Rethinking public participation at the local level: a comparative analysis of Elias Motswaledi and Steve Tshwete local municipalities

[摘要] This study has assessed the role of public participation in effective and efficient local governance attwo local municipalities of Elias Motswaledi and Steve Tshwete in South Africa. Public participationis a pillar of development and therefore important to assess the successes and failures thereof.Government invest huge resources to deliver public service to their citizens and it is through publicparticipation that the beneficiaries of these services can be guaranteed public service’ quality andresponsiveness. Interviews with key informants in local government and focus groups provided abetter understanding of the situation in the two case study areas. Elias Motswaledi has provided aclassical challenge of public participation with the reluctance of the community to participate in thedevelopment processes and also with projects that do not benefit the majority of the residents;whereas at Steve Tshwete the community is actively engaged in major decision making processesand have also assisted the council in delivering relevant projects and programmes that are responsiveto the community needs. The study found that the government has to relook: 1. the relationshipbetween ward committees and community development workers as this was found to be the majorcontributing factor to poor levels of public participation. 2. There is an urgent need for buildingcapacity for both local communities and ward communities to enable them to effectively participatein developmental processes that affect them. The study also showed how poor public participationinitiatives have negatively affected service delivery and development initiatives at local levels inSouth Africa. This comparative case study maybe useful in shedding some insight in addressingpublic participation in local government to overcome the relatively weak or low municipal capacityacross South Africa.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand