Municipal IQ, a municipal monitoring body, found that most of the country’s service delivery protests this year had erupted in Gauteng.
The municipal watchdog’s Hotspots Monitor indicated that there had been 134 violent protests between January and August with 24 percent of these demonstrations occurring in the province.
The monitoring body found that there had been a steady increase in major service delivery protests nationwide.
“It remains of grave concern that so many protests – almost four out of five – are violent and can be deeply compromising to communities,” said Kevin Allan, managing director of Municipal IQ.
However, the levels of service delivery protests show no signs of abating.
Karen Heese, Municipal IQ’s economist said many of the recent, winter protests related to electricity connections, but pressure on this demand may ease as the season ends.
“However, another prominent concern is access to water which is likely to accelerate in summer. Neither of these concerns are likely to be quickly resolved, notwithstanding gradual gains suggested in Stats SA Non-financial Census,” Heese said.
“This means there is likely to be a continuation in the high rate of protests witnessed so far this year.”
Municipal IQ is a web-based data and intelligence service specialising in monitoring and assessing the country’s 278 municipalities.
Municipal IQ’s Hotspots Monitor collates major protests staged by community members using information recorded by the media and other public domain sources.
