Mediation and structural interdicts as strategies for preventing service delivery failures in South African municipalities
 

Author:

J Wright
 

Summary: 

South African municipalities are entrusted to perform various functions, including providing basic services to communities. Recently, the auditor-general raised concern about municipalities’ overall functionality and ability to fulfil their obligations. Municipalities’ service delivery failures have led to disputes between them and their communities. Moreover, South African courts have drawn attention to the impact of service delivery failures and described their catastrophic and devastating effects on communities and their local economies. In addition, it is said that the consequences of these municipal failures are more severe for the communities than any other stakeholder. For this reason, communities require legal options to resolve such disputes. Courts often use structural interdicts to help remedy severe service delivery failures. The paper explores how one can build on structural interdicts by using them in conjunction with mediation to find solutions that give ownership of the solutions to the community and rebuild relationships between councils, administrations, and communities.


Link to Journal Article