South Africans bail on government services as trust in leadership tanks
Despite government services being crucial to a well-functioning society, South Africans are reducing their reliance on them.
According to Stats SA’s new Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey (GPSJS) 2022/23, the use of public services by those 16 years and older has declined across all 12 metrics from 2019/20 to 2022/23.
In 2019/20, 43.4% of individuals used public transportation services – the most utilised service, but this dropped to 37.5% in 2022/23.
Gauteng (30.4%) had the highest percentage of people using public transport, followed by KwaZulu-Natal (17.3%), whereas the Northern Cape (2.0%) had the smallest percentage of public transport users.
In addition, the use of public clinics dropped from 35.4% in 2019/20 to 31.7% in 2022/23, whilst the use of public hospitals dropped from 19.9% to 13.6%.
Much like transport, the utilisation of public clinics was highest in Gauteng (26.0%), whilst only 2.6% of individuals in the Northern Cape used public clinics.
Courts (2.4%), public housing services (2.4%), and correctional services (0.5%) were the least used services by individuals in 2022/23.
Satisfaction
Although the use of government and public services has declined, satisfaction levels of these services reveal a mixed picture.
The highest satisfaction levels in 2022/23 were found in those who used higher learning institutions at 89.9%, however, this dropped from 90.6% in 2019/20.
The satisfaction levels of the next two spots – SARS (90.9% to 89.6%) and public schools (90.9% to 88.8%) – also saw marginal declines.
The lowest satisfaction levels were recovered in public housing services, which dropped from 72.5% in 2019/20 to 61.1% in 2022/23.
That said, correctional services (85.4% to 86.8%), public clinics (77.4% to 81.6%) and public hospitals (77.7% to 80.6%) all saw an increase from 2019/20 to 2022/23.
A question of trust
Alongside declines in the use of public services, South Africans are also losing trust in the government and most of the services it oversees.
Polling individuals aged 16 years and older on their views of government and public institutions, it is apparent that trust is dropping almost across the board.
Across 15 categories, Stats SA tracked trust declines in ten. The only services that saw trust grow were local government, public hospitals and clinics, traditional authorities, and social security services.
The biggest drop in trust was seen in the country’s courts, where trust levels declined from 84.9% in 2019 to 70.1% in 2023.
Notably, while trust levels in local government increased, it remains the least trusted sphere of government at only 52.5%. Public schools remain the most trusted public service at 88.3%.
The major trust issues are at the top, however.
Alongside local government, parliament, national government, and provincial governments are the least trusted institutions, reflecting the continued failures by these spheres to fulfil their mandates to the people of the country.
The result is unsurprising, given the level of decline in service delivery, and the mismanagement and endemic corruption present in all spheres of government.
Worryingly, the trust in the police services is next in line, showing another decline in 2023.
“Traffic officials, followed by police officials and traffic centre officials, constituted the highest proportion of officials who solicited bribes from individuals in both 2019/20 and 2022/23,” Stats SA said.
“Although the proportions remained relatively stable between the two periods, the absolute numbers revealed an increase in the instances of government officials seeking bribes, except for police officials.”
The recently gazetted draft National Policing Policy has been presented to the public laying out a plan to try and reverse this trend.
According to Stats SA, “access to government services is a cornerstone of any well-functioning society”.
“In the realm of governance, the relationship between access to government services, levels of trust in government and public institutions, and individual experiences of corruption significantly impacts the overall well-being of a society.
“These factors are integral to the effectiveness and legitimacy of a government and its ability to provide public safety and justice.” it said.
Read: Government’s plan to restore trust in South Africa’s police
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