The abolishment of apartheid government, brought a new era of democratic government in South Africa, which sought to recognise the rights of all people and restored their dignity. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa was promulgated in 1996. Fundamental to this is the Bill of Rights which is a cornerstone of democracy in South Africa. It enshrines the rights of all people in our country and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom. Chapter 7 of the Constitution, as part of the objects of local government, encourages the involvement of communities in the matters of local government. Besides the Constitution, there are various pieces of local government of legislation, which deals with the administration component of the municipality and which provides for the political establishment of municipalities. Legislation calls for municipalities to develop a culture of community participation and requires municipalities to encourage and create conditions for participation in the affairs of the municipality in formulating Integrated Development Plans. Using Umzumbe Municipality under the auspices of Ugu District Municipality as case study, the study critically examined the effectiveness of youth participation in municipal ward Integrated Development Plan (IDP) formulation process. It focused on examining the attitudes and experience of youth in participating on IDP formulation processes. The study also examined the extent to which the youth participation guiding principles have been implemented and evaluate the effectiveness of existing youth structures. This study also investigated the level of youth understanding on the powers and functions of different spheres of government. The lack of youth participation in service delivery projects will defeat the democratic constitutional imperatives, which are also enshrined in municipal legislation. The issues raised by this study determines as to whether the regulatory and legislative frameworks are understood by the youth, and also this study will evaluate, the effectiveness of the existing youth participation mechanisms at a municipal at a ward level. / Thesis (MPA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.