Browsing by Author "Mbhele, Zuziwe"

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    Assessing the Ward Committee System: The case of Greater Kokstad Municipality
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-12) Mbhele, Zuziwe; Theron, Francois; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : Public participation is a key aspect of developmental local government. Flowing from this, a ward committee system was introduced in South Africa, as a conduit for driving public participation programmes. This study set out to explore the experiences of ward committee members in Greater Kokstad Municipality (GKM). The intention was to evaluate the ward committee system as a vehicle for meaningful public participation in the integrated development planning processes. This study sought to analyse the interactional dynamics of aspects of the experiences of selected ward committee members of their participation in the ward committee system as a conduit for public participation in GKM. The research was located within a qualitative research tradition, and took the form of a small-scale case study. The data-generation research techniques included focus group interview sessions with ward committee members; and the analysis of key documents, whose intention was to understand the context or setting in which ward committees operated in GKM. Findings of the study revealed that the ward committee system was marred with challenges that often rendered it ineffective as a voice of communities in integrated development planning processes. The reasons for dysfunctionalities and functionalities in the ward committee system were largely a mix of structural, political, social, economic and operational dynamics; and functionality of ward committees was often weak and varied, and depended largely on the context and agency of ward committees. The findings of the study point to the fact that those involved in fulfilling the constitutional promise of public participation, must consider the interactional dynamics of ideological, political, and operational aspects of the ward committee system as a vehicle for meaningful public participation. Furthermore, the study reveals conventional understandings of public participation, which are mostly oblivious of its political and ideological dimensions. The call made by this study is for a paradigmatic shift towards the understanding of public participation as a political and ideological construct, rather than a purely technical construct. Findings also suggest that creating new invited spaces for public participation may not be sufficient to empower communities to participate meaningfully in decision-making processes. Therefore, for the ward committee system to work, there is a need to problematise conventional understandings of public participation, and relocate public participation within the radical politics of integrated development planning (Hickey & Mohan, 2005: 237). This would however require relevant mechanisms to ensure that the ward committee system supports the transformation of power relations in the realm of public participation.