A research study has revealed that Gauteng residents approve of several service delivery and job creation projects spearheaded by premier Panyaza Lesufi such as Nasi iSpani and crime fighters “amaPanyaza”.
The study released on Tuesday, which was commissioned by the province, has revealed that most Gauteng residents appreciate the several programmes introduced by the Lesufi government.
Lesufi has introduced several interventions aimed at eradicating crime, youth unemployment and supporting economic development and education, such as Nasi iSpani and crime wardens known as amaPanyaza.
Despite much criticism towards Lesufi, especially on the two programmes, the study, titled “Bridging the communications gap: enhancing awareness of government achievements in Gauteng province” and conducted by Prof King Costa, has found that residents understand and appreciate these interventions.
The study looked into whether the Gauteng government has been able to effectively communicate its achievements in the four sectors.
“People are aware, and they even appreciate — for instance, look at crime, they say that interventions that are put in place are exceeding their expectations,” said Costa.
“You probably need to get even bigger-sample qualitative research, which is the core of our study. Qualitative research doesn't work with big samples, it works with small samples and digs even deeper and get insights.”
The study was two-pronged: it qualitatively focused on a smaller sample of 45 participants across the five Gauteng regions and quantitatively sampled 578 participants.
It sampled 61.42% females and 38.58% males, mainly aged between 18 to 55.
It comprised 18.51% white, 75.61% black, 4.15% coloured and 1.73% Indian participants of all education levels.
On safety and security interventions 19.2% indicated that they highly understand them, 27.68% indicated that they understand them, 28.89% were neutral, 15.92% indicated that they slightly understand and 8.3% indicated no understanding.
On youth employment interventions, 15.74% of participants indicated being extremely familiar with these programmes, while a slightly higher proportion, at 31.31%, reported being very familiar.
Additionally, 28.03% expressed a degree of familiarity, labelling themselves as somewhat familiar with Gauteng provincial government's (GPG) youth employment initiatives. Conversely, 14.19% admitted to being not so familiar, and a smaller fraction, constituting 10.73%, claimed not to be familiar at all with these programmes.
On economic development, 10.73% of respondents indicated being extremely familiar with the GPG's initiatives, while a larger portion, at 28.89%, reported being very familiar. Furthermore, 33.39% expressed some degree of familiarity, labelling themselves as somewhat familiar. Conversely, 17.3% admitted to being not so familiar, and a smaller fraction, constituting 9.69%, claimed not to be familiar at all with the GPG's economic development efforts.
On education initiatives, 17.3% of respondents rated the achievements as excellent, while a significant proportion, at 35.99%, deemed them good. Additionally, 31.66% expressed a neutral stance regarding the GPG's educational achievements.
Conversely, 10.55% of respondents perceived these achievements as poor, and a smaller fraction, comprising 4.50%, rated them as very poor. These responses reflect varying perspectives on the GPG's effectiveness in advancing education within Gauteng.
“The findings highlight varying levels of awareness, understanding and perception of GPG achievements in key areas such as safety and security, economic development, youth employment, and education. While some participants demonstrated a high level of familiarity and perceived effectiveness of government programmes, others expressed scepticism or neutrality, indicating potential gaps in communication and awareness,” the report concluded.
The study also found that while some of the Gauteng residents were aware of these interventions, the communication from the government was not entirely effective.
“They could be doing more, and I’ll make an example, for instance with schools of specialisation. A lot of people have heard about them, but they don't actually know what they do. And schools of specialisation in education is one good thing that this government has actually done. It's one of the good things in Gauteng,” said Costa.
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