Citizen vs. customer: Different approaches to public participation in service delivery in Cape Town

The neo-liberal shift in how public authorities shape the subject at the local level must be contextualized as part of the structural transformations of local government in decentralizing its core responsibilities for the provision of collectively consumed goods to a more-market-oriented interpretation of being a service enabler. This global trend certainly influenced South African debates during the transition period on the vital role of local government in rebuilding a deeply- divided society while simultaneously entering the global economy. We have reviewed the outcomes of these macroeconomic and social tensions on the development agendas of the City of Cape Town.