Institutional and Policy Barriers to GIS-Based Waste Management: Evidence from Rural Municipalities in Vhembe District, South Africa

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) remains a critical environmental governance challenge in rural and peri-urban regions of the Global South, where service delivery gaps exacerbate illegal dumping and public health risks. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are increasingly promoted as decision-support tools to improve waste collection efficiency and environmental monitoring; however, their adoption in resource-constrained municipalities remains limited. This study investigates the institutional and policy barriers shaping GIS readiness in four rural municipalities within South Africa’s Vhembe District. Using a qualitative case-study design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 municipal officials across managerial and operational levels, complemented by 399 community responses to an open-ended survey question. Thematic analysis, guided by Institutional Theory and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), identified five interrelated themes: waste production and disposal behaviours, collection and infrastructure constraints, institutional and operational challenges, policy and standardisation gaps, and technology readiness. The findings reveal that weak service reliability, fragmented governance structures, limited human and financial capacity, and inconsistent policy enforcement collectively undermine GIS adoption, despite its high perceived usefulness among officials. The study demonstrates that the effectiveness of GIS as an environmental management tool is contingent on institutional readiness rather than technological availability alone and highlights the need for integrated reforms in service delivery, institutional capacity, and policy implementation to enable GIS-supported sustainable waste management.