Changing people, changing lives through public participation and social transformation: A south African case study of a rural development programme
Loading...
Date
2020
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Routledge
Abstract
During 2009, in what seemed to be a return to RDP-style thinking, the Comprehensive Rural
Development Programme (CRDP) was adopted nationally to tackle not only
underdevelopment, poverty, unemployment, and other social ills, but also to enable ‘rural
people to take control of their destiny’ with the support of ‘well-structured community
organisations’ called Council of Stakeholders (CoS). Most existing studies, however, tend to
devalue the CRDP, describing it as ill-conceived. This study investigated three Western Cape
wards in South Africa, finding that both governmental and non-governmental actors had a
less negative view and were actively trying to pursue a new form of co-operation. It is the
only programme that attempts to be truly intergovernmental and community-based. The
study’s results suggest that the CRDP can contribute to a deep process of change and
empowerment. This change, in turn, could contribute to desired larger-scale changes and
concerted collective action to drive development in locally appropriate ways.
Description
Keywords
Socio-economic development, Rural development programme, South Africa, Poverty, Unemployment
Citation
Roman, A., & Ruiters, G. (2020). Changing people, changing lives through public participation and social transformation: A South African case study of a rural development programme. 47(2), 253-268, 10.1080/02589346.2019.1697533