Service delivery, moral political capital and democratic legitimacy: a case study of Langa and Wentworth, South Africa

Abstract

This article is a case study of the experiences of residents of two historically disadvantaged communities, Langa Township, which is an historically black African township in the Western Cape, and Wentworth, an historically ‘coloured’ township in KwaZulu-Natal, of the first 30 years of democratic rule. The focus is on services and governance and regenerating moral political capital and democratic legitimacy. Use is made of insights found in qualitative interviews conducted with residents of the two residential areas on the delivery of services in five priority areas, the impact of their perceptions of the delivery of services on the moral political capital of the ruling political party and the legitimacy of the new democracy, and on how moral political capital and democratic legitimacy can be regenerated. The key finding is that most residents of the two areas believed that their lives have not improved in these priority areas in the first 30 years of democracy, and have worsened in some cases, and that this illustrates a loss of moral political capital because the ruling political party has failed to live up to its promise of a better life for all, as well as a loss of democratic legitimacy because the democratic state has not served their particular interests. The article informs political leaders and policy makers and implementers of the steps to be taken to regenerate both moral political capital and the legitimacy of the democracy that was established in 1994.