Managing public participation through roads forum’s: the case of the Ngqushwa Local Municipality
> Musa Sebugwawo
The establishment of mechanisms by governments for people to participate in the planning and implementation of development programmes is seen as a path breaking stride in the entrenchment of democracy and development in emerging democracies all over the world. South Africa is not exceptional in this practice. Experience shows that the creation and success of these community structures is by no means automatic. From the Department of Roads and Public Works (DRPW) point of view, "if good governance within the work of all the spheres [of government] is inculcated through public participation and proper feedback then, improved and accelerated service delivery could easily be realised.
On 19 July 2011, with the commitment of harmonising community participation and having institutional structures set up squarely in view, Ngqushwa local municipality with the assistance of Afesis-corplan as Social Facilitators convened a local stakeholder meeting at the council chamber. Participants included: the Mayor, Municipal Manager, Speaker, various Ngqushwa municipal Departmental heads as well as other organs of state and a number of councillors. Other community stakeholders who attended this meeting were: local taxi associations (BATA, UNCEDO), Okotath Agencies, business owners as well as emerging contractors in the area. Participants discussed strategies for the establishment of an effective and broad based local roads forum (LRF) with the view of addressing collective concerns in a participatory and democratic way. This article emerges from the deliberations of that meeting. In the course of the discussions that later led to the launch of the roads forum, there was a strong convergence of views concerning the sometimes under-appreciated role of stakeholders in local development. In addition, there was also an enthusiastic agreement on the rather more novel notion that fresh insights could be gained if other key role-players such as traditional leaders, the disabled as well as the youth and women were provided with an opportunity to be part of the forum.
These road forums have specific roles to play in enhancing community development. According to the Department of Roads and Public Works (DRPW), the main objectives of the road forums are among others to:
Give advice on all roads and building infrastructure related matters so as to ensure a sound working relationship between affected and concerned stakeholders.
Maximise community and stakeholder input into the identification, design and prioritisation of roads infrastructure projects, with special emphasis being placed on appropriate technology and labour absorptive project design. To act as forums for engagement in respect of improving the labour absorption in the design of roads infrastructure projects.
Take part in the monitoring and evaluation of the impact of infrastructure service delivery by the department.
Enhance capacity of all participating stakeholders so as to ensure that they play their roles and responsibilities within forums effectively and efficiently.
The launch of this forum came at a time when municipalities in South Africa including Ngqushwa Local Municipality are in a tight grip of unemployment. There was a feeling among participants that if roads forum structures are properly managed, they can to a larger extent, facilitate and influence the absorption of local labour in the infrastructure and other development projects particularly in local municipalities
The attempt to regionalise social services such as schools and hospitals has affected communities' access to these services. To an ordinary poor, this regionalisation implies paying more for the service as this is seen as a cost cutting measure.
. This is based on the belief that these grassroots community structures will ensure that at least 70% of people employed in the infrastructure projects are people from local areas. This will be done in partnership and collaboration with all role-players involved in the development of the area. It must also be noted on the other hand that the establishment of road forums is another way of fulfilling the constitutional requirement which states that public service must be governed by democratic values and principles and this should be related to among others; 1. Service must be provided impartially, fairly, equitably and without bias and 2. People's needs must be responded to and the public must be encouraged to participate in policy making. (See DRPW 2011). The presence of the municipal leadership (the Mayor and his executive committee) in discussions about the LRF was significant for local stakeholders as well as the LRF in particular in that it demonstrated commitment and political will to strengthen collaboration between municipal government and stakeholders. Considering that a big section of local stakeholders were represented also raised hope of participatory democracy and social accountability. With the structure that represents all key stakeholders in place, dedicated men and women in Ngqushwa who are committed to the promotion of participatory democracy and community involvement as a way of identifying locally appropriate poverty reduction interventions have every right to welcome this LRF with open arms. The LRF emphasises an atmosphere of inclusivity, openness and accountability.
Change in approach: From top-down planning to bottom-up models of development
In the past, development planning in South Africa tended to focus mainly on economic issues with a view of making communities viable. Unfortunately, this kind of planning had disastrous effects for developing communities. At the international level, the effect of the globalization wave which swept across the world nearly brought local economies to their knees and threatened the survival of local entrepreneurs. As a result, a number of local businesses either closed or down sized. Parallel to this, was the effect of the rapid urbanization of rural areas. We have witnessed on the daily basis how young people and the well educated have continued to relocate to metropolitan areas as a result of their shattered hopes of finding employment opportunities. We have also observed how the attempt to "modernize" and transform the provision of social services have ravaged local municipal's capacity to deliver.
Where there is a strong and structured cooperation between government and citizens more is achieved through joint efforts.
Municipalities are increasingly becoming unable to deliver basic services particularly in rural areas. The attempt to regionalise social services such as schools and hospitals has affected communities' access to these services. To the ordinary poor, this regionalisation implies paying more for the service as this is seen as a cost
recovery measure. Taken together, these trends have contributed little if anything to community development; it has instead fuelled increasing numbers of unemployment. To those who are familiar with Peddie, this has certainly been a tumultuous period. In this rural municipality it is shocking to note that by the end of 2010, unemployment figures had reached 76.5% (see Ngqushwa Local municipality 2009/2010 Annual Report).
The establishment of the Local Roads Forum was launched during an extremely challenging and complicated period but at the same time the LRF was viewed by many role-players as one of the mechanisms where the capacities and motivations of ordinary people could be channelled to promote a bottom-up approach to community development. Seeking to fill the void of this public participation gap, municipalities are organising, promoting and ultimately establishing models of community engagement. A growing body of knowledge supports the view that community structures have become critical components in influencing the change from top-down planning to Bottom-up models of development. Wallace Mgoqi (1993:131) for example, uses the principles underlying the participatory model to describe the characteristic nature and benefits of grassroots institutions in community development.
The collective strength of the grassroots people. As a process of social transformation,
it involves people at the grassroots as the main actors;
The promotion of self reliance as an expression of a person's faith, his or her own abilities;
Participation is seen as an active process whereby the people take the initiative and
action as determined by their own reflection;
• Aiming for empowerment, which can increase the collective strength of the poor to tilt the balance of power and resources in their favour;
It is also essentially facilitative. It learns with the poor and together makes them seek ways and means whereby people can improve their socio-economic status based on their own priorities; and
The development processes does not thrive in isolation as a micro-phenomenon. It has to link up with other endeavours aimed at achieving the desired social change Miller (1995) uses the term ‘entrepreneurial social infrastructure' (ESI) to describe his view of community structures which involves three interrelated elements:
Symbolic diversity refers to those aspects of the community that create a real sense of inclusiveness where the diverse elements of the community are viewed as valuable and necessary to successful community development. Resource mobilization refers to the equitable distribution of resources, a willingness to invest collectively, and the investment of the private capital locally.
Quality linkages refers to networks within the community and between the community and the outside world that facilitates the flow of information that helps ensure quality decision making. Where a quality of linkages exists there is a broad base of decision makers and leadership is distributed across this broad base. Taken together, these authors provide a foundation upon which to build a conceptual understanding about the strategic role grass root structures can play in influencing the change in development planning and community development.
Creation of a supportive environment for the poor to participate
More than an enabling environment for key community stakeholders and other development actors, communities particularly those in Ngqushwa, need an enabling environment within which the poor can willingly mobilize for collective action. This requires an environment which nurtures a civic culture that will promote grassroots democratic institutions; an environment that can easily change the attitude of all the key role-players towards the developmental process; an environment that transforms the bureaucratic departmental approach of government agencies; and an environment that will build partnership across sectors and institutions based on mutual respect and trust.
In this regard the creation of the LRF demonstrates that the existence and commitment of municipal leadership and the collaboration and partnership it establishes and enforces, can strengthen and increase the efficiency of local organizations and institutions and can give rise to collective action which in return increases the power of the municipality. This article is based on the belief that the synergy between local government and civil society can be a catalyst for development. Sincerely speaking, working together does not only emphasize collaboration between the state and communities but it also ensures sustained engagement as well as building and sustaining such dynamic synergies. Morgan (2002) describes this as: ‘the creation of a developmentally flexible, democratically facilitative and politically responsive local government regime that: maximizes all strategic opportunities to address poverty; deepens social justice; fosters balanced economic growth; builds a democratic culture and commits material and non material resources to the creation of vibrant associational life; and forges dynamic complementarily between formal and informal modes of governance'. This new interventionist and flexible local government regime calls for the need for the facilitative state whose role can be seen as that of creating space focused on optimizing the beneficial outcome of relatively autonomous hierarchical and collaborative linkages while enhancing the strength of the partnerships.
Community development : unlocking the potential
Within the meeting that led to the creation of the forum, one could clearly note that a meaningful community participation structure at the local level requires an approach that recognizes that Peddie, Bira, Hamburg as well as other areas that make up the Ngqushwa municipality have untapped resources. People and organizations can partner with government to develop low cost, high impact methods and techniques spurred on by a common vision. This LRF provides an alternative local government approach to strategic planning and implementation of development projects. An approach guided by the principles of democratic decentralization of local government,
"...the synergy between local government and civil society can be a catalyst for development".
civil society synergy, and local government intervention in promoting and nurturing civic culture and democratic participation. All these are regarded as essential elements to improve municipal sector performance to mobilize and focus the resources available in the community and to address the challenge of long term sustainability. The principle aim of this road forum could be to develop a framework that could encourage democratic practice and public involvement in the delivery of local government community oriented services. Specifically, it will look at developing a plan for local service delivery as a way of bringing together civil society organizations and contractors. Above all it is hoped that this LRF will engage community stakeholders in exposing the shoddy work in housing, bridges, pavements, pathways etc. If encouraged, this culture of monitoring development projects will take a firm root and grow in local communities. The nature of this role can be simply described as one largely of monitoring and supervision with the aim of holding those responsible accountable and helping to assure adherence to the "rules of the game". But as the participatory process proceeds, citizens will often seek to exert more influence on community and tendering processes. The existence of the road forum and other community structures will do much to encourage Ngqushwa on its development path.
Linking municipal development and civic collaboration: ensuring inclusivity
The connection between a widely represented community in decision making structures and government became clear during the launch of the LRF. For skeptics, the linkage is supported by research. Studies show that structures with broad based membership are more effective institutions than those that are purely service based. This is because they provide opportunities for education and value formulation as well as practical skills acquisition (Mgoqi 1992:132). I also believe such a value base has compelled development practitioners like Mgoqi to speak of a need for a vision. He spoke of a city on a hill in which we delight in each other, seek to make other's condition our own, rejoice together, labour and suffer together always having before our eyes, our community as members of the same body (Mgoqi 1992:132).
This is in addition to the opportunity of involving citizens' direct participation in the prioritisation of development projects. Here, I refer not only to the public hearings leading to consulting public members, but also to the recruitment of local young people who suffer from fading unemployment prospects. I am also referring, perhaps somewhat less obviously, to subcontracting emerging contractors thereby assuring their access to much needed capital, skills and experience and so on. The previous government has on several platforms been blamed and criticized for its development approach that emphasized the top down approach where many development projects failed to get community buy-in thus falling to realize their intended objectives in their initial stages.
The development of a strong public relations communication system
The local roads forum is viewed as encompassing a democratic strategy to enhance the participation and empowerment of individuals, communities and their organizations. This, according to DRPW is aimed at giving people greater control of making decisions involving their development needs. From the community development practitioner's point of view, the local roads forum approach can facilitate and enhance the communication channels. The free flow of information between institutions sends a message to the rest about what a particular institution is doing, how they are doing it, and why. Such a system invites support locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, in human and material resources. It also helps public image - building. It has the additional benefit of linking the institution with others locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Networking can only help organizations to be more effective and efficient.
The reinforcement of relations between th e stakeholders and the municipality
Stakeholders are intimately linked with local people. They are employers of local people in communities, making them an invaluable partner in local economic development efforts. Where there is a strong and structured cooperation between government and citizens more is achieved through joint efforts. Under a cooperative atmosphere, grass root structures could discover unprecedented opportunities for improving management and technical capabilities and could become more effective in increasing their assistance to their target constituencies. Government on the other hand, would be able to deliver its basic services to the people more efficiently. Despite challenges, stakeholders showed commitment to negotiating an effective and meaningful community engagement. This commitment, however, could not be taken for granted. Stakeholders have to be motivated, encouraged and treated with respect.
Conclusion
This article has highlighted that the creation of roads forum in local municipalities like Ngqushwa municipality is an indicator of the willingness of government to redress the socio-economic imbalances of the past. At the same time, it is also an expression of the frustrations and difficulties involved in achieving this. Nevertheless, the contribution of grassroots structures in enhancing democracy and development cannot be ignored. Available research seems to support the view that grassroots structures are essential contributors to the well being and vitality of communities. The existence of a cooperative relationship between community structures and municipal governments certainly facilitates democratic development through involving stakeholders at the micro level. This alone has the benefit of enabling many from among the poor and the dispossessed to have a say in decision making that affects their lives.
References: Mgoqi, Wallace, 1993, Building Institutions in South Africa. | Miller Bruce, 1995,The role of rural schools in community Development: policy issues and implications | Kim, Morgan, 2002. A framework for community participation in the planning, implementation monitoring and evaluation of development programmes at the local level | Department of Roads and Public Works Social Facilitators Manual, 2011.
The establishment of mechanisms by governments for people to participate in the planning and implementation of development programmes is seen as a path breaking stride in the entrenchment of democracy and development in emerging democracies all over the world. South Africa is not exceptional in this practice. Experience shows that the creation and success of these community structures is by no means automatic. From the Department of Roads and Public Works (DRPW) point of view, "if good governance within the work of all the spheres [of government] is inculcated through public participation and proper feedback then, improved and accelerated service delivery could easily be realised.
On 19 July 2011, with the commitment of harmonising community participation and having institutional structures set up squarely in view, Ngqushwa local municipality with the assistance of Afesis-corplan as Social Facilitators convened a local stakeholder meeting at the council chamber. Participants included: the Mayor, Municipal Manager, Speaker, various Ngqushwa municipal Departmental heads as well as other organs of state and a number of councillors. Other community stakeholders who attended this meeting were: local taxi associations (BATA, UNCEDO), Okotath Agencies, business owners as well as emerging contractors in the area. Participants discussed strategies for the establishment of an effective and broad based local roads forum (LRF) with the view of addressing collective concerns in a participatory and democratic way. This article emerges from the deliberations of that meeting. In the course of the discussions that later led to the launch of the roads forum, there was a strong convergence of views concerning the sometimes under-appreciated role of stakeholders in local development. In addition, there was also an enthusiastic agreement on the rather more novel notion that fresh insights could be gained if other key role-players such as traditional leaders, the disabled as well as the youth and women were provided with an opportunity to be part of the forum.
These road forums have specific roles to play in enhancing community development. According to the Department of Roads and Public Works (DRPW), the main objectives of the road forums are among others to:
Give advice on all roads and building infrastructure related matters so as to ensure a sound working relationship between affected and concerned stakeholders.
Maximise community and stakeholder input into the identification, design and prioritisation of roads infrastructure projects, with special emphasis being placed on appropriate technology and labour absorptive project design. To act as forums for engagement in respect of improving the labour absorption in the design of roads infrastructure projects.
Take part in the monitoring and evaluation of the impact of infrastructure service delivery by the department.
Enhance capacity of all participating stakeholders so as to ensure that they play their roles and responsibilities within forums effectively and efficiently.
The launch of this forum came at a time when municipalities in South Africa including Ngqushwa Local Municipality are in a tight grip of unemployment. There was a feeling among participants that if roads forum structures are properly managed, they can to a larger extent, facilitate and influence the absorption of local labour in the infrastructure and other development projects particularly in local municipalities
The attempt to regionalise social services such as schools and hospitals has affected communities' access to these services. To an ordinary poor, this regionalisation implies paying more for the service as this is seen as a cost cutting measure.
. This is based on the belief that these grassroots community structures will ensure that at least 70% of people employed in the infrastructure projects are people from local areas. This will be done in partnership and collaboration with all role-players involved in the development of the area. It must also be noted on the other hand that the establishment of road forums is another way of fulfilling the constitutional requirement which states that public service must be governed by democratic values and principles and this should be related to among others; 1. Service must be provided impartially, fairly, equitably and without bias and 2. People's needs must be responded to and the public must be encouraged to participate in policy making. (See DRPW 2011). The presence of the municipal leadership (the Mayor and his executive committee) in discussions about the LRF was significant for local stakeholders as well as the LRF in particular in that it demonstrated commitment and political will to strengthen collaboration between municipal government and stakeholders. Considering that a big section of local stakeholders were represented also raised hope of participatory democracy and social accountability. With the structure that represents all key stakeholders in place, dedicated men and women in Ngqushwa who are committed to the promotion of participatory democracy and community involvement as a way of identifying locally appropriate poverty reduction interventions have every right to welcome this LRF with open arms. The LRF emphasises an atmosphere of inclusivity, openness and accountability.
Change in approach: From top-down planning to bottom-up models of development
In the past, development planning in South Africa tended to focus mainly on economic issues with a view of making communities viable. Unfortunately, this kind of planning had disastrous effects for developing communities. At the international level, the effect of the globalization wave which swept across the world nearly brought local economies to their knees and threatened the survival of local entrepreneurs. As a result, a number of local businesses either closed or down sized. Parallel to this, was the effect of the rapid urbanization of rural areas. We have witnessed on the daily basis how young people and the well educated have continued to relocate to metropolitan areas as a result of their shattered hopes of finding employment opportunities. We have also observed how the attempt to "modernize" and transform the provision of social services have ravaged local municipal's capacity to deliver.
Where there is a strong and structured cooperation between government and citizens more is achieved through joint efforts.
Municipalities are increasingly becoming unable to deliver basic services particularly in rural areas. The attempt to regionalise social services such as schools and hospitals has affected communities' access to these services. To the ordinary poor, this regionalisation implies paying more for the service as this is seen as a cost
recovery measure. Taken together, these trends have contributed little if anything to community development; it has instead fuelled increasing numbers of unemployment. To those who are familiar with Peddie, this has certainly been a tumultuous period. In this rural municipality it is shocking to note that by the end of 2010, unemployment figures had reached 76.5% (see Ngqushwa Local municipality 2009/2010 Annual Report).
The establishment of the Local Roads Forum was launched during an extremely challenging and complicated period but at the same time the LRF was viewed by many role-players as one of the mechanisms where the capacities and motivations of ordinary people could be channelled to promote a bottom-up approach to community development. Seeking to fill the void of this public participation gap, municipalities are organising, promoting and ultimately establishing models of community engagement. A growing body of knowledge supports the view that community structures have become critical components in influencing the change from top-down planning to Bottom-up models of development. Wallace Mgoqi (1993:131) for example, uses the principles underlying the participatory model to describe the characteristic nature and benefits of grassroots institutions in community development.
The collective strength of the grassroots people. As a process of social transformation,
it involves people at the grassroots as the main actors;
The promotion of self reliance as an expression of a person's faith, his or her own abilities;
Participation is seen as an active process whereby the people take the initiative and
action as determined by their own reflection;
• Aiming for empowerment, which can increase the collective strength of the poor to tilt the balance of power and resources in their favour;
It is also essentially facilitative. It learns with the poor and together makes them seek ways and means whereby people can improve their socio-economic status based on their own priorities; and
The development processes does not thrive in isolation as a micro-phenomenon. It has to link up with other endeavours aimed at achieving the desired social change Miller (1995) uses the term ‘entrepreneurial social infrastructure' (ESI) to describe his view of community structures which involves three interrelated elements:
Symbolic diversity refers to those aspects of the community that create a real sense of inclusiveness where the diverse elements of the community are viewed as valuable and necessary to successful community development. Resource mobilization refers to the equitable distribution of resources, a willingness to invest collectively, and the investment of the private capital locally.
Quality linkages refers to networks within the community and between the community and the outside world that facilitates the flow of information that helps ensure quality decision making. Where a quality of linkages exists there is a broad base of decision makers and leadership is distributed across this broad base. Taken together, these authors provide a foundation upon which to build a conceptual understanding about the strategic role grass root structures can play in influencing the change in development planning and community development.
Creation of a supportive environment for the poor to participate
More than an enabling environment for key community stakeholders and other development actors, communities particularly those in Ngqushwa, need an enabling environment within which the poor can willingly mobilize for collective action. This requires an environment which nurtures a civic culture that will promote grassroots democratic institutions; an environment that can easily change the attitude of all the key role-players towards the developmental process; an environment that transforms the bureaucratic departmental approach of government agencies; and an environment that will build partnership across sectors and institutions based on mutual respect and trust.
In this regard the creation of the LRF demonstrates that the existence and commitment of municipal leadership and the collaboration and partnership it establishes and enforces, can strengthen and increase the efficiency of local organizations and institutions and can give rise to collective action which in return increases the power of the municipality. This article is based on the belief that the synergy between local government and civil society can be a catalyst for development. Sincerely speaking, working together does not only emphasize collaboration between the state and communities but it also ensures sustained engagement as well as building and sustaining such dynamic synergies. Morgan (2002) describes this as: ‘the creation of a developmentally flexible, democratically facilitative and politically responsive local government regime that: maximizes all strategic opportunities to address poverty; deepens social justice; fosters balanced economic growth; builds a democratic culture and commits material and non material resources to the creation of vibrant associational life; and forges dynamic complementarily between formal and informal modes of governance'. This new interventionist and flexible local government regime calls for the need for the facilitative state whose role can be seen as that of creating space focused on optimizing the beneficial outcome of relatively autonomous hierarchical and collaborative linkages while enhancing the strength of the partnerships.
Community development : unlocking the potential
Within the meeting that led to the creation of the forum, one could clearly note that a meaningful community participation structure at the local level requires an approach that recognizes that Peddie, Bira, Hamburg as well as other areas that make up the Ngqushwa municipality have untapped resources. People and organizations can partner with government to develop low cost, high impact methods and techniques spurred on by a common vision. This LRF provides an alternative local government approach to strategic planning and implementation of development projects. An approach guided by the principles of democratic decentralization of local government,
"...the synergy between local government and civil society can be a catalyst for development".
civil society synergy, and local government intervention in promoting and nurturing civic culture and democratic participation. All these are regarded as essential elements to improve municipal sector performance to mobilize and focus the resources available in the community and to address the challenge of long term sustainability. The principle aim of this road forum could be to develop a framework that could encourage democratic practice and public involvement in the delivery of local government community oriented services. Specifically, it will look at developing a plan for local service delivery as a way of bringing together civil society organizations and contractors. Above all it is hoped that this LRF will engage community stakeholders in exposing the shoddy work in housing, bridges, pavements, pathways etc. If encouraged, this culture of monitoring development projects will take a firm root and grow in local communities. The nature of this role can be simply described as one largely of monitoring and supervision with the aim of holding those responsible accountable and helping to assure adherence to the "rules of the game". But as the participatory process proceeds, citizens will often seek to exert more influence on community and tendering processes. The existence of the road forum and other community structures will do much to encourage Ngqushwa on its development path.
Linking municipal development and civic collaboration: ensuring inclusivity
The connection between a widely represented community in decision making structures and government became clear during the launch of the LRF. For skeptics, the linkage is supported by research. Studies show that structures with broad based membership are more effective institutions than those that are purely service based. This is because they provide opportunities for education and value formulation as well as practical skills acquisition (Mgoqi 1992:132). I also believe such a value base has compelled development practitioners like Mgoqi to speak of a need for a vision. He spoke of a city on a hill in which we delight in each other, seek to make other's condition our own, rejoice together, labour and suffer together always having before our eyes, our community as members of the same body (Mgoqi 1992:132).
This is in addition to the opportunity of involving citizens' direct participation in the prioritisation of development projects. Here, I refer not only to the public hearings leading to consulting public members, but also to the recruitment of local young people who suffer from fading unemployment prospects. I am also referring, perhaps somewhat less obviously, to subcontracting emerging contractors thereby assuring their access to much needed capital, skills and experience and so on. The previous government has on several platforms been blamed and criticized for its development approach that emphasized the top down approach where many development projects failed to get community buy-in thus falling to realize their intended objectives in their initial stages.
The development of a strong public relations communication system
The local roads forum is viewed as encompassing a democratic strategy to enhance the participation and empowerment of individuals, communities and their organizations. This, according to DRPW is aimed at giving people greater control of making decisions involving their development needs. From the community development practitioner's point of view, the local roads forum approach can facilitate and enhance the communication channels. The free flow of information between institutions sends a message to the rest about what a particular institution is doing, how they are doing it, and why. Such a system invites support locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, in human and material resources. It also helps public image - building. It has the additional benefit of linking the institution with others locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Networking can only help organizations to be more effective and efficient.
The reinforcement of relations between th e stakeholders and the municipality
Stakeholders are intimately linked with local people. They are employers of local people in communities, making them an invaluable partner in local economic development efforts. Where there is a strong and structured cooperation between government and citizens more is achieved through joint efforts. Under a cooperative atmosphere, grass root structures could discover unprecedented opportunities for improving management and technical capabilities and could become more effective in increasing their assistance to their target constituencies. Government on the other hand, would be able to deliver its basic services to the people more efficiently. Despite challenges, stakeholders showed commitment to negotiating an effective and meaningful community engagement. This commitment, however, could not be taken for granted. Stakeholders have to be motivated, encouraged and treated with respect.
Conclusion
This article has highlighted that the creation of roads forum in local municipalities like Ngqushwa municipality is an indicator of the willingness of government to redress the socio-economic imbalances of the past. At the same time, it is also an expression of the frustrations and difficulties involved in achieving this. Nevertheless, the contribution of grassroots structures in enhancing democracy and development cannot be ignored. Available research seems to support the view that grassroots structures are essential contributors to the well being and vitality of communities. The existence of a cooperative relationship between community structures and municipal governments certainly facilitates democratic development through involving stakeholders at the micro level. This alone has the benefit of enabling many from among the poor and the dispossessed to have a say in decision making that affects their lives.
References: Mgoqi, Wallace, 1993, Building Institutions in South Africa. | Miller Bruce, 1995,The role of rural schools in community Development: policy issues and implications | Kim, Morgan, 2002. A framework for community participation in the planning, implementation monitoring and evaluation of development programmes at the local level | Department of Roads and Public Works Social Facilitators Manual, 2011.