Reviewing local economic development (LED) projects: the case of Mogale city local municipality (MCLM)

[摘要] Local Economic Development (LED) literature has shown that a focus on local economicdevelopment at a local government level is one of the best ways to address the triplechallenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment. The responsibility of coordinatingLED initiatives in order to address these challenges is, in accord with the Constitution ofthe Republic of South Africa (1996), the responsibility of municipalities.This study highlights the changes that LED projects had on the communities in MogaleCity Local Municipality (MCLM), West Rand District Municipality (WRDM), in the GautengProvince. According to the qualitative approach, a questionnaire was used to collect datafrom respondents. Research findings mostly confirm what other researchers have alreadystated, such as the role-played by the educational level of beneficiaries in the successesof LED projects. A key finding of this research is that not all project beneficiaries had highschool educational qualifications: only one person, the manager of the Food gardeningproject, had a grade 10 qualification. Another significant finding reveals that both projectsdid not keep accounting records and did not use the services of an independent auditorto audit their projects.The main aim of the study was to review the LED projects of MCLM in order to establishwhether they were being implemented in an effective and efficient manner.Most members in these projects were women, with only one man in the Food SecurityProject assisting with the hard-core labour (digging of trenches) and two men in theExpanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) project. The EPWP project had been inplace for one year, but was on the verge of collapse because members were not beingpaid a stipend, in contrast to their Food Security counterparts. The researcher as a lackof patience and perseverance interpreted members' lack of commitment to the EPWPproject. Members of the Food Security project, in contrast, stuck to their project despitethe fact that it was not yielding results. They did not see the project as a get-rich-quickscheme and worked tirelessly, in the hope that in time the municipality would pay themstipends of market value.MCLM's LED strategy is a good example of what national policy envisages, since it wasdrafted in consultation with the community as a key stakeholder and focuses on realcommunity issues.The study draws upon academic journals and literature that examine the origin of LEDprojects' implementation at local municipal level worldwide and provides a historicalperspective on LED projects and initiatives internationally. The study also provides aSouth African LED perspective of the pre and post-apartheid era.The researcher suggests that further in-depth research be conducted on factors that leadto LED projects collapsing instead of sustaining themselves, as well as LED projects'capacity to create employment and be financially and economically viable.

[发布机构] University of the Free State