An assessment of customer perception of water service quality at uMgungundlovu municipality

Journal of Local Government Research and Innovation

 
 
Field Value
 
Title An assessment of customer perception of water service quality at uMgungundlovu municipality
 
Creator Muthwa, Xolani Matsiliza, Noluthando S.
 
Subject Public Administration: Local Government service; quality; environment; stakeholders; client satisfaction
Description Background: Municipalities in South Africa are grappling with water service delivery needed to sustain the quality of life for the broader society. Even though the government in post-apartheid South Africa provides safe drinking water, it is still challenged to maintain quality water services by satisfying customers’ expectations.Aim: This study investigates communities’ perception of water service quality at the uMgungundlovu district municipality. This study intends to recommend strategies to enhance water service provision at uMgungundlovu district municipality.Methods: To address the research aim, this study adopted a mixed-methods approach. This study used a stratified sample of 300 participants drawn from the population of three sub-urban areas and two villages. Data were collected by distributing questionnaires and conducting interviews with participants. A Statistic Package for Social Science was used to analyse quantitative data, and a thematic method was adopted to analyse qualitative data.Results: Findings from this study demonstrate a gap in the dimensions of water services, such as the tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy of water services. Therefore, the customer expectations of the determinants of service quality compared were not fully met by the uMgungundlovu district municipality.Conclusion: This article demonstrates that the service quality approach assessed in this study can identify areas of improvement in uMgungundlovu municipality, thereby responding to customers’ and stakeholders’ needs at uMgungundlovu district municipality.Contribution: This study recommended strategies that can enhance water service quality at uMgungundlovu district municipality.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor Durban University of Technology
Date 2024-08-14
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Survey and Interview
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/jolgri.v5i0.139
 
Source Journal of Local Government Research and Innovation; Vol 5 (2024); 11 pages 2788-919X 2709-7412
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://jolgri.org/index.php/jolgri/article/view/139/405 https://jolgri.org/index.php/jolgri/article/view/139/406 https://jolgri.org/index.php/jolgri/article/view/139/407 https://jolgri.org/index.php/jolgri/article/view/139/408
 
Coverage — — Age, Gender, Occupation
Rights Copyright (c) 2024 Xolani Muthwa, Noluthando S. Matsiliza https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT