Evaluation of the efficiency in delivery of government services to ameliorate the COVID-19 pandemic in the King Cetshwayo District in South Africa: Recipients’ perspectives

The COVID-19 pandemic raised the need for an increase in public services to counter the negative economic ramifications of the pandemic. However, this meteoric emergence of coronavirus inadvertently gave birth to inefficiencies entrenched in the delivery of government interventions to contain the di...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: S. Zhou, R. Utete
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023-12-01
Series:Cogent Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2023.2228061
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849687200786022400
author S. Zhou
R. Utete
author_facet S. Zhou
R. Utete
author_sort S. Zhou
collection DOAJ
description The COVID-19 pandemic raised the need for an increase in public services to counter the negative economic ramifications of the pandemic. However, this meteoric emergence of coronavirus inadvertently gave birth to inefficiencies entrenched in the delivery of government interventions to contain the disease and its economic effects. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the efficiency in delivery of government services and interventions aimed at ameliorating the COVID-19 pandemic. This study uses descriptive statistics and ordinal regression analysis to identify the drivers of inefficiency perceptions among recipients of social security interventions during the pandemic. Survey data for a sample of 855 participants was drawn from King Cetshwayo District municipality in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. The key findings revealed that the delivery of most government interventions in South Africa was perceived as not well coordinated and poorly communicated, hence inefficient. Drivers of these perceptions included age, income level, race, and employment status. In addition, whether or not an individual had received some form of social security assistance during the pandemic also influenced their perceptions about government efficiency in providing social security support. We recommend strengthening monitoring and evaluation mechanisms across government service delivery initiatives and improving communication of government programs to improve user experience and access.
format Article
id doaj-art-f4139d24f43d4301acbac4d7ced1bd3f
institution DOAJ
issn 2331-1886
language English
publishDate 2023-12-01
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
record_format Article
series Cogent Social Sciences
spelling doaj-art-f4139d24f43d4301acbac4d7ced1bd3f2025-08-20T03:22:22ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Social Sciences2331-18862023-12-019110.1080/23311886.2023.2228061Evaluation of the efficiency in delivery of government services to ameliorate the COVID-19 pandemic in the King Cetshwayo District in South Africa: Recipients’ perspectivesS. Zhou0R. Utete1Department of Business Management, University of Zululand, Richards bay, South AfricaDepartment of Business Management, University of Zululand, Richards bay, South AfricaThe COVID-19 pandemic raised the need for an increase in public services to counter the negative economic ramifications of the pandemic. However, this meteoric emergence of coronavirus inadvertently gave birth to inefficiencies entrenched in the delivery of government interventions to contain the disease and its economic effects. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the efficiency in delivery of government services and interventions aimed at ameliorating the COVID-19 pandemic. This study uses descriptive statistics and ordinal regression analysis to identify the drivers of inefficiency perceptions among recipients of social security interventions during the pandemic. Survey data for a sample of 855 participants was drawn from King Cetshwayo District municipality in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. The key findings revealed that the delivery of most government interventions in South Africa was perceived as not well coordinated and poorly communicated, hence inefficient. Drivers of these perceptions included age, income level, race, and employment status. In addition, whether or not an individual had received some form of social security assistance during the pandemic also influenced their perceptions about government efficiency in providing social security support. We recommend strengthening monitoring and evaluation mechanisms across government service delivery initiatives and improving communication of government programs to improve user experience and access.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2023.2228061Efficiencygovernment servicesCOVID-19 pandemicsocial securitySouth Africaordinal regression
spellingShingle S. Zhou
R. Utete
Evaluation of the efficiency in delivery of government services to ameliorate the COVID-19 pandemic in the King Cetshwayo District in South Africa: Recipients’ perspectives
Cogent Social Sciences
Efficiency
government services
COVID-19 pandemic
social security
South Africa
ordinal regression
title Evaluation of the efficiency in delivery of government services to ameliorate the COVID-19 pandemic in the King Cetshwayo District in South Africa: Recipients’ perspectives
title_full Evaluation of the efficiency in delivery of government services to ameliorate the COVID-19 pandemic in the King Cetshwayo District in South Africa: Recipients’ perspectives
title_fullStr Evaluation of the efficiency in delivery of government services to ameliorate the COVID-19 pandemic in the King Cetshwayo District in South Africa: Recipients’ perspectives
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of the efficiency in delivery of government services to ameliorate the COVID-19 pandemic in the King Cetshwayo District in South Africa: Recipients’ perspectives
title_short Evaluation of the efficiency in delivery of government services to ameliorate the COVID-19 pandemic in the King Cetshwayo District in South Africa: Recipients’ perspectives
title_sort evaluation of the efficiency in delivery of government services to ameliorate the covid 19 pandemic in the king cetshwayo district in south africa recipients perspectives
topic Efficiency
government services
COVID-19 pandemic
social security
South Africa
ordinal regression
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2023.2228061
work_keys_str_mv AT szhou evaluationoftheefficiencyindeliveryofgovernmentservicestoamelioratethecovid19pandemicinthekingcetshwayodistrictinsouthafricarecipientsperspectives
AT rutete evaluationoftheefficiencyindeliveryofgovernmentservicestoamelioratethecovid19pandemicinthekingcetshwayodistrictinsouthafricarecipientsperspectives