Page 23 - Research Report 2025.1

Participant 7 raised concerns about disparities in road maintenance, noting that while urban municipalities invest in maintaining tarred roads, rural areas continue to struggle with inadequate gravel roads. This disparity underscores the unequal distribution of municipal services and the marginalization of rural regions in infrastructure planning and resource allocation. Collectively, these insights point to the urgent need for targeted investments, strategic leadership and coordinated efforts to address the infrastructural deficits that impede rural development and the sustainability of livelihoods in these areas.
Participant 2
Infrastructural development is a challenge. I think maybe this one would require a political leadership that is more open to viewing our rurality as the area, as something that needs to be transformed if I may put it in that way. Alfred Ndzo is right next to the KZN. Yes. And the KZN side, when you look versus the Eastern Cape side, it’s more developed. And not because they are a totally different area in terms of livelihoods than the Eastern Cape side, but maybe because of the issues of infrastructural development, some of the economic zones that exist in the EC side cannot be entirely explored. But maybe because of the issues of infrastructural development, some of the economic zones that exist in
the EC side cannot be entirely explored. Now it requires a leadership that will be able to appreciate that and maybe put time and resources in place so that we have a system of transforming infrastructure, especially road infrastructure, that connects these provinces so that we enable and unlock some economic activity that can happen easily in terms of how trade happens between provinces.
Participant 6
We do not have enough infrastructure. We have problems with stable electricity and unstable connectivity. The network challenge for attending online meetings. When you are on the N2 there is connectivity but not in Ntabankulu.
Budget and Financial Limitations
Focus group Participant
What I have noted in rural areas, the house-holds are very far from each other. Even when the municipality wants to develop those areas. You can’t just build an access road for one person. So it’s very hard for the municipality to get to those areas because it costs a lot.
Secondly, allowing me to mention the institutions of higher learning. Once learners have completed their matriculation, they have to go to other provinces, they have to travel a reasonable distance to access the higher institutions of learning. Even the issue of electrification in our respective wards and villages. Even today, we have places where there’s no electricity at all.
Focus group Participant
The application is done online. Yet today, the provision of Wi-Fi is a serious challenge. So as you go into town, you will find a lot of learners leaning against the building of Standard Bank to access these things.
Participant 7 comments
There are areas which are still having a challenge of access gravel road. Whereas other municipalities in urban areas, now they are maintaining tarred roads. So there’s always this disjuncture when it comes to municipal services and access thereof.
A Focus group participant articulated a significant barrier in translating climate change strategies from theory into practice due to the inadequacy of financial resources. Despite the existence of a climate change strategy, the limited budget prevents its comprehensive implementation, notably the inability to deploy personnel across all wards. This situation not only hampers the effectiveness of climate action at the local level but also highlights a broader systemic issue where resource constraints hinder the progression of otherwise well- developed plans. A focus group participant account underscores how financial shortfalls are particularly detrimental to vulnerable areas, where the need for intervention is often the greatest but resources are scarce.
The Focus group participant comments:
“Budget constraints. Yes. Okay. Like, in terms of your climate change strategy, since we have a climate change strategy. Now we’re working on implementing that climate change strategy. But in terms of budget, we don’t have enough budget to have people in each and every ward.”
Further illustrating this challenge, Participant 7 critiqued the equitable share funding model, which is intended to distribute resources among municipalities.The participant noted that this model assumes uniformity in the needs and starting points of municipalities,thereby overlooking the significant disparities between rural and urban regions. In rural municipalities, long-standing infrastructure backlogs compound their development challenges, leaving them unable to progress at the same rate as urban counterparts. The participant argued that a one-size-fits-all funding approach is inherently flawed, as rural areas require substantially more resources to address these historic and systemic deficits. The implication of this critique is clear: funding models must be revised to reflect the specific needs of each municipality, especially those in rural settings, where underdevelopment continues to perpetuate inequalities in service delivery and infrastructure development.
Echoing this sentiment, Participant 6 identified municipal funding as the most pressing challenge. This participant emphasised that without adequate financial resources, municipalities are fundamentally constrained in their ability to provide essential services, let alone meet broader developmental goals.
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