Systems approach to waste governance: unpacking the challenges facing local government

Abstract

Understanding the waste service delivery challenges facing municipalities and unravelling their inter-relationships can be a daunting challenge. Municipalities in South Africa are known to face challenges such as insufficient budget, capacity and equipment. A systems approach is shown here to be a useful tool to unpacking these challenges and highlighting their interconnectivity. The research identified four broad challenges to waste service delivery at the municipal level, including financial management; equipment management; labour management; and institutional behaviour. This is manifest within municipalities as ineffective utilisation of municipal resources (financial, equipment, capacity); non-compliance with environmental legislation; no or poor levels of service delivery; and potential environmental and human health impacts. However, these broad challenges were found to contain further primary, secondary, etc. root causes, both internal and external to the municipality. This analysis allowed for targeted intervention by municipalities, in support of sustainable and compliant waste service delivery