Public participation processes in local economic development initiatives. A case study of Mbhashe Local Municipality, Eastern Cape.

Abstract

Literature on public participation and local economic development (LED) shows that public participation is a contested subject and its success towards development is heavily determinant on several factors. Majority of local municipalities, if not all, in South Africa require research that will provide insights into the challenges of public participation processes on the success of the LED initiatives because there is little research that explores the current state of public participation in LED initiatives. In light of this, many authors acknowledge public participation significant for LED particularly in poverty reduction and employment creation. On the other hand, some researchers contrasted this idea and associate participatory arrangements with inequality and injustice due to the exploitation of local community people du ring the participation process. Be that as it may, this study presents an argument that public participation can lead to LED if the participants have the required capacity to do so, whereas in actuality, this is seldom in the South African public governance due to social, political, economic and other reasons. Using qualitative data from local communities, municipal officials and ward councillors, this study seeks to understand public participation processes applied on LED initiatives of Mbhashe Local Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa.This study is underpinned by the Arnstein’s Ladder of Citizen Participation.