South Africa's impoverished settlements have in recent years been increasingly beset by violent protests that are, allegedly, about service delivery. However, the majority of these violent protests have paradoxically occurred exclusively in impoverished settlements where some services were delivered, disrupting the underlying infrastructure and existing services. Thus, the root causes of these violent protests remain contested, with views ranging from those that accept them as services-based to those portraying them as politically-motivated. This article analyses the service delivery planning approaches to distil the implications of the decisions as to which services are delivered or not delivered, and to theoretically situate the reasons underlying South Africa's violent "alleged" service delivery protests. It demonstrates that South Africa has adopted a regulatory planning approach which emphasises the attainment