The article reports the outcome of a study that analysed the relationship between human resource development (HRD) practices and service delivery in the City of Cape Town. This study ascertains the extent to which present HRD impact on service delivery obligations and the extent to which inadequacy of capacity contributed to lack of or poor service delivery. An audit of the current HRD practices and process was conducted and compared against the perceptions of employees in relation to their effectiveness. The final research adopted the descriptive/exploratory survey approach (structured, in-depth personal interviews) to collect data from the participants. While the primary data were analysed qualitatively through the use of appropriate analytical techniques, additional secondary information for the research was obtained through extensive literature survey, discussion papers and other secondary records or documentary sources. The resu