Municipal services, billing, and waste are Gauteng residents' biggest gripes

It comes off a low base but Gauteng residents are increasingly happy, with many believing the provincial government and their cities' administrators are doing a better job at improving their lives.

The 2017-2018 Quality of Life survey, conducted by the Gauteng City-Region Observatory [GCRO], shows that despite life being increasingly tough, more and more people are feeling better off.

The GCRO is an urbanisation think tank established as a partnership between the University of Johannesburg, Wits University and the Gauteng provincial government.

The biennial survey is the fifth to be conducted since 2009, and surveyed nearly 25,000 people from across the province's 529 wards. The research is designed to help local, provincial and national government in policy and decision-making and to gauge success in their implementation of initiatives. 

The survey is one of the biggest social attitude surveys in sub-Saharan Africa, and looks at various factors contributing to the quality of life, including access to, and satisfaction with, basic services, government, and transport and mobility. It also looks at people's attitudes towards their livelihoods, neighbourhood; community as well as family dynamics; race and gender relations; health and well-being; and political and social values.

The survey found that 44% of the province's residents were satisfied with the performance of provincial government, up from 39% in the previous survey in 2015-2016.

Other findings are:

• Gauteng's most satisfied residents live in Ekurhuleni [43%] then Johannesburg [38%] and Tshwane [34%];
• 64% of Emfuleni's residents are dissatisfied with their municipality's administrators;
• Only 37% of people are satisfied with local government;
• 86% of residents are satisfied with their water services, up from 83% in the previous survey;
• 74% of residents are satisfied with energy services, up from 72% in the previous survey;
• a 14% increase in residents trusting their fellow citizens;
• an 11% increase in residents believing it is important to look after the environment;
• a 27% increase in people people participating in community organisations and clubs;
• municipal services, billing, and waste are residents' biggest gripes;
• satisfaction with public health services dropped from 65% in 2015-2016 to 57% in 2017-2018; and
• Only 19% of residents believe enough is being done to grow the economy.

Researchers also found that, for many residents, their three main concerns are crime, unemployment and drug and alcohol abuse.

GCRO executive director Dr Rob Moore said the 44% satisfaction level with provincial government may seem low, but "the increase in satisfaction with provincial government is significant and is more than the satisfaction levels with national government [43%] and local government [37%]."

"It is clear satisfaction with government has improved since the last survey, in particular with provincial government."

He said, while economic conditions were clearly challenging, with unemployment nearing 30%, the survey showed steady improvement in overall quality of life over time.

Moore said their results showed that of the major cities, Ekurhuleni was performing the best, while Johannesburg had only marginally improved, with Tshwane struggling.

"In important areas like the cost of municipal services, billing, and waste, the province as a whole has seen big declines in resident satisfaction."

Moore said the results of the survey (only 37% of respondents being happy with local government) were no different from previous surveys, which showed that overall satisfaction with government was typically low.

"It is a feature of public sentiment that attitudes to local government are coloured by a range of factors beyond basic service delivery. This is a general condition where government is often held accountable for issues beyond its immediate mandate or control."