The impact of the Community Based Public Works Programme of the Department of Public Works in Groutville

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The basic principles of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) include'an integrated and sustainable programme and 'a people-driven process. Section 2.3 ofthe RDP identifies the National Public Works Programme (NPWP) as a keyimplementation strategy of the RDP, with the primary purpose of creating jobs andproviding community infrastructure, in a manner that impacts on the socio-economicconditions of the poor (ANC, 1994:1-18). The NPWP was operationalised in late 1995 as aCommunity Based Public Works Project (CBPWP) to carry out this broad mandate.Government was faced by numerous challenges in the form of poverty, joblessness, ashrinking economy and lack of job-related skills. The expectations were also high that afterlong years of struggle and suffering, an ANC-led Government would deliver a better lifesoon. Wittingly or unwittingly, in the face of these challenges and mounting expectations,Government rushed to deliver a better life through school feeding schemes, free health careto children under the age of six and to pregnant women and allocated about R250m to theDepartment of Public Works to deliver a job creation and poverty relief programme. It wasthis rush that saw the Government losing sight of important conditions for sustainabledelivery of goods and services.The purpose of the study is to show that the Community Based Public Works Programmeof the Department of Public Works, which was implemented in Groutville in 1996, failedto bring about visible change. The starting point is to create a contextual framework for theresearch problem and the suggested answer (Bless & Higson - Smith, 1995:37), which isestablished through various means in the sections that follow. The first part, the literaturereview, offers both conceptual and operational definitions (Bless & Higson - Smith,1995:35-37) of key concepts or variables that form elements of the research problem andthe proposed hypothesis. Methodology and research design outlines the process, procedureand instruments used to test the hypothesis. The section on data analysis gives an overviewon how data on the general field of interest (Brynard & Hanekom, 1997:48-50),community development (De Beer & Swanepoel, 1998:17-28), is filtered to focus on theNational Public Works Programme (NPWP) and the Community Based Public WorksProgramme (CBPWP) as strategies for community development , using Groutville as acase study. As part of data analysis, using the model of Brynard & Hanekom (1997:54-55)viewpoints of authors on community development are integrated in the context of the results and data obtained. Finally, the study outlines and discusses the results andrecommendations.The reliability and generalizability of the findings is based on consistence between thefindings of this particular study and the CASE/ILO Report, on the one hand, and theempirical evidence as provided by grassroots structures and as observed by the researcher.The study finds that while the project succeeded in targeting women and youth,employment opportunities could not be sustained. In addition there is no evidence oftraining and the ability of employees to use skills gained during the life of the project toearn a decent living. Finally, the study also finds that one of the major failures of theCBPWP, in addition to a lack of sustainability, was that it was not co-ordinated andintegrated with other local development initiatives such as the Masakhane Campaign, theClean and Green Campaign and the Local Economic Development Plan.The study concludes by suggesting recommendations, which include: -• The need to redefine sustainability in a way that does not emphasize the qualityand life span of infrastructure but prioritizes the beneficiaries' ability to use theinfrastructure and skills gained to engage in productive economic activities;• Recognize local leadership and built capacity before a project is introduced;• Focus, as part of capacity building, on institutional development andorganizational development for local communities;• Communicate and seek consensus on the goals and intended objectives of theprogramme;• Link national programmes with local economic development plans andinitiatives and education and training for life-long employment.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University