The ruling alliance in the Gauteng on Tuesday said that lack of service delivery was not the cause of protests across the province in recent months.

The African National Congress (ANC), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) said that the province was "unique" in that protests were taking place in "communities where there is a lot of development underway".

Often people witnessed development in their own areas and felt left out, ANC provincial chairperson David Makhura explained at a media briefing in Johannesburg.

"It is not lack of service delivery, but problems arising from development underway in theses areas that have drawn communities to action."

Describing the protests as a "contradiction of development", Makhura said: "When there's no development there's not much to fight over.

"Our local structures are very much affected by the politics of development. Non-delivery, where there is completely nothing, people sit there and really pray, but where there is something they fight over who must benefit."

The protests could also be about who was recruited to work on those projects and who received tenders for them.

"Development brings new problems. Once you have one thing delivered, there is a lot to fight over. The first thing is who must... get the job in the area. That alone brings lots of infighting in an area, even amongst ordinary members of the community.

"Secondly, who are the people who are going to work in that project?"

Gauteng has recently been hit by a wave of service delivery protests, with many turning violent. People in areas ranging from Orange Farm to Sedibeng have taken to the streets demanding services from government.

Where there were genuine concerns, the government often failed to communicate adequately with communities, resulting in them becoming frustrated and taking to the streets.

Infighting and jostling for leadership positions were also among the reasons for protests.

"Councillors are being deliberately maligned and discredited by those who are positioning themselves for the list [nomination for election] process," Makhura said.

This was something that was "well-known" in the ranks of the ANC, he said, particularly as the 2011 local government elections approached. The alliance would meet its structures at local level and urge them to wait for formal processes to begin.

Makhura said the alliance leadership would visit areas that had seen service delivery protests to address concerns raised by residents.

It also called on the government to fast-track service delivery by focusing on "quick fix" areas including waste collection, provision of electricity and water, cutting grass, maintenance of public spaces and removing people illegally occupying property.

The alliance condemned the violent nature of the protests, saying irrespective of whether grievances were justified, it was not enough to resort to violence.

The alliance partners would meet in a summit later this month, which would look at public transport, the state of local government and relations in the alliance.