The term “service delivery” comes up ever so frequently because in South Africa basic services, such as the distribution of water, electricity and sanitation infrastructure, in many municipalities are unreliable. Earlier in the year, it was reported that 32 major service delivery protests were recorded in January alone. According to specialised local government data and intelligence company Municipal IQ, Gauteng saw the most service delivery protests in 2022 (accounting for 27%), followed by KZN (22%) and the Eastern Cape (16%). Meanwhile, in the eThekwini metro residents have embarked on a protest – withholding up to R1.2 million in rates and taxes – citing that despite sharp tariff increases, they continue to receive sub-par services or no services at all. Moreover, residents have taken the metro to court. In this conversation, we want to take a look at the situation in eThekwini as well as how the lack of service delivery has become a norm in many municipalities across the country. Nompumelelo Ngubeni is joined by Local Governance Expert Dr Tim Maake and the Chairperson of the Westville Ratepayers Association (WRA) Asad Gaffar.