This study investigated the effectiveness of Ward Committees in co-ordinating and facilitating authentic public participation processes at local government levels. This study focused specifically on the Knysna Local Municipality. Before 1994 the majority of South Africans had never had the vote, and therefore, had not had the opportunity of participating in South Africa’s governance and administration (Hilliard and Kemp, 1999:40). In this governance system, local government was the lowest tier of government in a strict hierarchical structure; and it had no constitutional standing of its own, but derived its powers from the two superior tiers of government, namely national and provincial. The local government elections of 5 December 2000 in South Africa provided municipalities with a historic opportunity to transform local government to meet the needs of the country for the next century. The local government transformation process (in tandem with the demarcation process that established the new municipal boundaries) introduced more developmental responsibilities to municipalities. In addition, this further implied that local government became an autonomous sphere of government with its own original powers and a broad developmental mandate. This had profound implications for local governance. An important element of the current local government system is the promotion of local democracy and participation in local governance. Public participation is an integral part of local democracy and is a legislative requirement for the local community to be drawn into the v municipal processes through inter alia: Integrated Development Planning (IDP), budgeting, performance management and Ward Committees. Although the ‘old’ South African local government system did not have an extensive history in ensuring a culture of actively engaging communities in developmental issues, the IDP under a Developmental Local Government (DLG) system now presents a framework through which such a culture can be established. The Ward Committees in particular, play a critical role in linking community needs with municipal planning processes. In South African local government the commitment to public participation is reflected in a host of laws and policy documents (namely the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 2000 (Act 32 of 2000), Local Government: Municipal Structures Act 1998 (Act 117 of 1998), the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa , 1996). These laws and policies are intended to be realised through development initiatives that require formal participatory processes and institutions in local governance. Since 2001 Ward Committees have emerged as a key institutional mechanism intended to contribute towards bringing about people-centred, participatory and democratic local governance. The rationale for Ward Committees is to supplement the roles of the elected Ward Councillors by creating a link between communities and the political and administrative structures of municipalities. These Ward Committees have been established in the majority of wards in municipalities across the country in line with the vi requirements of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act,1998 (Act 117 of 1998) which stipulates that: Only metropolitan and local municipalities of certain types may have Ward Committees. The main objective of the study was to investigate the overall functioning of Ward Committees within the Knysna Local Municipality and to determine their impact on democratic local governance thus far. The study will carry out an investigation into the effectiveness of Ward Committees: whether they are useful conduits for public participation in local governance; whether they are inherently capable of playing the critical role expected of them; and whether they actually create opportunities for real power-sharing between the Knysna Local Municipality and its communities. The study’s main objective stated above was achieved by breaking it down into realisable objectives, namely: • A brief background of the Knysna Local Municipality, and in particular, an outline of its institutional arrangements and its Ward Committees in general. • An evaluation of the theoretical and legislative framework of public participation and the Ward Committee System in local government. • An analysis of the practical performance of Ward Committees in the Knysna Local Municipality and to provide a research report on the empirical findings. • Recommendations aimed at improving the effectiveness of Ward Committees at local government levels in general, and in particular, in the Knysna Local Municipality. The hypothetical position of this study was that the maximum utilisation of Ward Committees as a means for public participation processes at local government levels, specifically in the Knysna Local Municipality, could improve communication between local municipalities and the public. Furthermore, this would also contribute towards the speedy delivery of services to communities, as Ward Committees could serve as the Local Municipality’s strategic partners in Council’s projects. Ward Committees should therefore be utilised to enhance a constructive interaction between a municipality and its local community. This position was premised on the fact that authentic and empowering participation can be established at local government levels if Ward Committees act as a foundation for development and Ward Committee Members as development change agents in their respective wards
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:8208 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Ngqele, Sandile Wiseman |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Arts |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MPA |
| Format | ix, 99 leaves ; 30 cm, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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