The efficacy of public participation in integrated development planning processes of UMkhanyakude District Municipality, Northern Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa
Loading...
Date
2019
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Zululand
Abstract
The importance of public participation continues to gain great momentum in local government circles in South Africa, because it is considered as a strategy of ensuring that local government is responsive to the developmental needs of communities. Against this backdrop, this study investigated the efficacy of public participation in an Integrated Development Planning (IDP) process of uMkhanyakude District Municipality, northern KwaZulu-Natal. The study adopted the Interpretivist research paradigm because it was the most appropriate and relevant in assisting the researcher to get the emic or inside perspective through the interaction with the people under the study area. On this basis, the study utilised qualitative research approaches in the form of interviews with community members and key informants (officials) from uMkhanyakude District Municipality. The findings of the study indicated that community members were excluded from taking part in processes which should improve their communities. However, findings from key informants suggested that there was adequate application of public participation during the IDP process. The research also established that the majority of community members were not familiar with the municipal public participation framework which key informants (officials) were familiar with. The lack of understanding by community members was an indication of the inefficacy of the IDP process in the study area. In addition, the majority of community members were negative about their involvement in any existing plan by the municipality during the IDP process. As a result, they were dissatisfied with their involvement in the affairs of the municipality as well as in transforming a society that had been under apartheid to one which is democratic in nature. Consequently, the study concluded that uMkhanyakude District Municipality applied the technocratic approach to decision-making processes, not citizen participation. In other words, community members were not involved in decision making structures of the uMkhanyakude District Municipality IDP process. There is a gap in participation between the District Municipality and the community and herein lies the inefficacy of public participation in an IDP process in the study area. Therefore, there is an urgent need to bridge the gap between the uMkhanyakude District Municipality and the community in terms of all the phases of an IDP process.
Description
The efficacy of public participation in integrated development planning processes of UMkhanyakude District Municipality, Northern Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa
Keywords
Integrated development planning process, public participation