Bojanala Platinum District Municipality (BPDM), in the North West Province is endowed with the extractive economy. The District experiences challenges of capacity development of service delivery structures and programmes. It is in this context that this paper explains how local government responses to challenges of capacity development in the District Municipality. In addition, the paper explores ways in which they can be overcome for enhanced service delivery. The purpose of this study is to examine challenges related to the use of capacity development structures and programmes related to service delivery and explores how to overcome them. The study examines the structures and programmes, facilitators and inhibitors of skills development and performance initiatives within the context of local government capacity development. This study develops a theoretical framing incorporating scholarship on human capital and performance improvement in the context of local government. This framing is premised on the scholarly evidence that capacity development is an enabler of service delivery, influenced by skills development and municipal performance improvement. The research is a single case qualitative case study approach and employs an interpretative paradigm. The paper employs senior managers in the municipalities as the unit of analysis. That study reveals that there are difficulties associated with skills retention and organisational relations. In conclusion, political abandonment, poor communication and stakeholder engagements contribute to weakened inter-municipal co-operation and inadequate use of resources. The interface between learning and skills development contributes to the body knowledge.

Bojanala Platinum District Municipality (BPDM), in the North-West Province, South Africa, is endowed with an extractive economy. The District experiences challenges of capacity development of service delivery structures and programmes. It is in this context that this paper examines how local government responses to challenges of capacity development and explores ways in which organisational structures and programmes can be used to overcome these challenges for enhanced service delivery. The theoretical framing of this study underpins capacity development as an enabler of service delivery and incorporates human capital, performance improvement and collaborative participation in the context of local government. The research employed a single case qualitative research approach with a component of descriptive statistics and a sample of 30 municipal senior managers and a social development mine manager. Key findings are that organisational learning and skills development play important roles in enhancing the capacity development of service delivery structures and programmes. It is against these findings that the study recommends the creation of supportive monitoring and evaluation systems to advance the strengthening of functional hybrid governance structures and an organic communication model within a transparent and accountable administrative-political environment.