Abstract
Various public entities across different developing countries are plagued by poor service delivery, which predominantly stems from poor governance. Innumerable citizens are experiencing inadequate access to essential housing services. Despite the growing literature on good governance and service delivery, empirical studies on citizens lived experiences of the subject are still unavailable, particularly in South Africa. Thus, this study strives to empirically fill the gap by exploring the citizens lived experiences of the effects of good governance practices on housing service delivery. The study adopted a qualitative research approach and data was solicited from traditional leaders at four local municipalities in South Africa using semi-structured interviews to accomplish the study’s objectives. Qualitative usable data from 14 participants were thematically analysed. The study revealed that citizens lived experiences confirm the positive influence good governance practices have on service delivery. The results revealed that adherence to governance principles such as transparency and accountability is fundamental to ensuring that governance practices translate into tangible improvements in service delivery. The practical implication of the study is that management must ensure that all municipality officials and councillors abide by the principles of good governance daily. Another key implication of these findings is that municipalities should invest in the training and development of municipal staff about transparency practices, which is necessary to improve service delivery.