Enhancing the accountability of ward councillors through public participation in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality
- Authors: Ngeni, Siphiwo Christopher
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Local government -- South Africa -- Buffalo City -- Citizen participation , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal officials and employees -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Political participation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8292 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d10186906
- Description: In terms of section 152(1)(a) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 local government should provide a democratic and accountable service to local communities. Therefore, elected representatives and municipal officials must be accountable for their actions. This study investigates the influence of public participation in enhancing the accountability of ward councillors in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM). For the purpose of the study, the hypothesis was formulated that accountability of ward councillors is hampered by improper public participation mechanisms in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM). In order to achieve the goal of this study and to test the hypothesis, it was essential to review literature on the accountability of ward councillors and public participation in local government. Primary data was obtained by interviewing ward committees and ward councillors from Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. Interviews were conducted with ward councillors and ward committees in wards 13 and 14 of BCMM. The major findings of the study, inter alia, are that ward councillors give feedback to their constituencies. Ward committees are instrumental in encouraging members of the public to attending these meetings. The most popular forum for public participation is the Independent Development Planning (IDP). It was established that approachability, accessibility and visibility of both ward councillors and ward committees in the community enhance public participation. The study concludes with recommendations that will assist the BCMM to enhance the accountability of ward councillors through public participation.
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- Date Issued: 2013
Community participation in the decision-making process in Mnquma Local Municipality
- Authors: Mbane, Masibulele
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Citizen participation , Community development -- South Africa -- Citizen participation , Citicen's advisory committees -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Political participation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8286 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1018501
- Description: The study investigates community participation in the decision-making processes in Mnquma Local Municipality. The issue of community participation in decision making is receiving attention in South Africa, from both government and civil society sectors. Governments in many parts of the world have begun to take a fresh look at the need for public participation in decision-making processes. The main problem to be addressed in this study is the extent to which the community can be involved in decision making processes in Mnquma Local Municipality. To address the research problem and to achieve the aims of this study, an in depth review of the literature on decision making was done. The empirical search was done by distributing self-administered questionnaires to the participants in Mnquma Local Municipality. The research findings revealed that in Mnquma Local Municipality community participation in decision-making is not effective. Consequently, the delivery of services in this municipality is poor. Another factor that inhibits community participation in the decision making processes in the municipality is that most of the municipal documents are written in English a language in which the majority of the members of the community are not competent in because they are Xhosa speaking people. Recommendations for improved satisfaction in service delivery, communication, consultation, regular meetings, and language were made with regard to community participation in decision making. If these recommendations are implemented, they will assist Mnquma Local Municipality in the area of decision making.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Enhancing public participation on the ward committee system: the case of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality
- Authors: Qwina, Simon Buta
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Local government -- South Africa -- Buffalo City -- Citizen participation , Municipal officials and employees -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Political participation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8301 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1019734
- Description: This study investigated the role of ward committees in enhancing service delivery through public participation with reference to the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality in the Province of the Eastern Cape in South Africa. This study provided a motivation for the study to be undertaken, problem statement, objectives of the study, hypothesis, research design and methodology, ethical considerations, delimitation of the study and the overview of chapters. The Constitution of the Republic of South African of 1996 provides for the creation of three spheres of government, namely, the national sphere, the provincial sphere and the local government sphere. These spheres are interdependent from each other. Local government is one of the spheres of government created to bring government closer to the people, as well as giving communities a sense of involvement in the political and governance processes that control their daily lives. The need for effective democratic local government as a vehicle for development and national integration is imperative (Reddy, 1996:3). Municipalities are established in terms of section 12 of the Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998, wherein Members of Executive Councils (MEC‟s) may establish a municipal area which the Demarcation Board demarcates in the province in terms of the Municipal Demarcation Act 27 of 1998.
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- Date Issued: 2012
How community participation can be enhanced in the creation of sustainable human settlements in Whittlesea : a case study of Whittlesea Mabuyase housing project
- Authors: Penxa, Lungile
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Political participation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Human settlements -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9211 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020772
- Description: Development is an idea, an objective and an activity (Kothari and Minogue, 2002). Development emerged as an idea that nations had to adopt in their journey through post-war history. Development is seen as an ambiguous concept (Allen and Thomas, 1992: 23). In other words, it is defined in many ways to suit different purposes. Furthermore, over the long term development implies increased living standards, improved health and well being for all, and the achievement of whatever is regarded as a general good for society at large (Allen and Thomas, 1992: 23). Therefore, from the above development appears as a “one size fits all” concept, because it is an attempt to address the problems in society. Furthermore, development has been defined as a participatory, people-centred process intended to reduce the incidence of poverty and achieve better livelihoods for all (Kingsbury, McKay, and Hunt, 2004: 43). The definition of development as participatory and people-centred is the most applicable for the purposes of this study. Participation has been widely used in the development discourse. Within the development sphere, participation has been associated with the community sector (Gaventa and Valderrama, 1999:2). The definition of participation in development has been located in development projects and programmes (i.e. sustainable human settlements for our study purposes), as a means of strengthening their relevance, quality and sustainability (Gaventa and Valderrama, 1999:2). Strengthening of participation in local governance has to do with the strengthening of directcitizen involvement in decision-making by individuals or groups in public activities, oftenthrough newly established institutional channels, such as monitoring committees, planning processes, etc (Gaventa and Valderrama, 1999:8-9). Hence, participation could be seen as involvement in decision-making in all phases of a project (Gaventa and Valderrama, 1999:2). Citizen participation is about power and its exercise by different social actors in the spacescreated for the interaction between citizens and local authorities. However, the control of thestructure and processes for participation - defining spaces, actors, agendas, procedures - is usuallyin the hands governmental institutions and can become a barrier for effective involvement ofcitizens (Gaventa and Valderrama, 1999:7). The above discussion has been an attempt to show what participatory development or participation in a development process is all about. This has been done through briefly defining and discussing development and participation and also showing the relationship between the two concepts. Now the discussion will focus on enlightening the reader about sustainable human settlements – the main issue of this study. The decision to do research in this area came after the realization that there is still a shortage of houses in the Eastern Cape, and when the government does deliver these houses in a particular area people still have complaints regarding the new houses delivered to them. Then a question that came to mind was whether people are consulted or not before these houses are constructed during the planning stages so that they can give their own views or ideas on houses. Overall the reason for choosing this topic was to look at people’s participation on the development of houses. It is evident in the Provincial Medium Term Sustainable Human Settlement Research Agenda that community participation is lacking in the housing delivery process of the Eastern Cape (Province of the Eastern Cape Human Settlement,2011:9).
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- Date Issued: 2012
An investigation into public participation in the formulation of the local economic development (LED) strategy for Emahlahleni Local Municipality
- Authors: Mente, Mtutuzeli
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Political participation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economic development
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9112 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1015023
- Description: This research study examined public participation activities in Lady Frere during the LED strategy formulation process. Lady Frere is one of the three small towns constituting Emalahleni Local Municipality (ELM).A review of existing literature and legal frameworks suggest that authentic participation by the public occurs when the dimensions of representativeness, interactiveness, use of stakeholder/public inputs and the quality of public inputs are satisfied. The current study sought to identify conditions that would serve as a measurement to be satisfied before we can say authenticity was factored into the public participation effort during the Local Economic Development (LED) strategy formulation process in Lady Frere. A three-tier model was adopted to assess the performance of the ELM public involvement initiatives during the LED process. Key indicators of the four dimensions of authenticity were formulated and used to determine authenticity of these initiatives (programs).The data for this study came from analysing the LED strategy (2010-2015) document and the qualitative interviews held with purposively selected respondents. Nineteen respondents representing different institutions in Lady Frere agreed to be interviewed for the study. Organisations represented included public service institutions in operation in Lady Frere, private formal businesses in operation in the area and some civil society structures present in the town. The results of this study suggest that the municipality fell short of implementing public participation programs that achieved authenticity during the LED strategy formulation process. A careful and well-intentioned use of various public participation tools that embrace increased interaction between municipal employees and the public can assist in achieving better levels of authenticity in their public involvement initiatives. The willingness of municipal staff to adopt new ideas and innovations learned during public engagements is key to achieving higher levels of authenticity in their programs. Municipal participation programs would greatly benefit from training that increases individual acceptance of public participation as a valid service delivery mechanism. The researcher took opportunity to suggest the following recommendations for the ELM to work towards: Increased opportunities for occurrence of authentic public participation; Creation of individual ownership of authenticity in public participation; Creation of community partnerships to foster authenticity in public participation.
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- Date Issued: 2011
An analysis of community participation in local government integrated development planning with reference to King Sabata Dalindyebo local municipality
- Authors: Mfenguza, Nomvakaliso
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Political participation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8237 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/788 , Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Political participation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: This study is about the analysis of Community Participation in Local Government Integrated Development Planning with reference to Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality. The focus on the study was on full participation of community in the IDP processes. This report presents the findings of a study conducted to identify the strategies and consultation structures used in the development of IDP processes, together with the measures of effectiveness of these strategies. This study was triggered by the non attendance of the communities in the IDP road shows, the complaints of non service delivery and little understanding of the IDP concept. The results of this study show that the communities do not fully participate in their development planning processes. The communities do not understand the purpose and existence of IDP document. The researcher hopes that this study will sensitize the community to participate in the affairs of their development that will change the quality of their lives. King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality should improve their strategies and consultation structures in their IDP processes.
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- Date Issued: 2007