Magister Artium - MA / This research examines the role and impact of local government communication strategies in
participatory governance with particular reference to Lamberts Bay, South Africa. The
investigation aimed at establishing whether the communication strategies of the municipality
serve as an effective mechanism to promote public participation in local government.
The study used qualitative research methodology, towards the realisation of the aims and
objectives of the study. Accordingly, an interview schedule was used as a tool that contains
the pre-determined questions prepared in order to acquire insight and knowledge of the
councillors, administration, community and community organisations. In addition,
observation was used as a tool to observe the dynamics of the different institutionalised
structures such as the ward committee meeting, council meeting and public meeting.
An empirical study was conducted to measure the role and impact of communication
strategies used by the local authority in the case study area of Lamberts Bay to enhance
public participation. The findings indicated that the communication strategies used by local
government to encourage meaningful participation within the case study area is not effective
with regard to enabling local residents to participate meaningfully in governance decisionmaking
within the region. The study concluded by presenting a number of recommendations
in an attempt to improve the communication between the citizens and local government and
to enhance public participation of local residents.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uwc/oai:etd.uwc.ac.za:11394/6692 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Frantz, Dmitri |
| Contributors | Penderis, Sharon |
| Publisher | University of the Western Cape |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | University of the Western Cape |
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