Page 24 - Research Report 2025.1

Participant 7
“I think also the underfunding of municipalities. This equitable share, it was ideal. It was done as if all the municipalities are equal, of the same standard. Whereas the rural municipalities are having a lot of backlog before moving forward.”
Participant 6
“The main challenge is the funding of municipalities. That’s point number one.”
Human Resource Issues
Human resource constraints were noted by participants as significant barriers to rural development.Participant 6 highlighted the challenge of capacity, noting that while some staff are present, they often lack the necessary skills to effectively carry out their duties. The shortage of skilled professionals, such as engineers, is particularly problematic, as many qualified individuals prefer to work in urban areas, leaving rural municipalities struggling to attract talent.
Participant 6
“The issue of capacity can be in 2 folds or can be in various folds. We will find that people are there but they are not equal to the task.”
“Another challenge is the capacity combined with skills. Where you lack people with skills, like engineers. People do not want to work in rural areas. Educated people run to cities and no one comes to our areas.”
Natural Disasters
Natural disasters, such as floods, were cited by Participant 1 as significant obstacles to infrastructure development, with roads and other essential infrastructure frequently damaged.
Participant 1
“There’s many challenges that are facing local government. Some, even though they are not proven, corruption can also be mentioned as one of the challenges of local government, but I’m not gonna delve into that one. But it remains because if we don’t talk about it, we’re pretending like it’s not there. It’s one of the issues.”
Limited Community participation
Participant 1 highlighted the lack of community engagement in governance processes, such as public consultations. As Participant 1 noted, unless tangible incentives are provided, community members may be disinterested in participating in vital governance activities. This disconnect can weaken the effectiveness of local governance and hinder sustainable development efforts.
Coordination Challenges
Participant 3 identified a lack of coordination between municipal departments as a major challenge, leading to inefficiencies in service delivery and development project implementation. This fragmentation underscores the need for improved intergovernmental coordination and better integration of efforts across departments.
Participant 3
I want to believe that it is coordination. A proper coordination. Because even within a municipality, you find that a certain department within the municipality. Now we have, at district level, we have 6 departments. We have your BTO who is budget and treasury. You have your CDS, community development services. You have your PED. You have your infrastructure which is divided into two, which has water services, and IDMS. You find within those departments within the municipality each department is doing their own thing there’s a limited integration of any department.
Limited Job Opportunities
A focus group participant added that a significant portion of the population is migrating to cities in search of job opportunities and better resources. This rural-to-urban migration exacerbates the skills shortage in rural areas. The participant further pointed out that due to a lack of industrial development and job creation, rural communities are heavily reliant on social grants, perpetuating economic dependency and limiting sustainable development.
Focus group Participant
1. “I mean a volume Of the population, I’m going to have got this urban movement. People are moving to, I mean, to cities for job opportunities, for all these types of resources, and so on. In particular the issue of unemployment leading to lack of job opportunities.
Because this is a rural setup and this thing it has got a direct barring on dropouts in high schools because of these things”
2. “I think the issue of the unemployment. Yeah. I think the unemployment and the because of industrial establishment, the structure and industrial activities, we don’t have industries at all. So we are totally dependent in social grants”
Participant 1
“The natural disasters. For instance, a municipality will construct an access road, and, due to climate change and natural disasters, the floods will come and sweep that particular access road away.”
Corruption
Additionally, corruption within local government was men- tioned as a challenge. Corruption hampers development ef- forts by misallocating resources and undermining trust in local institutions.
Participant 1
“And also the non attendance or maybe. You will invite, community members to a bylaw consultation. And they’re not interested in that..If you’re not bringing food parcels or gifts from the municipality, they’re not interested to come and participate, and they don’t understand the depth and effects of that particular bylaw that you are bringing to them. So if you
are bringing soft, you’re just coming to talk to them.”
22 | STUDY OBJECTIVE I