ONE of the biggest problems hindering service delivery and development at local level is the deployment of people without proper skills and qualities, said Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Sicelo Shiceka.

He spoke yesterday at the opening of the SA Local Government Association lekgotla in Durban.

The conference was also attended by ministers Tokyo Sexwale and Trevor Manuel and the Salga executive.

Shiceka said other than the challenges of corruption, the deployment of unqualified people remained a major problem because it caused backlogs in service delivery, which in some cases had resulted in violent protests.

"Human resources remains a huge challenge. We have established that in some cases only 10percent of the staff in the premier's office have the right qualifications. This is cause for concern," he said.

Shiceka said another challenge was the power struggle between the office of the mayor, speaker, municipal manager and chief whip.