By late 2000, South African government had started witnessing changes in its different spheres of government. The system of local government was transformed
and a philosophy of community based planning (CBP) was introduced. Mangaung local municipality, in the Free State Province has always been recognized and
cited for championing this programme in South Africa. The implementation of community based planning in the country draws from the successful performance of
the programme in other countries on the Africa continent including Ghana, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Although CBP requires communities become active and get involved in managing their own development needs, the architects of the programme argue that a well
formulated and facilitated process also presents a golden opportunity to empower people, especially the rural poor to plan for themselves.

There are a number of reasons why CBP is advocated for but the major ones include:

• To improve the quality of plans.
• To improve the quality of services.
• To improve the community’s control over development.
• To increase community action and reduce dependency.

Since the central goal of community based planning is to enhance community participation, then, a set of community development structures take centre stage.
Community participation depends on the involvement of other stakeholders in community matters. Local government has the responsibility to mobilize and bring
different development actors in the community. This involves identifying community structures such as ward committees, community policing forums as well as
other development stakeholders including civil society organisations to discuss common problems and to provide space where people can raise issues that
affect them.

Other facilities and amenities such as the community halls, availability of public transport are key in increasing public participation. In addition, the
development and implementation of CBP relies heavily on the joint effort of local government, ward committees, civil society organisations as well as the
communities themselves. Of course, not all municipal governments succeed in implementing CBP due to resource constraints and the multiplicity of other needs.

The Koukamma Experience

Koukamma local municipality which falls under the jurisdiction of Cacadu district municipality is predominantly rural. The only major towns in the area
include Jourbertina, Kareedouw, krakeelrivier, Langkloof and Storms River. Villages in this municipality are isolated by vast distances from one another.
Koukamma is one of the rural municipalities that has rolled out its community based planning programme in all its five wards. It has effectively enabled a
kind of community participation that not only brings different development stakeholders together but also provides an opportunity for poor people to identify
and prioritise their development needs.

The focus on Koukamma is meant to provide an understanding of how rural municipalities especially in the Eastern Cape Province deal with the issue of public
participation and capacity building. Commentators on issues of local governance in South Africa appear to generally agree that municipalities are facing
serious challenges. In his analysis of local government for example, Atkinson (2007:53) observes that municipal governments “[especially in rural areas] are
facing severe strain in attempting to deal with poverty, unemployment, marginalized communities, urbanisation as well as HIV/AIDS”.

Active Community structures (community policing forum, rate payers associations, development forum, clinic committees, school governing bodies, stakeholders
forum etc) were a corner stone in the development of the ward based plans in Koukamma. These structures were particularly important in mobilizing residents
to take part in the community planning exercise. In addition, these structures formed the link between the community and the municipality. The visibility of
these structures had assumed the responsibilities of ward committees in dealing with the problems in the area. But what role do civil society organisations
(community based organisations, non governmental organisations, faith based organisations, etc) play in the area?

Civil Society Organisations In Koukamma

The significance of active community structures was evident in the improved security and low crime levels in the area. Indeed CSOs are generally among the
major development stakeholders that contribute effectively to community development. However, our recent visit to the Koukamma reveals that the role and
contribution of civil society organisations in the municipality is largely minimal or lacking altogether. A simple situational analysis of Koukamma local
municipality provides testimony to this observation.

From the historical point of view, Civil Society organisations played a key role in the mobilization of communities against the apartheid regime. The
separation of communities based on colour provided a fertile ground for civil society to mobilize for the construction of a democratic dispensation.
Concentrated in isolated settlements, civic organisations capitalized on the power of community gatherings. Organisers knew that they had little chance of
toppling the regime without community support. In support of this argument, analysts, for example, Ford Hellen (1987:109) agree that: Union gatherings were
regularly convened in areas controlled by indigenous authorities who were prepared to exploit the ambiguities of their situations.

For a CBP founded on community participation, the need for active, vibrant civil society organisations (CSOs) is even greater. For a ward based plan to be
legitimate, it depends on how well community members and community development stakeholders have engaged in the process of its formulation and development.
Without the civil society organisations, community participation is lacking key development building blocks for democratic participation in local government
processes. Rural areas are lacking a strong enterprising and diverse economy where people. This is because civic organisations operate with local resources
and are credited for being innovative and are capable of creating relationships between the community and the state leading to popular transformation.

The success of civil society organisations that was registered during the apartheid regime should also be put into context here. With the fall of apartheid,
community mobilization especially in rural areas appears to have waned. The dwindling funding opportunities are not helping matters either.
Development practioners are now left with more questions than available answers. For example, Soeker Ardiel (2002:13) wonders why:
It’s not a simple task, as it was under apartheid, for communities to conscientise, mobilize and organise themselves for change. The bread and butter issues
are the same health, jobs housing etc but the questions now are: who is the enemy, is rolling mass action or negotiations the way forward, and are we
standing in the way of development?

The demarcation and grouping of villages particularly in rural areas into tiny clusters and settlements has had another adverse developmental consequence in
rural communities. In Jourbertina and Tsitsikamma for example, villages are separated by vast distances from others even though they are in the same ward.
The isolation of communities is equally a blow especially to access to education. High school drop out rate has had its toll on the communities. So, besides
the feelings of marginalization by their local municipality, communities also feel neglected by CSOs.
There are, however, a few areas where community structures are very effective in Koukamma, for example, in ward 5 (Storms River village and the surrounding
areas). These have a history of excluding different sections of society such as; women and young people. However, in the recent past, civil society
organisations (CSOs) have been increasingly participating and contributing to the delivery of a wide range of social services.

CONCLUSION

The implementation of community based planning promises shared prosperity among the wards in our local municipalities but it has its own challenges. For
example the absence of key development stakeholders such as civil society organisations in rural municipalities strengthens the case to refocus debate on the
revival of the role of civil society in community/rural development. In fact, given the South African history of segregation, civic organisations are more
needed to help in entrenching democracy and strengthen community empowerment, now than ever before.

References: Soeker, Ardiel. 2002, Can we just sloganise and demand or should we offer alternatives? What is our role as civil society in the new South
African development? Ground work volume 4 (3) September, 2002 | Doreen Atkinson, 2007. Taking to the streets: Has developmental local government failed in
South Africa, in the state of the nation, Buhlungu Sakhela, Daniel John, Southall Roger and Lutchman Jessica