Public participation in Integrated Water

[摘要] South Africa’s new water policy and law have introduced the requirement for publicparticipation in all aspects of resource management and decision-making. This policy changeis in recognition of the potential benefits of participation in generating more informed,acceptable, equitable and sustainable management of the nation’s water resources. Howeverthe new water law does not prescribe the form this participation should take, or offer criteriafor evaluating the success of participatory processes. The term 'public participation’, in itscontemporary usage worldwide, is poorly or broadly defined and may thus encompass a rangeof processes, which differ in the roles and influence afforded to their stakeholder participants,and in their ability to deliver desired outcomes and benefits to government or the public. Thisstudy aimed to investigate the influence of this procedural variation on public and stakeholderparticipation in the implementation of the National Water Act (Act no. 36 of 1998) in SouthAfrica, and thereby recommend a preferred approach to conducting and facilitating theseprocesses in the future. Use was made of a qualitative and primarily inductive researchapproach. This was designed to gather perspectives of the various role-players (stakeholders,specialists and government) for a desired process and outcome of participation, and to linkprocess and outcome by means of two case studies of the current implementation ofparticipatory processes for water resource management decision-making. Both case studiesillustrated the over-riding negative influence of a product-oriented and 'specialist-centred’approach to participation, focused on the development of specific statutory products ordecisions required by the National Water Act. This approach in turn is being driven by thecurrent fragmentation of participation around these different products and stages of the overallresource management process. A recommended alternative is a more process-oriented,'stakeholder-centred’ approach to participatory events, within an integrative, ongoingparticipatory process. This must be based on mutual learning by all role-players, and anemphasis on inter-sectoral interaction and relationships. A key constraint identified to theachievement of more integrative participatory processes that offer influence to, and generateownership by, stakeholder participants, is the lack of clarity within government and the SouthAfrican water sector as to the intent of participation within the new water policy, and thus theprocess by which this participation should take place. In particular, the role of stakeholders,and how much influence or power they should be afforded in decision-making processes, issubject to individual interpretation. The recommendation from this research is that, given theideals of equity, sustainability and citizen empowerment aspired to by the Constitution and thenew water policy, government should strive to fully engage stakeholders in processes that bothoffer influence and inspire action. Ideally, linkages should be created to extend this influenceto the broader political process.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand