Abstract: Submission #43

Abstract Neoliberal ideology has intensely shaped public service delivery, often prioritizing market-driven solutions over equitable access to resources. In this paper we have explored the effects of neoliberal policies on historically resource-deprived communities, where systemic underfunding and privatization have worsened inequalities. We analyzed a vignette shared of a lived experience of a history of paternalistic service delivery services for many African people during apartheid. We use the vignette to illustrate the situations that families who have historically experienced racial discrimination, marginalization, and exploitation continue to experience resource deprivation, even as apartheid policies have long been outlawed and even in the contemporary political context that affirms Batho Pele principles, meaning ‘People First’. We highlighted how cost-cutting measures, deregulation, and public-private partnerships have frequently led to disorganizations and exclusions rather than improved services. Moreover, we explored how these communities resist and disrupt incompetency through public organization, policy advocacy, and alternative service models. These discourses challenged main narratives that frame neoliberalism as a fundamentally resourceful governance model and instead exposed its failures in addressing structural inequities. In the paper, we argued for a paradigm shift toward community-centered governance that prioritizes social welfare over profit motives. Therefore, in centering historically marginalized voices, we propose pathways for transformative service delivery that is both competent and just.
Keywords: Neoliberalism, Service Delivery, Resource-Deprived Communities, Governance and Inequality, Disrupting Incompetency