Enhancing community participation in developmental local government for improved service delivery

Abstract

Local government in South Africa faces many challenges, and one of these is the encouragement of the community and community based organisations in local government matters. This is a constitutional obligation which tends to pose dilemmas for municipal councils. Meaningful participatory government requires active and direct involvement of the community in matters that affect their well-being. Given the history of local government in the country this might seem far-fetched. Community participation has now become a buzzword in local government circles and special legislation has been enacted to make community participation an obligation in municipal administration and management. Many members of the community are excluded or are unwilling to involve themselves in matters of local governance. Effective strategies need to be devised to engage community participation in enhancing service delivery.

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