Capacitating municipal communication in selected departments to enhance service delivery

Abstract

Communication among municipal staff and between the municipality and community members has proven to be a challenge for South African municipalities. It was identified from literature that for proper service delivery to take place in the municipalities, there needs to be an effective communication among municipal staff members first, and between municipal staff and community members. The purpose of this research therefore was to investigate how effective municipal communication can be capacitated in order to enhance service delivery in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District municipalities. Communication is described as meaning a pattern of information flow within the organisation. All organisations regard effective communications as essential for survival. The study employed the system theory in order for the researcher to understand how effective communication can work in an organisation. A quantitative research design was used for this study in order for the researcher to attain numeric and quantifiable responses from the respondents. Census sampling was used to identify 126 staff members that were used for the study. Simple random sampling, on the other hand, was used to select 50 community members in the NMMDM. An open-ended questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents in the schools. The questionnaires were developed based on what existed in the literature study. The questionnaire was drafted in a way that aimed at answering the research questions posed for the study. Data collected was analysed using descriptive statistical analysis; data were presented in chart and tables and further discussed with relevant literature. The main findings of the study revealed that the staff members are happy with the communication service they get in the municipalities, but they need proper improvement in the channels of communication used by the municipalities. The community members, on the other hand, are not impressed with the means of communication used by the municipality. This has led to poor service delivery, so proper channels of communication that accommodate all community members should be utilized. The study made recommendations in respect of the practical implementation, policy review and further research.