Community participation in eThekwini Municipality with particular reference to ward committees

Abstract

Local government has been constitutionalised as a sphere of government and this has \nsignified a conceptual shift from serving as administrative service delivery agents to the \npromotion of developmental goals and principles, namely local democracy, sustainable \ndevelopment, a safe and healthy environment and co-operative government. The \nWhite Paper on Local Government mandates municipalities to involve communities in \nfacilitating development. Participation is an integral part of local democracy and it is a \nlegislative requirement for the local community to be drawn into the process through \nintegrated development planning, budgeting, performance management and ward \ncommittees. However, there are serious disparities between policy and practice as the \nsuccess of public participation will not depend on the regulation of the system, but \nthrough innovative and creative local policies and legislation. A participatory culture \nshould be inculcated and furthermore the appropriate and relevant mechanisms, \nprocesses and procedures should be developed. EThekwini Municipality has created \nan environment for active participation through ward committees. However, the active \nparticipation of the rural populace is still problematic and there are challenges that have \nto be addressed. Given the fact that the largest percentage of developmental backlogs \nare in the rural areas, which are inhabited by the disadvantaged communities, it is \nimperative that they are actively involved in the process of addressing these backlogs \nthrough the formal structures of community participation that have been set up.

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