scholarly journals ‘Bringing government to the people’: women, local governance and community participation in South Africa

Geoforum ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl McEwan
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Community Participation ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
The People

Community Participation in Mahikeng Local Municipality: Power Relations Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 446-456
Author(s):  
Mandla Mfundo Masuku ◽  
Mokgadi Patience Molope
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Community Participation ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Local Municipality ◽  
Constitutional Right ◽  
The Impact

In South Africa, community members have the constitutional right to partake in local governance and the local municipal council has the constitutional mandate to facilitate community participation. Qualitative research was used to assess the impact of power relations on community participation in the Mahikeng Local Municipality. The study findings indicate that power differentials contributed to the abandonment of the legislative provisions in the Mahikeng Local Municipality in the North-West Province of South Africa. Among other things, this paper recommends finalisation of the draft public participation framework. The framework should clearly identify and define the roles of the community, elected councillors and traditional authorities. The paper recommends the development of a strategy that includes clear and comprehensive public participation guidelines, protocols and processes to facilitate implementation of the framework. In consultation with the community, a detailed community participation schedule must be developed, implemented and continuously monitored and evaluated.

The Role and Significance of Traditional Leadership in South African Local Governance

2022 ◽  
pp. 249-273
Author(s):  
Joshua Mawere ◽  
Pfarelo Eve Matshidze ◽  
Stewart Lee Kugara ◽  
Thanyani Madzivhandila
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
The West ◽  
Rural South ◽  
The People ◽  
Traditional Leadership ◽  
Rural South Africa

Traditional leadership in South Africa pre-existed both the colonial and apartheid systems of governance and was the main known system of governance amongst indigenous people. In any case, as opposed to the current political pattern of discrediting traditional leadership, Africans have their own comprehension of democracy, which is pointedly from the liberal democracy of the West. Traditional leadership was democratic based on its own unique way in what we these days allude to as ‘consensus'. This chapter contends that the institution of traditional leadership is still significant as a trusted institution for governance by most of the people living in rural South Africa. The chapter contends as revered in the Basotho aphorism, mooa khotla ha a tsekisoe maxim, that traditional leadership is a sine qua non in rural areas. The South African post-apartheid government has neglected to conclusively characterize and unambiguously explain the role and significance of traditional leaders in local governance.

Reconfiguring local governance and community participation in South Africa and Botswana

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 740-756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kedibone Phago ◽  
Keneilwe Molosi-France
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Community Participation ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Final Analysis ◽  
Community Members ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Government Structure ◽  
Functional Consideration

While the questions of governance and community participation are distinct, their operationalisation in the context of local government is not always mutually exclusive. As a result, issues of governance and community participation have continued to be of interest in most developing countries. For local government as an important sub-national government structure within the Southern African Development Community, there are a myriad of both opportunities and problems associated with the decentralisation of their powers. This article argues for a need to reconfigure governance and community participatory models so as to maintain the relevance of local government structures in African countries. Anstein’s public participation model is propounded for the purpose of analysing these participation models. Embedded in the discussion is the legislative and functional consideration regarding configuration and governance of local government. The examination of the ward committees in South Africa and village development committees in Botswana as institutionalised and legitimate participatory fora for local community members remains a key focus. In the final analysis, an analogue and critique regarding opportunities and challenges for local governance and participation issues in South Africa and Botswana are provided.

Local governance and the crisis of water and sanitation provision in medium-sized urban centres: Evidence from three cities in Nigeria

2021 ◽  
pp. 026909422110353
Author(s):  
Kayode J Samuel ◽  
Samuel B Agbola ◽  
Olorunfemi A Olojede
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Water And Sanitation ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
The People ◽  
Efficient Delivery ◽  
Essential Services ◽  
Effective Delivery ◽  
Basic Services

Local governance encompasses the involvement of local governments and other community-based organizations in participatory decision-making for efficient delivery of public services. In the developing world, however, the weakness of the local government and local governance has inhibited the efficient and effective delivery of these services. Relying on water and sanitation data and interviews of relevant officials, this study analyses the structure of governance of water supply and sanitation (WSS) at the community levels in selected medium-sized urban centres in Nigeria. Results showed that majority of the city dwellers lacked access to safe water and sanitation, an indication of convoluted, poorly regulated provision regimes and the waning capacity of local governments to galvanize local actions towards the efficient provision and management of these services at community levels. Multiple provision regimes, weak coordinating and regulatory frameworks characterize WSS governance. Further, the sub-national authorities’ encroachment on local government funds which deprived these tiers of government the resources they could have used in providing these essential services presents a major setback. Local governments require financial and constitutional autonomy to provide basic services to the people and supervise and coordinate the activities of other governmental and non-governmental actors involved in service provision.

Community Asset Management A Good Practice in Participatory Local Governance

2005 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-24
Author(s):  
Wendy Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Community Participation ◽  
Asset Management ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Governance Process ◽  
Development Service

This article places the concept of community asset management (CAM), the focus of a DFID Knowledge and Research (KAR) project which has been described elsewhere, in the context of the broader concepts of participatory local governance and good practice, themselves the subjects of other recent KAR projects. It is contended herein that it is imperative to local development, service delivery and poverty reduction that these concepts are fully operationalised by the stakeholders involved in the governance process. The article argues that, not only is CAM as a community participation approach a good practice in good governance ‘in its own right‘, but the very practice of the CAM approach involves the operationalisation of other participatory local governance principles.

scholarly journals Importation of Good Governance at Local Self-government Body in Bangladesh

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Fakhrul Islam ◽  
Md. Amdadul Haque
Keyword(s):  
Good Governance ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
Public Issues ◽  
The People ◽  
New Space ◽  
Government Body ◽  
Data Collection Technique

The principle of good governance is difficult and controversial. Governance opens new space which provides a concept that allows us to discuss the role of government in coping with public issues and the contribution that other players may make. It opens one’s mind to the possibility that groups in society other than government. Good governance is responsive to the present and future needs of society. Strengthening local governance can be ensured through the importation of the component of good governance at the local level. This paper intent to  examine spaces where principles of good governance are required to apply to ensure better service delivery system at Union Parishad. This paper has been followed by social survey method. The data collection technique of this study has covered quantitative technique. Union Parishad as a local self government body ensuring community participations, people can approach and communicates clearly to their representatives and regularly issuing its progress report to the people for their transparency. Besides, dealing with convicted corruption was found most effective in manner.

scholarly journals Effects of Riverbed Extraction on Ground Water Resources in the Vicinity of Tinau River, Rupandehi

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khet R Dahal ◽  
Chandra P Poudyal ◽  
Prajwal Adhikari ◽  
Subodh Sharma ◽  
Jitendra Ghimire
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Flood Plain ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Income Generation ◽  
Plain Area ◽  
The People ◽  
Tube Wells ◽  
Medium Level ◽  
Dug Well

CORRECTION: The correct PDF for this article was loaded on 22/04/2013.The study was carried out in the vicinity of the Tinau river, Rupandehi, Nepal from July 2011 to June 2012. Ten number of shallow tube wells (STWs) of depths 5.18 m to 7.62 m, four shallow tube wells (STWs) of depths 28.96 m to 36.58 m. from Amawa and Farsatikar Village Development Committees and one dug well (DW) from Butwal Municipality were selected for the purpose of this study. The depth of the STWs was different but many STWs were of 6.09 m deep. The DW was of 18.29 m. The information was collected from the owners during field visit of the sites. A standard questionnaire was prepared and asked to the affected persons. The site observation was done in the dry season as well as in the rainy seasons. It was found that the extraction of riverbed materials from the river channel and the flood plain area has adversely affected the aquatic environment of the Tinau river. Massive extraction of the riverbed materials from this river started after the enforcement of local governance act, and regulation 1999. The income generated from the riverbed materials is quite enough. This is one of the major sources of income generation of DDC Rupandehi and the VDCs attached to this river (from Butwal to Bethari). The depth of the river increased due to extraction activities as a result groundwater table lowered. The STWs having depth of 5.18 to 7.62 m stopped discharging water from the aquifer in the dry season. Similarly DW of Butwal municipality having depth of 18.29 m stopped discharging water at dry season. But the STWs of depths from 28.96 m to 36.58 m. located at the same area/site were not affected by the extraction in the Tinau river. The people, who are residing on the bank of the river Tinau, suffered from drinking water problem because they are using the water from STWs. The effect is directly facing the people of low and medium level having low income generation. The extraction activity is going on and the deficit of water availability in STWs and DW is common in the vicinity of the Tinau river especially in the upstream (from Butwal to Paschim Amawa), whereas there is less effects of riverbed extraction for STWs of depths more than 27.43 m in the same sites. Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 13, No. 2 (2012) 133-140 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v13i2.7726

scholarly journals Tales of transition

Literator ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Viljoen ◽  
E. Hentschel
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Control ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Nationalist Discourse ◽  
The Past ◽  
Social Transitions ◽  
The People ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
South Africa And Germany

In this article the rationale of this special issue is provided and the different contributions are introduced. The assumption is that there are strong similarities between the recent political and social transitions in South Africa and Germany and the reactions, both emotional and literary, of the people involved. Broadly, the transitions are described as a movement from external (or violent) to internal (or ideological) social control, though this must be modified by the various constructions the contributors put on the transition. The main themes and questions of the transitions are synthesized, highlighting the marked similarities the different contributions reveal. The most important of these are the relation to the past, problems of identity, projections of the new and the internal contradictions of nationalist discourse (which informs the process of transition). In conclusion, the similarities and differences between the two transitions indicated by this special issue, are discussed. The assumption of strong similarities between the two seems to hold, it is argued, but much more research into the matter is needed.

The question of inclusion and representation in rural South Africa: challenging the concept of water user associations as a vehicle for transformation

Water Policy ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. Kemerink ◽  
L. E. Méndez ◽  
R. Ahlers ◽  
P. Wester ◽  
P. van der Zaag
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Rural South ◽  
Water User Associations ◽  
Water User ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
Reform Processes ◽  
Rural South Africa

The promotion of local governance and the transfer of water management responsibilities to water user associations (WUAs) have been central in water reform processes throughout the world, including in the reforms that took place in post-apartheid South Africa. This paper reflects on the notions of inclusion and representation as put forward by the various actors involved in the establishment of a WUA in a tertiary catchment in the Thukela River Basin. The paper describes how the WUA in the study catchment came to be dominated by commercial farmers, despite the South African government's aim to redress the inequities of the past by the inclusion and representation of historically disadvantaged individuals. The authors argue that the notions of inclusion and representation as embedded in the concept of the WUA are highly contested and more aligned with the institutional settings familiar to the commercial farmers. The paper concludes that, unless the inherently political nature of the participatory process is recognized and the different institutional settings become part of the negotiation process of the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of progressive collaboration at catchment level, the establishment of the WUA in the study catchment will not contribute to achieving the envisioned transformation.

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