IMPACT OF SKILLS SHORTAGE ON
Date
2011-04-19
Authors
MMBOYI, Azwi
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Abstract
For many years, people in the Vhembe District Municipality have been
experiencing shortage of water even during heavy rainfall seasons. They
often blame the dry season when they experience water shortage but they
become confused when the situation persists during heavy rain. Little did
they know that water shortage in the area is mainly caused by the
shortage of skilled people who are responsible for the water supply to the
community. This exploratory study investigates the impact of skills
shortage on water provision in the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM).
The research focuses more on factors that influence the lack of
knowledge, experience and skills within the water project and further try to
seek interventions in addressing these challenges in order to ensure that
high quality water is supplied to the people of Vhembe. The researcher
made use of the qualitative method to obtain detailed information about
the challenges that VDM is facing in the provisioning of quality of water to
the community.
The study revealed that shortage of skills in South Africa contributes
extensively to poor service delivery particularly at the municipal level. The
situation is exacerbated by the slow pace at which educational institutions
produce engineers in South Africa. The study further revealed that rural
municipalities like VDM are more vulnerable and likely to lose skilled
engineers due to their geographical location and poor salaries. Lastly,
recommendations were made in the closing chapter for the VDM to
strengthen its technical staff in order to render quality services to the
people.
Description
MM - P&DM
Keywords
Skills development, Water shortages