After the advent of the first free and fair elections in South Africa in 1994, access to municipal services became a right for all residents. Now, more than ever, the inclusion of previously disadvantaged communities is being intensified. However, the delivery of services often remains inadequate, eliciting increasing protests throughout the country. Protests, which are often the last resort by communities, are indicative of declining levels of trust in local government. It becomes problematic when trust in communication channels and public participation strategies is limited, co-production of services is impeded and the possibility of increasing such trust is, in turn, negatively affected. This study used a mixed-methods approach including both quantitative and qualitative research techniques to validate the posed research questions and authenticate the presented problem statement. The triangulation approach allowed for effectively engaging the strengths of both research methodologies. The findings of the study revealed that as a result of communities’ increasing lack of trust and confidence in local government, service delivery protests are increasing. The study further indicated that communities in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) are generally not well informed about the development plans of the municipality and do not adequately participate in local government activities. The study provides recommendations to augment trust in local government communication channels to improve public participation that could lead to the co-production of services. In this way, the study asserts that trust can be enhanced in what amounts to a virtuous cycle.

中文翻译：

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创造良性循环，增强对地方政府的信任

在1994年南非首次举行自由公正选举之后，获得市政服务成为所有居民的权利。现在，与以往任何时候相比，以前处于不利地位的社区的包容性正在得到加强。但是，服务的提供往往仍然不足，在全国各地引发了越来越多的抗议活动。抗议活动通常是社区的最后手段，这表明对地方政府的信任程度正在下降。当对沟通渠道和公众参与策略的信任受到限制，服务的共同生产受到阻碍并且反过来增加这种信任的可能性受到负面影响时，这将成为问题。这项研究使用混合方法，包括定量和定性研究技术，以验证提出的研究问题并验证提出的问题陈述。三角剖分方法可以有效地利用两种研究方法的优势。该研究的结果表明，由于社区对地方政府的信任和信心日益缺乏，对服务提供的抗议也在增加。该研究进一步表明，纳尔逊·曼德拉湾市（NMBM）的社区通常不了解该市的发展计划，也没有充分参与地方政府的活动。该研究提出了一些建议，以增强人们对地方政府沟通渠道的信任，从而提高公众参与度，从而促进共同生产服务。通过这种方式，研究断言，在一个良性循环中，可以增强信任。