Submitted in (partial) fulfilment of the requirement of the Master’s Degree Community Work in the field of Social Work in the Faculty of Arts Department of Social Work at the University of Zululand, 2010. / Rural development strategies can realise their full potential only through active involvement and organisation of rural people at grassroots level (FAO, 1981:12). The rural poor have not participated in sharing the benefits from the enormous development efforts of the three past decades, neither in proportion to their needs. After 1994, the South African democratic government adopted a people-centred developmental approach in order to heal the legacy of the past regime. The aim of community-centred approach is to enhance the skills and capacity of communities by promoting their participation in the own development (Theron, 2005:120). Various authors agreed that participation of people in the system which governs their lives is a basic human right and essential for relocation of political power in favour of disadvantaged groups and for social and economic development. However, in Nquthu citizen participation has developed into an ideology rather than a practical mechanism to promote participation by citizens and to improve local governance. Community participation is a concept that is often mentioned in community development perspective. Theron (2005:120) views community participation as a process to give communities an opportunity to determine their own destination in terms of their needs and resources. This means that provision at grassroots level with abilities, which could enable them to negotiate development delivery systems and be able to take informed decisions, in terms of their development needs and priorities (Theron, 2005:119). Leisner (1974) in Lombard (1992:256) contends that the purpose of community participation is to create opportunities for the community to take part in (1) planning and policy making, (2) allocation and distribution of resources and (3) the management of services. However, the aim of the study was to assess community participation trends in rural development process in Nquthu, northern KwaZulu-Natal. An evaluative research method was followed in which data was gathered through questionnaires and focus group discussions. The study was comprised of seventy respondents. It is structured into five chapters. Chapter one deals with the introduction, the statement of the problem, motivation for choice of study, aims and objectives of the study, definition of important concept, the basic assumptions, research method, significant of the study and chapter organisation. Chapter two discusses the theory and philosophy of community participation. It conceptualises the concept related to community participation in development; this includes community development, integrated rural development and rural development. It also highlights the policy framework on community participation in terms of international, national policy documents and also highlights the overview of integrated developmental plan. Chapter three describes the ethnographic sketch of the Nquthu community, location of the study and activities of the place. Chapter four presents the data results, interpretation and analysis. Chapter five presents the results and discussions of results. Chapter six reflects the conclusion and the way forward.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Social Work at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1998. / The purpose of the study was to investigate the involvement of women in community development with special reference to rural women in Mambuka area. The study focused on the reasons influencing women to participate in community development projects. The investigation looked at various aspects involved in the process of community development. The motivation for this study came from, among other reasons, the author's experience in working with rural people. From a historical perspective, women have experienced and survived many difficult situations. These have included marginalisation, poverty and subjudication, all of which have led to their poor socio¬economic status. The design of this study included both qualitative and quantitative methods. The sampling strategy used was the non probability sampling and a purposive sampling method. Data were collected using the interview schedule for quantitative data and the focus group for qualitative data. The sample was drawn from a total of eight (8) projects. Each project consists of about fifteen (15) members. One member was drawn from each of eight (8) projects totalling to eight (8) women and two (2) men. Two (2) other people who were not involved in the projects were interviewed. The focus group was convened to elicit more exhaustive and also grounded data. The study found that the involvement of women in community development had a positive impact because of the following: (i) Income from women ensured food security for their families. (ii) There was acknowledged recognition of what women did in the community. (iii) The infrastructure or community resources were slowly being developed. The study further found that the women face constraints in their development attempts. These include: (i) Lack of a repertoire of skills. (ii) Lack of capital infusion. Consequently, women's development efforts remain at subsistence level. They have not fully liberated women from poverty. It also came to light that there was a need for many external development agents in the area, to enable community women share resources to avoid duplication of services which have resulted in the retardation of progress towards their development and their upliftment in general. The following recommendations were made: Future research This study conducted was only limited to the factors influencing women to participate in community development. The study focused on the reasons for women to act as the main role players in development activities. Future studies could focus on the success or impact of rural development intervention strategies. Future social work practice The future social work practice indicates that there is a need for social workers to place their emphasis on the approach of community development if they are to empower communities to be able to address their unmet needs. As observed in this study, rural communities are in dire need of skills to develop themselves and improve their lives. The shortage of resources in rural areas is also one of the major problems facing people. It is timeous for social workers to become part of the communities they serve and co-ordinate all efforts that the people attempt to put together and help them to tap these resources. This calls for the re-orientation of social workers with a view to enabling them to render effective services to communities. Future social work education The training institutions face a challenge of relevance. They need to change and focus their training more towards a developmental approach, that the White Paper calls for. The curriculum will have to be shaped in such a way that it stresses more on issues that will lead to effective social development. Future policy Policies set to eliminate poverty and others to address women's issues have been put into place. Women of the World (Beijing Conference), came together to put their concerns in order to speak with one voice. As a result many countries .have now realised the importance of recognising the contribution made by women to their economy and other sectors. In spite of all these, the future lies in the hands of the people themselves with the assistance of development agents. These have to oversee the implementation of policies which have not yet filtered into the communities. Without this joint effort, people will never feel that they are pan of the policies that have been formulated.

Rural development efforts in Third World countries often fail to meet the needs of the most disadvantaged members of society. The priviledged continue to get a disproportionate share of the fruits of development. This is so in spite of the fact that development thinking has changed from the days when the poor were expected to benefit from development through the "trickle down" effect. It is now widely recognised that development should be focused on people in their local communities (human development) and not on the economy per se. To achieve this type of development requires an appropriate strategy of development, and people's/community participation is such a strategy. People's participation in development takes place through community based organisations. The organisations faciiitate the development of the human potential of members. This study investigates the conditions under which rural community participation takes place in lesotho. The Thabana-Morena Integrated Rural Development Project is used as a case study. The first objective is to determine the appropriateness of the organisations through which community participation was promoted in the project. The second objective is to isolate the political and administrative factors which affected participation in the project. Thirdly, the study tries to identify factors at the village level which influenced participation in the project. Fourthly, the study evaluates the effectiveness of the project in experimenting with participatory approaches, given that development projects are basically mechanisms for testing the appropriateness of national policies before applying them on a wide scale. Finally, a set of principles is developed on the basis of which participatory development can be facilitated. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Development Administration)

Rural development efforts in Third World countries often fail to meet the needs of the most disadvantaged members of society. The priviledged continue to get a disproportionate share of the fruits of development. This is so in spite of the fact that development thinking has changed from the days when the poor were expected to benefit from development through the "trickle down" effect. It is now widely recognised that development should be focused on people in their local communities (human development) and not on the economy per se. To achieve this type of development requires an appropriate strategy of development, and people's/community participation is such a strategy. People's participation in development takes place through community based organisations. The organisations faciiitate the development of the human potential of members. This study investigates the conditions under which rural community participation takes place in lesotho. The Thabana-Morena Integrated Rural Development Project is used as a case study. The first objective is to determine the appropriateness of the organisations through which community participation was promoted in the project. The second objective is to isolate the political and administrative factors which affected participation in the project. Thirdly, the study tries to identify factors at the village level which influenced participation in the project. Fourthly, the study evaluates the effectiveness of the project in experimenting with participatory approaches, given that development projects are basically mechanisms for testing the appropriateness of national policies before applying them on a wide scale. Finally, a set of principles is developed on the basis of which participatory development can be facilitated. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Development Administration)