Do citizens need to problem solve collectively with municipalities to address poor service delivery?

DR SHEETAL BHOOLA

After the May elections, South Africans hoped that the new government would kick off by solving some of the overwhelming problems we have been experiencing in recent years.

The continual lack of effective municipal services in most provinces in South Africa has been alarming. Residents of KwaZulu-Natal, for instance, are grappling to access water from their taps after the Tongaat Tornado and the floods in 2022, which were recorded as the most catastrophic in the province in decades. Repairs the eThekwini Municipality promised to complete after the July riots in 2021 are lagging.

KwaZulu-Natal is not the only province that struggles to have continuous access to essential resources. Water woes were a big challenge for residents of Gauteng earlier this year; the waterless period continued for about two weeks in parts of the province. Recently, citizens residing under The Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality had no electricity for several days because of infrastructure malfunction. The outage affected specific locations.

The 2022-2023 local government audit outcomes have indicated that there has been minimal progress in recent years, in relation to the enhancement and improvement of water and electricity access for South Africans.

Some citizens have the perception that people in designated authorities at the municipalities have no intention to problem-solve timeously, while others continue to search for the reasons why corrective measures are time-consuming and problematic to pursue. Many South Africans have become complacent and have adjusted to going without either water or electricity for interim periods.

The delayed actioned response and communication to the public are problematic and need to be addressed. Many of us go days without water and electricity in Durban and await to hear when the infrastructural problem will be resolved.

Our people argue that communication is poor, and it is in those scenarios that one’s hygiene is challenged and many become vulnerable to viral and bacterial illnesses. There are many repercussions when people have to somehow manage without water and electricity.

Political analysts indicate that our municipality personnel need more skills and appropriate knowledge to deal with poor service delivery, operational malfunction, management difficulties and conflict amid and within municipal cohorts.

Central to municipal management and the positions is the skill and capacity to problem solve effectively and timeously. The impact of poor and minimal municipal services has become dire in South Africa. The scenario has become a common denominator between many municipalities. Is problem solving a skill set that we are choosing to ignore?

Problem solving is effective when it becomes a component of a systematic evaluation process. First, the problem has to be identified and then, deemed appropriate for the development or corrective measure planned. The approach and process need to be planned and thoroughly analysed before the process is implemented.

Similar case studies need to be examined and compared to the devised measure. The comparison rests on the skills to identify a successful systematic corrective measure, critically analyse and envision the implementation process and make relevant enquiries that can eliminate additional challenges of the measure.

Critical thinking comes to the fore when such information is dissected and questioned in relation to applicability, effectiveness, sustainability and timeous operation. The ability to understand a complex problem is related to one’s capacity to critically think or problem solve appropriately.

Every citizen should be able to problem solve effectively as they enter adulthood. The numerous problems imposed upon us by municipalities and the national government gives one reason to become an active and participatory citizen and contribute their problem solving capacities.

Problem solving begins with analytical development skills. The skills enable an individual to compartmentalise and divide the problem into more minor problems. Smaller problems are then addressed and linked together to address the vast concern. This is a beneficial skill for a scholar within an academic environment and at the workplace.

Problem-solving skills are also intrinsically linked to innovation and creativity. In most complex scenarios, conventional information requires questioning and a challenge. The process will also assist any individual in developing a holistic perspective of the problem at hand, encouraging the gathering and analysis of relevant research and information.

As active citizens, it is essential that we critically think about the governance that we adhere to and the decisions that are often made on our behalf without our valuable contribution to lived experiences.

We need to question the motivation for behaviour, selected processes and remedial actions that municipalities adopt to rectify the ills in municipal services. We should be able to avoid biases and analyse all relevant perceptions.

Critical thinking and its progression can be a socialisation process. Children and young adults can quickly learn to be crucial in their thoughts and question the conventional beliefs and information available.

Students should be taught about common sense, open-mindedness, logic and reasoning, the inaccuracies of generalisation, the value of general and statistical correlation, scepticism and the impact of cause and effect. All the concepts can build our understanding of critical thinking.

Children and young people should engage in activities such as mind-teasing games, mathematical exercises and activities that encourage curiosity to assist in developing a critical thinking approach that leads to effective problem-solving.

In the social world, the skills have huge benefits when people are building relationships. Individuals will be able to sift through the information presented to them and easily identify inappropriate knowledge and context to a problem.

The ability to problem solve and critically analyse and assess processes is a skill we should all strive to develop, especially if these skills are needed in our society.

Dr. Sheetal Bhoola is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Zululand, and the director at StellarMaths (Phoenix & Sunningdale).

Daily News