 
higher education. They said they saw some people working on contracts in 
municipality and learnerships in departments like Department of Social Development 
(Socdev) and South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) without posts having 
being advertised.    
 
From a sample of 50 only 7 responded that indeed the service delivery protests they 
participated in yielded positive results. They listed the installation of street lights, 
levelling of the roads and a promise of houses from the municipality as a positive 
sign. They strongly belief that such developments were as a results of the service 
delivery protest embarked on. These respondents also confessed that not all of their 
demands were met by government but the little the government gave to them makes 
a difference in their lives. 
 
 
4.2.2 Government Responsiveness to Community Grievances   
 
The respondents indicated that in many instances government has never responded 
timeously to address their demands. Even when the government responds, they 
said, such responses are not satisfactory because they always keep shifting the 
responsibilities, and blame shortage of funds allocation for adequate service 
provision. For instance, the respondents indicated that a municipality would inform 
them that   certain services are a provincial competency which must be sourced from 
the provincial government, such as housing. The government only takes the 
Memorandum of Demands (MoD) and promises to respond within the time frame set 
in the MoD but they will not respond until the next protest which would not be less 
than six years. 
 
 
4.2.3 Effectiveness of Protests in Raising Grievances   
 
The respondents indicated that government is never around to listen to their issues 
and concerns. They also believe that a group voice is better than that of an 
  
52 
 
individual. Some also indicated that since they elected a Ward Councillor in the 2011 
Local Government Elections, the Ward Councillors have never had a single meeting 
with the people in the ward. This created a communication space between the 
people in the municipalities and their authorities in government.  
 
In the absence of any platform to use to communicate their demands to government, 
they opted to be part of the service delivery protests. The protests were organized by 
active and influential people in the communities.     
 
4.2.4 Competencies of Levels of Government: Protest Against Who?  
 
The respondents demonstrated no knowledge of different spheres of government 
and their competences and mandates for service delivery for residents of 
municipalities. A majority of the respondents classify all spheres of government as 
one entity which must deliver services to the people. In addition to this, some 
respondents believed very strongly that municipalities must be able to provide 
services to the people in its jurisdiction.  This belief led the respondents to expect all 
services from the municipalities irrespective of whether it is the competency of the 
municipalities, provincial or national government. Every respondent did not show 
interest in knowing which sphere of government is responsible for delivery of a 
specific service. To them, the interest lies in the delivery of services; whether by 
municipality or not, they do not care.  
 
 
4.2.5 Disgruntlement or Genuine Participation in Protest 
 
When asked of the possible involvement of disgruntled members of various political 
parties in the protest, a majority of the respondents indicated that they had no 
knowledge of the internal fighting of any political parties and as such they did not 
think the protest was influenced by it. These respondents admitted that they may be 
used by such people, especially those leading the protests to fight their own battles. 
However, they remained resolute that there was no sign of such an action during the 
protest. 
  
53 
 
 
However, some respondents indicated that they were aware of the political factions 
that preoccupied their municipalities and that had negative results on the governance 
of the municipalities. Many participants in the protest seemed to be blaming those 
occupying strategic position of power for imposing their ideas on the people. For 
instance, the respondents indicated that back in 2011 municipal elections, their 
preferred candidates for ward councillors were ignored and those who are in power 
now were imposed on them.  
 
4.2.6 Opposition Parties: Motives of Involvement in Protests 
 
The respondents have indicated that the protests in their areas were not driven by a 
certain political party. The participants were ordinary community members who have 
lost hope in the system and are frustrated by the situation on the ground. However, 
the participants acknowledged the presence of people who are supporters of 
different political parties mainly the ANC, DA and UCDP. 
 
 
PART TWO 
Understanding the ANC Support and Service Delivery Dissatisfactions 
4.3.1 ANC Service Delivery Performance 
 
The ANC group stated that the ANC is the only political party that has fought for the 
total liberation of South Africans and blacks in particular. Since 1994 the ANC said 
they had been successful in changing the lives of the majority of South Africans for 
the better. They indicated that they have built Reconstruction and Development 
Programme (RDP) houses, built schools, clinics, hospitals, road infrastructure and 
water and electricity for the majority of poor people in the Mahikeng Local 
Municipality and the province. They also acknowledged that they did not cover 
everybody who needs such services but plans are in place every financial year to 
deliver services to the people. They added that water provision is the biggest 
  
54 
 
challenge the party and government is faced with. There were also plans in place to 
correct and save the situation in the interim such as provision of water tanks across 
the villages where there is a lack of water. The tanks will be filled with water every 
twice a week to ensure that people have access to water whilst waiting for a long 
term provision of water.  
 
The group indicated that they were confident that the people are satisfied with the 
service delivery that the ANC-led government is providing to them. 
 
The other respondent groups (COPE, DA, EFF, PAC and UCDP) agreed that the 
people are not satisfied with service delivery by government because they are still 
poor, they do not have houses, water and electricity and that is the reason they are 
protesting from time to time. These groups cited corruption by the ruling ANC 
government as one of the factors stalling the service delivery to the people. This 
corruption was through nepotism, cadre deployment and abuse of power by those in 
power. 
 
These groups believed that people seem to find it hard to vote the ANC out of power 
for because of the following reasons: 
 The people believe that the ANC is the only party that should govern SA 
because it has liberated them from a brutal apartheid system. 
 The ANC misled people in to believing that if they don’t vote for it then their 
social grants would be cut. 
 Others fear victimization after elections especially in areas where ANC is 
dominant. 
They further acknowledged that things are slowly changing where people get tired 
and understand that the above stated reasons for people voting for the ANC are 
misleading and they can choose to vote for any party of their choice. Despite these 
reasons, recent development where, during the 2014 NPE, people decided to vote 
for the EFF as a new official opposition party in NW showed that people are not 
satisfied with the service delivery by the ANC government. 
 
  
55 
 
It was also interesting how the groups of EFF and DA believed that the ANC’s 
factionalism or internal fighting is also a major contributing factor to non-delivery of 
services. They believe that the ANC uses state resources to fund a faction they 
belong to within the ANC and in retaliation the other faction (s) would fight them 
internally and through the protests in the disguise of service delivery protests. 
According to them, the ANC deployees in government are pre-occupied with 
pleasing the factions they belong to and purging dissenting groups instead of 
ensuring effective service delivery to the people and especially the poor.  
 
4.3.2 Service Delivery Protests: Who are Participants? 
 
The ANC group indicated that a minority of the people that participated in protests 
are ordinary citizens and the majority were members of the opposition parties. They 
believe that opposition parties mobilized community members to protest against the 
ANC government so that they can destabilize governance. They believe that 
protesting was the only way for opposition parties to get rid of the incumbent ruling 
ANC because the people continued to show their faith in the ANC through votes. 
 
The COPE, DA, EFF, PAC and UCDP groups however, say that the participants in 
the protests were ordinary citizens who were tired of empty promises by the ANC, 
corruption, mal-administration, nepotism, cadre deployment and lack of service 
delivery.  
 
4.3.3 Differentiation between ANC and Government on Service Delivery 
Responsibility 
 
The ANC group stated that the voters understood the difference between the ANC 
as a party and government as the ruling party. They further stated that when the 
people engaged in protests they are not confronting the ANC or destroying its 
properties but they direct their grievance and frustrations to the government directly. 
According to them, this was a clear sign of maturity on the part of the people and 
understanding each entity’s competency.  
 
  
56 
 
However, the COPE, DA, EFF, PAC and UCDP groups responded that it was difficult 
to assess whether the people understood who is responsible for service delivery 
between the ANC and government. According to them, this was made difficult by the 
ANC leaders who publicly claimed that the ANC-led government built schools, 
clinics, roads, etc. They felt that such statements confused the people and made it 
difficult for them to appreciate the difference between the ANC and government. The 
government officials who used the government platform to address and campaign for 
the ANC made it even more confusing. 
  
4.3.4 ANC and Government: Viewed Using the Same Lens  
 
The ANC group stated that South Africa is a constitutional country and the state is 
obliged to provide services to the whole population. They (ANC group) believe that 
voting is a personal choice and the majority of South Africans chose to vote for the 
ANC as a party and gave it the mandate to deploy its candidate into government to 
work for the people.  
 
The group stated that it was not a problem for people to vote for the ANC and protest 
against its government. This was because the people were impatient with the rate of 
service delivery to them because they see that other people already got service 
delivery. This group believes the people were influenced by the opposition parties to 
protest but naturally the people understood that service delivery to all South Africans 
would not be done in 21 years.  
 
This group further believes that protesting against government is everybody’s 
constitutional right and due to the services they provide to the people they turn to 
protests for not more than five days believing their demands would be met or plans 
would be put in place to meet them. The prolonged protests, they say, is because 
there is a third force which has its own selfish expectations. 
 
Respondents from opposition parties such as COPE, DA, EFF, PAC and UCDP 
accused the ANC of vote-buying and abuse of state power. They indicated that the 
ANC used government programmes to campaign and attract voters. For instance 
  
57 
 
they mentioned the Minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini, who allegedly 
distributed food parcels in Tlokwe Local Municipality in 2014 on the same day that 
the ANC was to hold a rally a few hours later. The respondents stated that the 
people were bought by the food parcels, blankets, and alcohol during election time or 
even on election day itself.  Therefore, people would vote out of excitement. A few 
months after elections the reality sets in and they resort to protestation. Another 
example they related as to why people vote for the ANC and protest against the 
same government is that on election day, the ANC give the voters the names of their 
candidates on a small folded paper for voters to refer to when they cast their votes at 
the voting booth. Accordingly, this group believe that such a coercion by ANC on 
voters does not takes the country anywhere because people vote today and destroy 
the state property next month during violent service delivery protests.  
 
PART THREE 
Understanding Reasons for Voter Participation in Elections 
4.4.1 Voter Apathy and Participation since 1994 
 
The majority of the respondents stated that they have participated in elections 
because they understood the importance of voting as a way of expressing their 
democratic rights. They believe that it was through voting that they can have a say 
on who is running affairs of the country. 
 
Few respondents indicated that they have participated in elections before but they 
will never participate again. Their reasons were that: 
 The political parties only come to them during election period. 
 There is too much corruption and nepotism by public servants. 
 That the ANC will always win elections because they are favoured by the IEC 
(citing that the Commissioners of the IEC are appointed by the President of 
South Africa who is the president of the ANC). 
 Their votes will not make any difference because the ANC has a majority of 
supporters in South Africa which made it a dominant party in all elections. 
  
58 
 
 There were no changes (schools, water, roads, employment) in their lives 
after voting for the ANC since 1994. 
 
4.4.2 The Impact of Voting on Service Delivery Provision 
 
The respondents indicated that voter turnout was as result of people determined to 
keep their favourite political parties in power. They also believe that voter turnout at 
the voting station was a result of strong campaigning by ANC. According to them, the 
ANC is the only party that is very visible during election and non-election periods. 
They stated that voter turnout was influenced directly by the service delivery that the 
government is giving to them. Some appreciated the efforts of the government to 
provide services to the people but some said they were still to experience service 
delivery in their communities. Few respondents contend that people go out and vote 
purely on political reasons and it had nothing to do with provision of service delivery.  
 
4.4.3 The Effect of Party Manifestos on Voter Turnout 
 
The respondents posited that only during term of the late President Nelson Mandela 
the ANC delivered on its election manifestos after elections. They added that 
following 1994 and 1999 election manifestos the majority of the services that the 
government provided such as houses, water, roads, clinics and schools were during 
Mandela’s tenure and shortly after it. After all other elections, no party, including the 
ANC ever delivered the election manifesto promises. They contended that all these 
parties speak without any Action. Therefore, the people vote out of their own free will 
instead of being attracted by party manifestos. 
 
4.4.4 The Contribution of Participation to Electoral Democracy 
 
The respondents indicated that they did not think that there was any relationship 
between voting and democracy. They conceded that SA is a democratic country and 
it was in the nature of democracy that elections are held for people to vote. Beside 
that natural relationship there was nothing that could prove that voting had any 
  
59 
 
impact on democracy.  If it were to have any impact on democracy then SA would be 
a better country and people of Ngaka Modiri Molema district would be having access 
to an uninterrupted water supply, villages in the district would be developed with road 
infrastructure, electricity, schools and transport.  They stated that the saying 
“democracy is a government of the people for the people by the people” was just 
rhetoric because in their case it was a “government of the few for the few” where 
only the few rich and relatives benefit. 
 
4.4.5 The Track Record of IEC and Party Promises 
 
The respondents stated that the reasons they vote is not because they believed that 
the parties had better election manifestos or they trusted the IEC. Some explained 
that they voted because they wanted to prevent white apartheid rule to come back 
and they voted for any black politically dominant party like the UCDP, COPE and 
EFF. They further explained that they do not have trust in the IEC because it is an 
institution created by the government and the government is the ruling party, 
especially that the IEC Commissioners were appointed by the President of the 
country. They further expressed concerns that the IEC employs people secretly and 
the same people have worked for all previous elections; as such those people were 
loyal to the IEC. They were not aware of the counting processes of the IEC to satisfy 
themselves of the outcome of the elections. Such factors indicted that they did not 
trust the IEC and believe the political parties’ manifestos to draw them to voting 
stations. 
 
 
 
4.4.6 The Impact of Service Delivery to Communities on Voter Turnout 
 
Few respondents stated that they believed that service delivery by municipalities 
motivated the people to go out and vote so that they can receive more services. 
They also conceded that such belief was changed after elections as soon as people 
see that the municipalities forgot to bring them services. 
 
  
60 
 
However, the majority of the respondents strongly believe that there are other factors 
motivating the people to go out and vote instead of municipal service delivery. Such 
factors included: 
 Some voters, especially the elders voted for the ANC out of loyalty and 
believe that it is the only party that would prevent apartheid coming back. 
 Government people intimidate the people, especially the elderly, and 
recipients of social grants that they would no longer receive social grants if 
they don’t vote for a certain party. 
 During election day the ruling party buys people through food parcels, alcohol 
and food to vote for them. 
 
4.4.7 The Impact of Voting Logistics on Voter Participation 
 
The majority of the respondents commended the IEC for setting up voting stations at 
their communities. They stated that the stations were clearly visible and during 
elections the people who did not even know about the elections were able to see 
movements and IEC signage and end up going to vote. They have also conceded 
that a few of the voting stations were far from the majority of the people, which made 
some people not to vote due to long distance between voting stations and their place 
of residence. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
61 
 
CHAPTER 5 
 
DISCUSSIONS OF FINDINGS 
 
5.1 INTRODUCTION 
 
The key findings of this study are presented in this chapter. The data was collected 
through in-depth interviews from protestors in communities of Ngaka Modiri Molema. 
This data was collected in order to answer the research questions posed in chapter 
one. In doing so, the study intended to: 
 Examine if service delivery protests achieve their objectives in North West 
communities. 
 Have an understanding of ANC support and service delivery dissatisfaction. 
 Have an understanding of reasons for voter participation in elections. 
These questions were answered adequately by respondents interviewed. The 
presented findings in this chapter validate the possibility of merging practice and 
theory. 
  
5.2 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 
 
The findings of the study are as follows: 
 
The protests did not yield their intended objectives because the local government did 
not respond adequately to the demands of the protestors. In the majority of cases, 
protestors pushed the local government to respond but the local government officials 
only gave a verbal response. At some point protest leaders got tired and decided to 
leave pushing local government officials for response as no one listened to them.    
The protest leaders are people who were influential (socially and politically) in the 
communities. The University of Free State released a press release about the study 
they conducted in 2014 which found that the majority of the people who lead these 
  
62 
 
protests are former ANC member who previously held key and prominent positions 
within the communities and ANC. In the main these are male leaders. 
 
There was a clear misunderstanding on the part of the respondents about which 
sphere of government must deliver which service. The people seemed to believe that 
the mandate of the local government is to deliver all needed services to the people. 
This suggests that there is an existing poor communication or lack of public 
education by the municipalities to the communities about service delivery points of 
government. Hence Botes et al (2007) state that the lack of institutional transparency 
was the main reason for community unrest. In this context there is no client 
interface2 between local government and citizens. If a client interface relationship 
existed effectively in this case, the communities would most probably target the 
relevant sphere of government.  
 
The IEC is mostly visible during the elections, and their outreach and communication 
programmes do not reach everybody, especially in rural communities. This is 
affirmed by Booysen and Masterson (2009) who argue that, even though the 
Electoral Commission used the low percentage of spoilt ballots as a measurement 
for their success of its outreach programmes during the 2009 NPE, a Citizen 
Satisfaction Survey report conducted by the Public Service Commission (2011) 
shows that just 9 percent of the voters believe that the outreach and communication 
programme is effective. Given this, the intended message by the IEC to the voters 
did not yield the results they anticipated.  
 
The people did not have knowledge about the difference between the government 
and the ANC as a party. This meant that the people directed their demands straight 
to the municipalities and did not canvass or lobby structures of the ANC to intervene. 
This further suggests that people could protest for service delivery against the ANC-
led government just days or months before elections and still vote for the ANC even 
if their demands were not met. 
 
                                                          
2
 Client interface refers to a common point where the state meets the citizens with the objective of citizens 
gets attention, feedback or action from the state and the state representative give responses to the raised 
issues 
  
63 
 
The opposition parties have admitted that they did not adequately and efficiently 
campaign for elections and conduct voter education to their entire constituency due 
to the lack of financial resources. This was attributed to the current system of party 
funding which allocates more funds to a bigger party and less funds to a smaller 
party. Public Funding of Represented Political Parties Act 1997 regulates how the 
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the IEC must administer the allocation of funds to 
represented political parties. 
 
Booysen and Masterson (2009) support this finding that, if anything, the public 
funding in South Africa has greatly empowered the ANC to consolidate its 
dominance at the expense of opposition parties. They made an example about the 
imbalance of the allocated funds to the ANC by making comparison with the DA and 
IFP parties: "Of the R88 million that the IEC distributed to parties in 2009, R61 million 
went to the ANC, R10.5 million to the DA [Democratic Alliance] and R5.4 million to 
the Inkatha Freedom Party" (Booysen & Masterson 2009). Simply put, the system 
allocated the ANC about 5½ times as much of the taxpayer's money in 2009 
compared to the next two opposition parties combined. As a result of this Act, the 
dominance of the ANC will be prolonged whereas opposition parties will find it hard 
to compete adequately. Additionally, opposition parties have been severely 
disadvantaged by the Funding Act due to its unequal funds allocation in a multi-party 
system under a dominant party system in South Africa (Weissenbach, 2011). In turn, 
this Act allows the ANC to cover greater areas during election campaigns which 
voters construe as the only party that cares for them in communities that the 
opposition parties are unable to cover due to lack of financial resources.  
 
Contrarily, Sefakor (2014) maintains that public funding system is not the only legal 
avenue for parties to receive funds for their operations. In South Africa there is no 
law that curbs any party from receiving funding from any source. Thus, opposition 
parties may still be funded privately apart from public funding during or after 
elections. This speaks to the ability of all parties to fundraise and strengthen 
themselves to be very competitive during elections.    
 
 
  
64 
 
The government and Ward Councillors do not hold meetings with the people and 
share their programmes, budgets and time frame of their service delivery. This is 
contrary to the Batho Pele principles. This suggested that there was a lack of 
accountability by the government and Ward Councillors. Due to this the people felt 
neglected and used for the purpose of voting and immediately after elections their 
needs are disregarded. This means that officials in local government are 
undermining the prescripts of the constitution which provides local government with 
the power of promoting democratic and accountable government to local 
communities. To this end, local government in the Ngaka Modiri Molema Municipality 
fails to consider that government officials must be accountable to the public 
(Chapman, 2000). In this vein, it is not surprising that Alexander (2010) and Booysen 
(2009) argue that lack of service delivery and lack of accountability by government 
officials and councillors are adequate reasons justifying community protests.  
 
Moreover, the ward councillor as the representative of the people must understand 
and present the needs of the constituency in the council (Sibanda, 2012). This is in 
line with section 58 of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act (1998) which 
states that the council should understand the needs of the residents and recommend 
the best solution for service delivery to the benefit of the local communities. This is 
further articulated in the Batho Pele framework established in 2002 which sought to 
overcome the challenges of service delivery by government. Specifically, the 
ignorance of the protestors (voters) about by whom and how service should be 
rendered is due to the government contravention of the principles of Batho Pele 
(World Bank, 2011) set out below: 
 Consultation and choice. Citizen-users should be consulted in a number of 
ways: customer surveys; interviews; group consultations; meetings with 
consumer representative bodies, non-governmental organizations, and 
community-based organizations; and Integrated Development Plans. 
Consumers should also be given real choices. 
 Providing of information. Information on services should be available at the 
point of delivery, but other arrangements will be needed for users who are far 
from the point of delivery. 
  
65 
 
 Openness and transparency. The public should know how national, 
provincial, and local government institutions operate, how well they use 
resources, and who is in charge. It is anticipated that the public will take 
advantage of this principle by suggesting improvements to service delivery 
mechanisms and raising queries with government employees to hold them 
accountable and responsible. 
 
As a result of this neglected responsibility by the local government, the people think 
that the every service to the communities is the sole responsibility of the local 
government. Therefore, in the absence of the service provision knowledge by the 
communities they expect government to provide services and if this is not done 
protests erupt. 
 
 
Meanwhile Raga and Tylor (2005) argue that accountability is the ‘fundamental 
prerequisite’ for averting the state and its official from abuse of power, and making 
sure that such power is channelled towards achieving responsiveness, effectiveness, 
transparency, and efficiency, and also ensuring that government does what  is 
mandated to do and embraces the responsibility of being accountable to the 
communities.  
 
Many people vote out of their own interest not because of the party manifestos 
whereas others vote to preserve the history of the ANC as they believe it is the only 
party that should rule SA. They believe that a change in their vote will give the 
apartheid government a window to come back. Schlemmer (2004) also attributes 
ANC support partly to the “symbolism of liberation” as majority of electorates 
associate it with the struggle against apartheid. These liberation credentials have 
sentimental attachment for the majority of electorates in the country, especially the 
black people who used to be marginalised and oppressed electorates. In just over 20 
years since the attainment of democracy in South Africa it will take many years for 
the majority of electorates to take power away from the ANC.  The ANC is also given 
credence by the significant role it played during the crafting of the constitution of 
South Africa (Giliomee and Simkins, 1999). This role has made the ANC to be 
  
66 
 
perceived as the peaceful, inclusive, caring and a democratic party which a majority 
of electorates want to be associated with.   
 
However, Managa (2012) disagrees by stating that political party manifestos have 
contributed to the situation by making temporary and opportunistic promises that 
attract voters during election time. These promises raises the expectations which 
then create the wrong perception that once such party or candidate wins the 
community will be provided with what was promised. Since 1994, many of the party 
manifestos addressed the primary needs of the communities such as curbing 
corruption, improving service delivery, job creation, provision of water and electricity. 
Once these promises are not met after elections, the local communities feel 
deprived, frustrated and decide to protest. 
The opposition parties believe that the ANC intimidates people and blackmails them 
to vote for the ANC if they still want to benefit from social grants and other state 
services. This view was also expressed in a news24 article of 17 April 2012 which 
stated that “The first is that the ANC, by spending government money on 16 million 
social grants per year, and by telling those grant recipients that they won't get their 
money if anyone else is in power, are buying votes. They're buying votes from the 
same desperate people they have been failing for 20 years, but they are buying 
votes none the less”. Seale (2014) also asserts that the ANC side-lines people 
associated with opposition parties through tenders, jobs, service delivery and 
opportunities for development. Seale (2014) further argues that the main way the 
ANC carried out political intimidation was through deceiving voters, giving 
misinformation through threats regarding social grants and pensions, denying other 
parties access to government meeting facilities. Times Live (2014) published an 
article about the ANC MEC for Agriculture in Kwazulu Natal who warned everyone 
who did not vote for the ANC to stay away from the social grants. Mr Meshack 
Radebe said "Nxamalala [Zuma] has increased grants, but there are people who are 
stealing them by voting for opposition parties, if you are in the opposition, you are 
like a person who comes to my house, eats my food and then insults me." 
The respondents indicated personal interest as the reason for voting during 
elections. This interest includes ensuring continuous social grants payment and 
  
67 
 
possibly securing employment. Related to social grants, the respondents 
commended the ANC for continuous monthly payments and acknowledged that in 
many regards the grant is better than it was during the apartheid system. The 
apartheid regime implemented the social grants that met the needs of the whites 
(Inter-Regional Inequality Facility, 2012). The introduction of the social grants under 
the ANC government is seen a better and inclusive one that to some degree alleviate 
poverty in some households in communities. Samson at al (2004) confirm that a 
household that receives a social grant has much better opportunities of taking 
children to school, extensively look for employment and have a decent meal than a 
household that is not receiving social grants. Social grants remain the only form of 
income for many households that do not have workers, have children and some 
illiteracy to find employment. 
Nonetheless, there is not enough evidence regarding the impact social grants have 
on the lives of the recipients. One of the perceptions is that the social grants create 
dependency by the recipients on the state who end up not willing to fend for 
themselves (Potts, 2005). This could well be motivating women or men to 
intentionally fall pregnant, not look for employment and rely solely on social grants.  
  
The study also established that the members of the communities participated in 
elections to get employed or enhance their chances of being employed. The people 
especially youth, use voting as a transaction for employment after elections 
(Booysen, 2015). The unemployed people seem to be actively campaigning for 
politicians or influential people and vote during elections so that they can be 
rewarded with employment. Booysen (2015) emphasises that such people do this 
with the expectation that they are seen, recognized and their Actions will be 
rewarded by the ruling ANC. Statistics South Africa (2013) justifies this thinking when 
it revealed that youth between the ages of 15 – 24 years in South Africa are 
unemployed and therefore dependent on their families or the state for any income 
and care. 
 
 
 
 
  
68 
 
CHAPTER SIX 
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 
6.1 INTRODUCTION 
 
This chapter provides the recommendations the study believes will enhance effective 
service delivery in local communities and strengthen better rapport between the local 
government authorities and communities. It further revisits the three research 
objectives of the study, revisits the theoretical underpinning of the study and in the 
end gives a comprehensive conclusion of the study. 
 
6.2 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION 
 
The recommendations are aimed at assisting the government to reduce the high 
culture of service delivery protests and provide services effectively; to improve the 
people’s understanding of the spheres of government; promote active citizenry and 
promote voter participation during elections in SA generally. The below 
recommendations were influenced by the reviewed literature and observation of the 
findings. As such, the recommendations are as follows:  
 
 The government needs to establish a relation with the people in order for each 
to access the other. This study showed that government was not accountable 
to the people and did not have meetings to find each other on the needs and 
demands of the people. The local council must enact a policy that is in line 
with this. Each Ward Councillor must hold quarterly meetings with their 
constituencies in order to share feedback and progress. There must be a 
penalty for non-compliance regarding such policy. Such meetings would also 
assist by informing the people about the different spheres of government and 
their responsibilities for service delivery competencies. 
 
  
69 
 
 The government must create a platform for communication with people 
especially after receiving the protestor demands. They must respond to the 
demands accordingly, in line with the turnaround time stipulated in the 
Memorandum of Demands (MoD). 
 
 Government must provide services equally and fairly to the people to avoid 
nepotism and corruption. According to section 195 (1) (d) of the Constitution 
of the Republic 1996, the services must be delivered impartially, fairly and 
without bias. The respondents stated that government officials are corrupt and 
practice nepotism, so if this section of the constitution could be adhered to 
then service delivery could be effective. 
 
 The IEC must restore its credibility through a zero mistake approach in the 
delivery of their mandate to run free, fair and credible elections. This includes 
making sure that their employees’ credentials are credible and trust worthy. 
Their outreach and communication programmes must be continuous through 
field work, television, radio and social media. These will solve the reality of 
only seeing the IEC on the streets and media around the elections. Moreover, 
the IEC needs to find ways of explaining to the voters that a voter’s choice is 
their secret in any elections to deal with intimidation and historic vote 
perceptions.  
 
 The political parties must also do their bit to provide voter education in any 
forum they have. Seemingly, they all wait for the announcement of the 
election date to start campaigning for votes. This would spark interest in the 
people to participate in big numbers during elections as opposed to seeing 
parties only during elections. 
 
 The political parties must craft their election manifestos in a manner that will 
appeal to the majority of the people. Such manifestos will attract voters and 
improve voter turnout and votes of that party.  After elections, the election 
manifesto should not be in paper only but must be translated into actual 
delivery of promises the manifesto made to the people. 
  
70 
 
6.3 REVISITATION OF THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 
 
The aim and objectives of this study as set out in chapter one of this mini-
dissertation are revisited and addressed under thematic areas in chapter two as 
follows:  
Chapter two investigated research objective one which was to investigate whether 
service delivery protests do achieve their objectives. This was carried out through 
discussing the politics of service delivery and protest in South Africa before and after 
1994. Different literature on the achievement of the objectives of the protests was 
reviewed and it showed that in some instances they do achieve their objectives but 
the findings revealed that in Ngaka Modiri Molema municipality they did not achieve 
their objective. Chapter two formed the theoretical basis for further discussions on 
the service delivery protests and their objectives in chapter four, part one.   
 
Research objective two which is the examination of the reasons that inform voter 
support for the ANC irrespective of their dissatisfaction in the NW province was also 
discussed in chapter two. This topical theme discussed voting and party preferences 
in order to arrive at the reasons for ANC support despite providing poor service 
delivery to local communities. The reviewed literature confirmed that the voter 
support is influenced by factors such as partisanship, effective campaigns, party 
dominance and party funding. Interestingly, the findings also affirmed these 
narratives. This also formed the theoretical basis for the discussions on the 
understanding of the ANC support and dissatisfaction in chapter four, part two. 
 
Also in chapter two, research objective three which is to investigate and explain 
factors contributing to voter turnout at various voting stations was reviewed through 
literature. This was discussed under the topical theme of factors of voter turnout 
which viewed the literature and statistics from the first elections in 1994 in South 
Africa until 2014 NPE. Factors such as voter turnout and partisanship were also 
reviewed to explain voter turnout. The reviewed literature and finding revealed that 
voters tend to participate in elections due to partisanship; others showed no interest 
in participating in elections because they believe that only the ruling party will win 
elections.   
  
71 
 
6.4 REVISITATION OF THEORETICAL UNDERPINNING 
 
This study employed the relative deprivation theory as its basis for theoretical 
foundation. Relative deprivation theory provided a reasonable understanding and 
account of the protest Action in local communities. This theory is relevant to the 
study in that it adequately captures and characterizes factors that explain 
discontentment and social movements for change in communities. Service delivery 
protest Actions were prompted by the protestors’ senses of entitlement for services 
which they did not receive from the ruling ANC at local government level. This feeling 
of discontentment and marginalization is guided by the election manifestos delivered 
by the ANC during elections, which promised a better life for all and quality services 
to the people. Also, the constitution provides (under chapter 2) that every citizen has 
a right to housing, health care, food, water, social security and education.  
Due to non-fulfilment of these promises by the ANC-led local government, the 
protestors felt disregarded and frustrated and decided to stage protest. These 
protests, as better explained by relative deprivation theory, are used as a platform for 
local government to listen to and address the issues protestors are unhappy about. 
Therefore relative deprivation theory assisted with the understanding of the reasons 
communities protest. However, the shortcoming of relative deprivation theory in this 
study is that it could not explain the reasons people vote for the ANC despite being 
unhappy about its service delivery performance at local communities.  
 
6.5 CONCLUSION 
 
This study attempted to examine the relationship between service delivery protest 
and voter turnout in SA since 2004 – 2015. The specific focus area of the study was 
the Ngaka Modiri Molema district municipality in the North West province. This is 
because service delivery protests that have been staged were directed to the people 
that were elected into office by the protesting communities. Clearly, elections provide 
the protesting communities with the platform to either elect new candidates or parties 
into power or re-elect them once more. The Ngaka Modiri Molema situation shows 
  
72 
 
that the communities have been voting the ANC into office every election. The 
arguments presented by the authors cited in chapter two and the findings in chapter 
four, interviewees tell us that there are elements such as the PR electoral system, 
ANC partisanship, current proportional fund allocation law on public funding and the 
weak state of opposition parties that explain the reasons for voting for the ANC 
irrespective of their performance in government.  The protesting communities join the 
protest mainly because it is already organized and they are affected by the lack of 
water, unemployment and other service delivery issues. This then suggests that 
even if there is no positive response from government, the people will wait for 
another protest to be organized so that they can join in. Thus, one can deduce that 
the majority of the protestors are not able to link the relationship between service 
delivery and voter turnout during elections. In other words, protestors do not 
understand the power of their vote in changing the plight of service delivery in their 
area.  
It is therefore very important that future studies provide a further but different 
approach to the examination of the relationship between service delivery protest and 
voter turnout in SA and Africa generally. Such studies should look into the reasons 
why voters, especially in rural or semi-rural areas are not prepared to vote for any 
party other than the ruling ANC even if such opposition parties’ manifesto and 
policies promise better life and quality service delivery. This will be helpful in that it 
will assess the voting patterns of rural and urban protesting communities which this 
study did not cover. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
73 
 
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APPENDIX 1 
Have service delivery protests achieved their objectives in various communities in 
the North West Province? 
Data Collection 
Technique 
Questions  
 
In-depth interview with 
50 protesters residing 
in the Ngaka Modiri 
Molema region.  
 
 
 
 
 
1. What did your community intend to achieve through 
engaging in a service delivery protest? 
2. Has government responded to your demands raised 
through your engagement in the protest as a community? 
3. Do you think that protests were the only viable option to 
raise issues of lack or inadequate service delivery in your 
community or are there other means of raising issues that 
the community could have explored? 
4. Does your community protest for services that are 
provincial or national government or municipal 
competence? If so mention such. 
5. Do you think ANC members who are unsatisfied with the 
party’s internal politics might be involved in protests to 
destabilize the term of incumbents? 
6. Are opposition parties involved in protests and what do 
you think motivates their involvement? 
 
What informs voter support for the ANC irrespective of their dissatisfaction with 
service delivery in the North West Province? 
Data Collection 
Technique 
Questions  
Six (6) FGDs with local 
branches of ANC, 
COPE, DA, EFF, 
UCDP, PAC and in 
Mahikeng Local 
1. In your view, do you think that people are satisfied with 
service delivery from the ANC led government? 
2. Do you think that people who participate in service 
delivery protest are ordinary community members or are 
they members of the ANC or other political parties?  
  
88 
 
Municipality.  
 
3. Do you think communities can differentiate between 
government and the ruling party and which of the two 
should be blamed for inadequate service delivery to 
communities? 
 4. The ANC is ruling most municipalities in the province, in 
your view, why are people still voting for ANC in majority 
whereas they protest against its government? 
 
 
What informs voter turnout at the voting stations in the North West Province? 
Data Collection 
Technique 
Questions 
 
In-depth interview with 
50 Protesters 
 
1. Did you ever abstain from voting and why?  
2. Is voter turnout based on the importance of voting as it 
relates to holding government accountable for issues 
pertaining to service delivery? 
3. Are political parties delivering realistic manifestos 
(promises) to attract voters? 
4. Do you feel that voting makes a difference in terms of 
contributing to the country’s democracy hence people 
vote? 
5. Whenever you vote is it because of what the parties 
promise the community or trust and confidence in the IEC? 
6. Do you think people vote because of municipal 
performance on service delivery or are there other factors 
involved (name and explain such)? 
7. Is voter turnout motivated by visibility of the IEC and/or 
distance from the voting stations in your community? 
 
What is the possible relationship between service delivery, protests and voter 
  
89 
 
turnout in the North West Province? 
Data Collection 
Technique 
Questions 
In-depth interviews 
with members of the 
IECs Party Liaison 
Committee  
 
1. Do you think high voter turnout might be as result of 
people trying to depose the incumbents to introduce new 
political leadership?   
2. Do you think community protests might be as result of 
people trying to depose the incumbents to introduce new 
political leadership or for mere demands of basic 
services?   
3. What programmes does the IEC have to attract voters 
and educate them about the importance of voting and do 
you think they are working? 
4. In your view, are political parties doing enough to 
educate and give people feedback on service delivery 
issues in order to attract voters? 
5.   Do you think the low socio-economic status of 
communities drives them to continue to vote hoping for 
delivery of services? 
6. Do you think provision, lack or inadequate service 
delivery has an impact on voter participation and non-
participation? Please explain. 
 
7. Do people vote because of promises by parties or trust 
and confidence in the IEC? 
8. Do you think people vote because of municipal 
performance on service delivery or are there other factors 
involved (name and explain such)? 
9. Having engaged in a protest as a community, do you 
think people don’t vote if demands are not met and vote if 
their demands are met by municipalities? 
 
  
90