Public participation processes in local economic development initiatives: the case study of the Great Kei Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

Abstract

The coming of democracy in 1994 in South Africa has seen the African National Congress (ANC) led government striving to improve the standard of living of the majority of previously disadvantaged South Africans through the introduction of local economic development initiatives. In doing so, local government encourages public participation in decision making on local economic development to ensure that these initiatives reflect the needs and expectations of citizens. However, public participation in local economic development initiatives is faced with challenges. Amongst others, citizens are viewed as lacking capacities to participate in the decision-making processes in local economic development initiatives. This is primarily attributed to lack of knowledge and skills. The literature also shows that lack of public participation is the result of insufficient resource allocation, ineffective ward committees, language barriers to communication, costly media used for communication, ineffective road shows and ignored community forums. What is not highlighted by the literature is how local government can capacitate communities to actively participate in decision making processes in local economic development initiatives. This thesis analyses challenges associated with the capacity of stakeholder participants involved in decision making processes in local economic development initiatives. This thesis draws on participatory development theory and capabilities approach to analyse public participation processes in the Great Kei Local Municipality. The researcher adopted a qualitative case study research methodology supplemented by purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews to select and collect data from 35 participants in total. The collected data was analysed using the thematic analysis method. The findings reveal that citizens' lack of knowledge and skills affect their ability to participate; public participation platforms are ineffective; there are insufficient resources to foster public participation process. The study recommended channelling of sufficient resources towards public participation processes to help educate and conscientize citizens to participate.