Challenges of hospitable service delivery: The case of human settlements services at a municipality in South Africa

• Main Authors: Siyabonga Lunga Khuzwayo, MacDonald Kanyangale, Orthodox Tefera
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AfricaJournals 2020-01-01
• Series: African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure
• Subjects: service quality; servqual; customer service; customer perception; customer expectation
• Online Access: https://www.ajhtl.com/uploads/7/1/6/3/7163688/article_29_vol_9_1__2020_ukzn.pdf

The Durban Municipality Human Settlement Unit (HSU) is always inundated with customers to get a hospitable service. These customers come forth with a variety of challenges and enquiries which need to be resolved by providing proper customer service. Failure to meet customers’ expectations may result in dissatisfaction which often manifests in community protests in the municipality. Notably, customer service is key in every organisation that deals with clients. The eThekwini Municipality in South Africa, has a Customer Care Policy but its implementation is always a challenge. The aim of this study was to evaluate the service quality delivered to citizens as customers of the Human Settlements Unit of eThekwini Municipality in Durban, South Africa. Stratified random sampling was used to select a sample of 80 respondents from a target population of 500 customers of the Beneficiary Administration Department. A modified version of the SERVQUAL instrument was adopted to develop the questionnaire used to collect the data. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was used. The findings of the study revealed a gap between the expectations and perceptions of the services delivered to customers by employees assigned to the customer service counter of the unit. The largest gaps were found in the responsiveness and reliability dimensions. To meet and/or exceed customers’ expectations, management needs to diagnose a failure in service quality through the gap analysis model and it also needs to train front line staff in customer service skills. It is also crucial that public service organisations or departments evaluate the quality of services delivered to customers and implement consumer-oriented philosophies, including a quality management approach. Additionally, as Durban is an important tourism destination, customers should be at the epicentre of the economy and hence adopting this study to meeting or exceeding their expectation could benefit all hospitality and tourism sector organisations.