An Assessment of the Impact of Local Economic Development in Mbhashe Local Municipality with Special Focus on Agricultural Projects

An assessment of the impact of Local Economic Development in Mbhashe Local Municipality with special focus on agricultural projects

Sicelo Mniki

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Development Studies at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

April 2013

Supervisor: Ms Elizabeth Saunders DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY

I hereby wish to declare that the work contained in this research project is my own original work, that all sources used or quoted have been acknowledged by means of complete references, and that this report was not previously submitted by me or any other person at any other university for a degree.

......

S. MNIKI DATE

I hereby cede copyright in favour of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

......

S. MNIKI DATE

DEDICATION

I wish to dedicate this achievement to my two children, Phumelela and Sinovuyo Mniki, who are the best thing that ever happened to me. This is for them, my children: “your pride in life should not be in never falling, but it should be in rising every time you fall”. This is an inspiration to them to rise above all the challenges and be the best that they can be in life.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly and foremost, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the Almighty for giving me the strength to overcome all the challenges that nearly derailed my ambitions.

Secondly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Ms Elizabeth Saunders, for the academic guidance and encouragement. I would like to say to her; “it was a blessing to have you as my academic mother, I have learnt so much from you”.

I would like to take this opportunity to extend my further gratitude to the following people who gave me all the necessary support to ensure that I emerge victorious in completing this project:  The LED Portfolio Head in Mbhashe, Councillor Jafta, for his support  The LED officer in Mbhashe, Ayanda Njili, for sharing his passion and information about the agricultural projects and for his dedication to assist.  Cwayita Mda from the Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform for her support.  Mbhashe IDP coordinator, Buyiswa Jafta, for ensuring that I get all the necessary IDP information for Mbhashe municipality  Freddie September and Nompucuko Sigwela from Statistics South Africa, for assisting with analysis of Census 2011.  All the chairpersons of the Farmers‟ Associations for ensuring that my meetings with farmers went well.  All the farmers from Ndakeni, Tswelelitye and Madwaleni villages who shared their experiences with me.  To my two sisters, Zuziwe and Nokubonga Mniki for their moral support.

iii

ACRONYMS

ADM Amathole District Municipality

ATFS Agrarian Transformation and Food Security

AREDS Amathole Regional Economic Development

DARD Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

DRDAR Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform

DEAT Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism

ECP Eastern Cape Province

EC PDOA Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Agriculture

GDP Gross Domestic Product

IDASA Institute for a Democratic Alternative for South Africa

IDP Integrated Develoment Plan

LED Local Economic Development

MDGs Mellenium Development Goals

MLM Mbhashe Local Municipality

MPF Maize Producing Farmers

MPP Maize Production Project

PGDP Provincial Growth and Development Plan

RDS Rural Development Strategy

SALGA South African Local Government Association

Stats SA Statistics South Africa

Table of Contents DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY ...... i DEDICATION ...... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...... iii ACRONYMS ...... iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 1 CHAPTER 1 ...... 3 1.1 Introduction and background to the study ...... 3 1.1.1 Background of the study area ...... 4 1.1.2 Main areas of focus in Local Economic Development (LED) strategy as part of Mbhashe‟s Integrated Development Plan (IDP) ...... 6 1.2 Problem statement ...... 7 1.3 Sub objectives ...... 8 1.4 Research questions...... 8 1.5 Significance of the study ...... 8 1.6 Research outline ...... 8 CHAPTER 2 ...... 10 2.1 Introduction ...... 10 2.2 Socio economic environment in South Africa ...... 10 2.3 The role of local government in socio economic development...... 11 2.4 Overview of national policy and legislative framework for Local Economic Development (LED) ...... 13 2.4.1 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996 ...... 13 2.4.2 White Paper on Local Government (1998) ...... 13 2.4.3 Local Government: Municipal Structures Act (1998) ...... 14 2.4.4 Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 ...... 15 2.4.5 IDP Legislative Framework ...... 16 2.4.6 LED Framework ...... 17 2.5 Provincial policy context for LED...... 17 2.5.1 Provincial Growth and Development Plan ...... 18 2.5.2 Siyazondla Homestead Food Production Project (SHFPP) ...... 18 2.5.3 Impact of the Provincial Growth and Development Plan (PGDP)...... 19 2.5.4 Rural Development Strategy for the Eastern Cape Province ...... 20 2.5.5 Amathole Regional Economic Development Strategy (AREDS) ...... 21 2.6 IDP and LED in Mbhashe Municipality ...... 21

CHAPTER 3 ...... 24 3.1 Introduction ...... 24 3.2 Research methodology ...... 24 3.2.1 The target population...... 24 3.2.2 The sample ...... 25 3.2.3 Research tools used and their advantages ...... 25 3.3 Data analysis ...... 26 CHAPTER 4 ...... 30 4.1 Introduction ...... 30 4.1.1 Gender of farmers in Mbhashe Municipality ...... 30 4.1.2 Age of farmers in Mbhashe municipality ...... 31 4.1.3 Farmers‟ level of education ...... 32 4.1.4 IDP consultation in Mbhashe ...... 33 4.1.5 Fulfilment of farmers‟ socio economic needs ...... 34 4.1.6 Farmer‟s expectations from their partnership with Mbhashe municipality .... 35 4.1.7 Fulfilment of farmers‟ expectations of the maize initiative ...... 36 4.1.8 Challenges identified by maize production farmers in Mbhashe ...... 38 4.1.9 Strategies to address maize production challenges ...... 39 4.1.10 Community benefits from the Maize Production Project (MPP) ...... 41 4.1.11 Employment of community members ...... 43 4.1.12 Measures suggested by Maize Producing Farmers (MPF) to ensure improved maize production and optimal implementation of the led project in Mbhashe ...... 44 4.2 Conclusion ...... 45 CHAPTER 5 ...... 46 5.1 Summary of research question, aim and objectives of the study ...... 46 5.2 Conclusions...... 46 5.3 Limitations of the study ...... 47 5.4 Recommendations ...... 48 5.5 Concluding comments...... 51 REFERENCES ...... 53

ANNEXTURES

ANNEXURE A: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR BENEFICIARIES ...... 57 ANNEXURE B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR COMMUNITY LEADERS ...... 62 ANNEXURE C: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR OFFICIALS ...... 65

vii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The need to achieve developmental local government in South Africa has necessitated that the municipalities and other government departments pay more attention to the poor so that they can be helped to live more fruitful lives and become the instruments for the growth of local economy. This study seeks to assess the impact of Local Economic Development (LED) initiatives in Mbhashe Local Municipality with special focus on the Maize Production Project (MPP). The areas of Mbhashe municipality that were included in the study include Ndakeni village near Dutywa, Tswele-litye near Willowvale and Madwaleni near Elliotdale.

The study followed both the qualitative and quantitative research approaches and the respondents were made up of a sample of MPP beneficiaries from the three areas mentioned above, Community Leaders and the Officials.

The objectives of the study were to identify MPP objectives, to identify challenges in the implementation of the MPP, to assess the availability of remedial measures and lastly, to assess whether the community has benefited from the maize production project or not.

Among others, the objectives of the MPP were to maximise maize production, to make profit, to create employment opportunities for the unemployed. Only 13 percent of the surveyed beneficiaries believe that their expectations of this initiative were fully met. The majority (two thirds) believe that their expectations were partly met, whilst one in five (20 percent) believe that their expectations were not met at all.

The MPP implementation challenges included delays caused by the municipal procurement processes, unfavourable climate conditions, poor service delivery by the appointed service providers who provide tractors, shortage of funds and late start for ploughing. Even though the remedial measures seem to be in place, the implementation and the communication of the strategies remains a big challenge. Furthermore a proportion of the respondents were unhappy with the public participation process that preceded the implementation of the project.

According to the findings, two thirds (67 percent) of the surveyed farmers believe that their communities have benefited from the MPP, although one third (33 percent) disagreed.

The challenges of an insufficient budget, procurement delays and late commencement of ploughing need to be addressed if the maize production initiative is to yield the desired results.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction and background to the study

Local government in South Africa has a key role to play in addressing the social and economic needs of communities while ensuring that the resource base upon which life depends is conserved and well managed (South Africa, DEAT, 2002).

The South African legislation on local government emphasizes that municipalities have a pivotal role of democratizing society and fulfilling a developmental role within the new dispensation. This implies that municipalities must have policies and institutional frameworks that support and sustain the development of local people. Such plans must be geared towards a progressive realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and fundamental rights of the people (IDASA, 2010).

According to Ceasar and Theron (1999:62), Integrated Development Planning (IDP) has been introduced to provide a framework for the developmental role of local government. These two authors justify their argument by stating that IDP is an all- inclusive plan within a municipality that ensures that all projects, activities and initiatives have been planned for. This argument is supported by the IDP Guide Pack 1 of 2001 where it stipulates that the central aims of IDP are to provide a holistic, integrated and participatory strategic plan guiding the work of the municipality. Phago (2004) seems to support the introduction of IDP when he refers to it as a planning initiative that seeks to ensure that current service delivery challenges are met by examining relevant modern systems and joint venture approaches.

The IDP identifies LED as a cross-cutting and interdisciplinary part of municipal operational planning (Malefane, 2005). According to Mosiane (1999), Local economic development represents a local sphere development process that involves the mobilisation and development of local resources. The same writer states that LED is stimulated by the need to tackle local economic and social problems and anticipates managing the processes of economic restructuring and it is part of the objectives for which municipalities have been established. It is further stated that

LED is one of the mechanisms available to achieve the goals of a better life for all (Haffajee, 2002; Ramafamba & Mears: 2011). Malefane, (2008:01), refers to the IDP and LED as power twins because it is difficult to discuss one without discussing the other and the two share the following common characteristics:  Strategic municipal interventions: By nature, the strategic characteristic of both interventions signify the essence of recognising the environment within which municipalities operate and the complex nature of the challenges municipalities are faced with (Malefane, 2008b).  Transformation/restructuring: both IDP and LED were ushered in to complement the transformation agenda of the new political dispensation.  Focus on development: both interventions are developmental in nature and orientation.  Consultative & multi-sectoral in orientation: both interventions recognise the need for collaboration, particularly in areas where capacity does not exist (SALGA, 2003).  Cross-cutting: both IDP and LED are not functions of a specifically designed municipal department, all the municipal departments have to carry out their objectives.

This study will evaluate the implementation of LED programmes as part of the IDP objectives aimed at improving the socio economic conditions of Mbhashe local municipality.

1.1.1 Background of the study area

Mbhashe municipality is one of the seven (7) local municipalities that fall under Amathole District Municipality (ADM) and it is situated in the south eastern part of the Eastern Cape Province.

Figure 1: Map of Amathole District Municipality

Mbhashe borders the following municipalities:  King Sabata Dalindyebo in the OR Thambo District Municipality in the north- east;  Ngcobo and NtsikaYethu Local Municipalities in the Chris Hani District Municipality to the north-west  Mnquma Local Municipality to the south-west

This municipality has earned the name from the Mbhashe-river which flows from the banks of Ngcobo flowing through Dutywa, Willowvale and Elliotdale. Mbhashe is made up of three towns which include Dutywa, Willowvale and Elliotdale. The head offices of Mbhashe Local Municipality (MLM) are located in Dutywa. The size of the area is 3030.47 km2and according to Stats SA (2007), the population of Mbhashe increased from 255 071 in 2001 to 262 008 in 2007. This represents an increase of

5 only about 1 000 people per year. The municipal area has been divided into 31 wards and there are 61 Councillors (Mbhashe Municipality IDP, 2011/2012).

1.1.2 Main areas of focus in Local Economic Development (LED) strategy as part of Mbhashe’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP)

According to Dyantyi (2012), the IDP strategy and priorities of Mbhashe local municipality are informed by the inputs obtained from community members as well as stakeholder consultations. Mbhashe local municipality‟s LED strategy was adopted by the council in March 2011 to achieve the following objectives among others:  Ensuring that the local investment climate is functional for local business;  Attracting investment nationally and internationally;  Supporting existing small and medium sized enterprises;  Investing in hard (physical) infrastructure;  Investing in soft infrastructure e.g. education and workforce development;  Supporting growth of selected business clusters;  Supporting informal and newly emerging businesses;  Targeting previously economic disadvantaged parts of the local area for growth;  Job creation through the combination of strategies and initiatives;  Ensuring sustainable use of resources;

Mbhashe municipality‟s IDP has identified tourism and agriculture as the main resources that are the key for local economic development. The main focus of this study will be on agriculture with special emphasis being given to the maize production project contained in Mbhashe 2011/2012 IDP document.

Presently, the municipality is in partnership with the farmers and their common goal is to increase maize production in the area of Mbhashe (Mbhashe Municipality IDP, 2011/2012).

According to the municipal LED officer for 2012, there are six villages that are involved in this project for the financial year 2011/2012 and a total of two villages were selected from each of the three towns of Mbhashe, namely: Willowvale (Nqadu and Tswelelitye villages), Dutywa (Ndakeni and Sheshegu villages) and Elliotdale

(Mphakama and Madwaleni villages). This partnership is twofold with farmers expected to contribute R500 each for the payment of the tractor driver and procurement of fuel. On the other hand, the municipality co-ordinates, provides fertilizer and seeds for ploughing. Each village was expected to cultivate one hundred (100) hectares of maize during 2011/2012 financial year (Mbhashe Municipality IDP, 2012/2017).

1.2 Problem statement

South Africa is characterised by inequitable growth and development and the demand for limited resources is ever increasing. The need for improved standards of living and access to better infrastructure has led to the introduction of Integrated

Development Planning (IDP) at the municipal level. The IDP looks at the economic and social development of the area as a whole. It aims to coordinate the work of the local government in a coherent plan to improve the quality of life for all the people living in an area (Befile, 2009).

According to Gaster (2003:07), the municipalities are the first door where people will knock when they need assistance from government and when they are frustrated with slow movement of service delivery.

In support of the above statement, IDASA (2010) argues that the effectiveness of good local governance needs to be judged by the capacity of local government structures to provide an integrated development approach to social and economic development issues and to supply essential services congruent with the needs and desires of the local communities. IDASA further argues that municipalities should be able to identify and prioritize local needs, determine adequate levels of services and allocate necessary resources to the public.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the implementation of Local Economic Development programmes as part of the IDP objectives of Mbhashe Local Municipality. The main focus will be on maize production which involves a budget allocation of R1 000 000 for the 2011/2012 financial year.

1.3 Sub objectives

 To identify LED objectives of Mbhashe Local Municipality as part of IDP priorities;  To evaluate the extent to which the farmers‟ expectations have been met;  To identify challenges in the implementation of the maize production project;  To identify strategies that have been put in place to address challenges;

 To assess whether the community has benefited from the maize production project or not. 1.4 Research questions

 What are the IDP objectives of Mbhashe Municipality that relate to Local Economic Development?  To what extent have the community expectations been met?  What are the challenges facing Mbhashe municipality in the implementation of the maize production project?  Which strategies are in place to address these challenges, if any?  Has the community benefited from the maize production project?

1.5 Significance of the study

The study aims to propose recommendations and strategies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of LED programmes in Mbhashe Municipality.

1.6 Research outline

The research paper will be divided into five chapters as follows:

 Chapter One covers background of the study area and research introduction such as, socio economic profile of the study area, the problem statement, the research questions, aims and objectives of the study, significance of the study and research outline.  Chapter Two will deal with literature review by discussing relevant terms and concepts in detail, general overview of Local Economic Development, statutory and legal framework within which LED operates, the Eastern Cape

socio-economic focus areas that are contained in the Provincial Growth and Development Plan (PGDP), socio economic analysis of Amathole District municipality and particularly in the Mbhashe Local Municipality and the review of relevant literature that relates to maize production.

 Chapter Three will outline the research methodology that will be followed and describe the tools and techniques that will be used for data collection, as well as methods of data analysis and interpretation.

 Chapter Four will deal with the presentation and analysis of the collected data.

 Chapter Five will cover conclusions based on discussions presented in the previous chapters, and also provide recommendations.

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

The Eastern Cape Province (ECP) is rated as the poorest province in the country, with a population of 6,562 053, an increase of 283 402 persons or 4.5% since 2001. This is compared to an increase of 3 093 390 (33.7%) in Gauteng since 2001. Between 2001 and 2011, 436 466 people left the ECP, whilst only 158 205 people migrated into the province, leading to net migration of 278 261 people. Census 2011 results show that almost 2 million people born in the Eastern Cape live in other provinces, with the majority living in Western Cape (0.9 million) and 0.5 million in Gauteng and the high rate of outflow from the province was attributed to a lack of economic activity within the Eastern Cape province. Approximately 19.4% of the Eastern Cape population have matriculated, 10.3% has no schooling whilst only 4.7% has higher education (Stats SA, 2011).

According to EC PDOA (2006-2009), low level of education can affect the individual‟s ability to contribute meaningfully in terms of community development.

This chapter provides a brief overview of the socio economic environment in South Africa and a detailed discussion of the socio economic challenges in the Eastern Cape Province. Local Economic Development from the perspective of Integrated Development plan will also be discussed with particular attention being given to Amathole District Municipality and Mbhashe Local Municipality. Relevant pieces of legislation as well policy frameworks designed to promote and support the development of local economies will also be given special attention in this chapter. Furthermore, the nature and meaning of Local Economic Development including its objectives will be discussed in detail.

2.2 Socio economic environment in South Africa

According to Mpengu (2010), in 1994 the ANC-led government inherited a country with a skewed economy where most of the crucial economic resources of the country were concentrated in urban areas. The same author argues that the concentration of

10 resources in urban areas has led to minimal growth taking place in rural areas where about 70% of the country‟s poorest people reside.

The need to tackle poverty in poor communities has necessitated that the government and world agencies pay more attention to the poor so that they can be helped to live more fruitful lives and become the instruments for the growth of democracy (Berg-Schlosser and Kesting, 2003). In pursuance of the above mentioned objective, the South African government has initiated policies and enacted laws that are aimed at improving the socio economic conditions of the poor (Aliber, 2002).

2.3 The role of local government in socio economic development

According to IDASA (2010), local government in South Africa has a key role to play in addressing the social and economic needs of communities while ensuring that the resource base upon which life depends is conserved and well managed. Meeting these responsibilities is especially demanding given the inequitable development patterns and the variety of environmental contexts that exist in the country (Mpengu, 2010).

The South African legislation on local government emphasizes that municipalities have a pivotal role of democratizing society and fulfilling a developmental role within the new dispensation. This implies that municipalities must have policies and institutional frameworks that support and sustain the development of local people. Such plans must be geared towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and promoting good governance (IDASA, 2010).

Developmental local government is intended to have a major impact on the daily lives of South Africans and should seek a new focus on improving the standard of living and quality of life of the people. This requires municipal officials to discharge their responsibilities with prudence and in an efficient, transparent, and accountable manner in order to promote good governance. Good governance entails the existence of efficient and accountable institutions and systems and entrenched rules that promote development and ensure that people are free to participate in, and be heard on, decisions and implementation thereof that directly affect their lives. For

11 democracy to materialize at the municipal level, citizens have to be given some role in these processes. This will lead to more accountability and responsiveness, and therefore the level of democracy will improve. It should be noted that the fundamental goal of a democratic system is citizen satisfaction. Therefore, the effectiveness of good local governance needs to be judged by the capacity of local government structures to provide an integrated development approach to social and economic development issues and to supply essential services congruent with the needs and desires of the local communities. In this regard, municipalities should be able to identify and prioritize local needs, determine adequate levels of services, allocate necessary resources to the public (IDASA, 2010).

The Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) are emphatic that local government should work towards the realization of basic socio-economic rights that contribute to human development. The argument advanced is that the contemporary focus on attainment of the MDGs constitutes a major shift in development thinking because it places improvement of the human conditions at the centre of world progress (IDASA, 2010).

In this regard local government has an obligation to work towards the realization of these goals. These goals are:  Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger;  Achieving universal primary education;  Promoting gender equality and empower women;  Reducing child mortality;  Improving maternal health;  Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases;  Ensuring environmental sustainability; and  Developing a global partnership for development

The South African government has developed various policies in an effort to ensure that the abovementioned MDGs and obligations are realized. An overview of policies and relevant legislative framework will be discussed next.

2.4 Overview of national policy and legislative framework for Local Economic Development (LED)

It is now necessary to place LED in its policy framework. The notion of developmental local government and the obligation of local government to promote socio-economic development were first mooted in the Constitution. The Local Government White Paper addressed this issue, after which various draft LED strategies were published for public comment. These culminated in the national LED Framework 2006-2011.

The provincial and local spheres of government are expected to interpret national policies and devise means of implementing these policies and strategies to achieve their goals. The next subheadings will briefly look at national pieces of legislation and relevant policy framework that are deemed relevant within the LED context.

2.4.1 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996

In South Africa the supreme law upon which all other laws are based is the national Constitution.The Constitution recognises local government as a distinctive sphere of government, and Section 152(1)(e) obliges local government to „encourage the involvement of communities and community organizations in the matters of local government‟. Section 153 mandates municipalities to `give priority to the basic needs of the community, and to promote the social and economic development of the community. The constitution further obliges the municipality to:  Structure and manage its administration, budgeting and planning processes to give priority to the basic needs of the community and to promote the social and economic development of the community;  Participate in development programmes of other spheres of government.

Therefore this study will also evaluate the extent of community involvement in local economic development within the area of study.

2.4.2 White Paper on Local Government (1998)

Four years after the publication of the RDP document, the new developmental role of local government was further articulated in the White Paper on Local Government,

13 which stressed that, the central responsibility of municipalities is to work together with local communities to find sustainable ways to meet their needs and improve the quality of their lives. In order to achieve developmental local government, local authorities are now expected to maximise both social development and economic growth and to help ensure that local economic and social conditions are conducive for the creation of employment opportunities (Nel&Binns, 2001: 10).

The same policy obliges local government to take a leadership role, to build social capital and to generate a sense of common purpose in finding local solutions for sustainability. In addition to the aforementioned responsibilities, local government is charged with promoting community empowerment and redistribution including the creation of employment opportunities to boost the local economy.

2.4.3 Local Government: Municipal Structures Act (1998)

Section 19 (1) of the abovementioned act provides that the municipality must, within its capacity, strive to achieve the objectives as set out in section 152 of the Constitution. Sub section (19) (2) further stipulates that a municipal council must annually review the following:  The needs of the community;  Its priorities to meet those needs;  Its processes for involving the community;  Its organisational and delivery mechanisms for meeting the needs of thecommunity;  Its overall performance in achieving the objectives referred to in subsection (1).

Sub section 19 (3) of the same act obliges the municipality to develop mechanisms to consult the community and community organisations in performing its functions and exercising its powers.

The Structures Act provides that local municipalities are expected to promote economic and social development in their areas of jurisdiction. Most importantly, the Act mandates district councils to assist local municipalities falling under their jurisdiction through integrated development planning, bulk infrastructural development, capacity development and the equitable distribution of resources.

2.4.4 Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000

In terms of the Municipal Systems Act, each and every municipality must develop and adopt a single inclusive strategic plan for its development, which must be aligned with the plans of the surrounding municipalities and other spheres of government. The same Act provides for the core principles, mechanisms and processes that are necessary to enable municipalities to move progressively towards the social and economic upliftment of local communities. This piece of legislation further provides for the following among others:  Community participation;  Establishment of a simple and enabling framework for the core processes of planning, performance management, resource mobilisation and organisational change which underpin the notion of developmental local government;  A framework for local public administration and human resource development;  Empowerment of the poor by ensuring that municipalities put in place service tariffs and credit control policies that take their needs into account;  Establishment of a framework for support, monitoring and standard setting by other spheres of government in order to progressively build local government into a frontline development agency capable of integrating the activities of all spheres of government for the overall social and economic upliftment of communities in harmony with their local natural environment.

Binza (2009:249) supports the purpose of the Systems Act when he states that, it is the responsibility of the municipality to create an enabling environment for partnerships to flourish in its area of jurisdiction through continuous training and development including coaching and mentoring system. The same author argues that the municipality should aim to improve the human capacity in order to ensure LED initiatives and programmes are managed effectively and efficiently.

According to Mpengu (2010), the Systems Act spells out the same powers and duties as detailed in the Structures Act and obligates municipalities to undertake developmentally orientated planning, requiring municipalities to develop „Integrated Development Plans‟. The same Act clearly provides the mandate for participatory governance in local government affairs and development matters.

2.4.5 IDP Legislative Framework

In terms of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000, each and every municipality must develop and adopt a single, inclusive and strategic plan for its development, which must be aligned with the plans of surrounding municipalities and other spheres of government. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996 states that a municipality must:  Structure and manage its administration and budgeting and planning processes to give priority to the basic needs of the community and to promote the social and economic development of the community; and  Participate in national and provincial development programmes.

This strategic process to guide the development in a municipality is the Integrated Development Planning (IDP). IDP refers to a participatory planning process aimed at integrating sectoral strategies, in order to support the optimal allocation of scarce resources between sectors and geographic areas and across the population in a manner that promotes sustainable growth, equity and the empowerment of the poor and the marginalized (Planact, 2001).

The Constitution and the Municipal Systems Act clearly stipulates that the municipality must mobilise the involvement and commitment of its stakeholders by establishing an effective participatory process.

According to Befile (2009:29), the main purpose of IDPs is therefore, to enhance service delivery and fight poverty through an integrated and aligned approach between different roleplayers and stakeholders. IDP has six broad roles to play, namely:  To provide a strategic framework for municipal management, budgeting, delivery and implementation;  To ensure political accountability and continuity;  To facilitate interaction, engagement, communication and the building of alliances;  To transform local government into a vehicle for development;  To promote socio-economic development;

 To help municipalities devise holistic strategies for alleviating poverty and creating livelihoods (South Africa, DPLG, 2000).

2.4.6 LED Framework

Local Economic Development (LED) is a process by which public, business and non- governmental sector partners work collectively to create better conditions for economic growth and employment generation.

The purpose of LED is to build up the economic capacity of local areas to improve their economic future and the quality of life for the community (Swinburnet al, 2006).

The primary objectives of the national LED Framework are as follows:  To shift towards a more strategic approach to the development of local economies.  To support local economies in realising their optimal potentials and making local communities active participants in the economy of the country.  To elevate the importance and centrality of effectively functioning local economies in growing the national economy.  To use local level debates, strategies and actions to wage the national fight against poverty more effectively.  To improve community access to economic initiatives, support programmes and information.  To improve the coordination of economic development planning and implementation across government and between government and non- governmental actors.  To improve awareness about the role of localities and regions as points of investment facilitated by supportive national policies (South Africa, DPLG, 2006-2011).

2.5 Provincial policy context for LED

It is necessary to provide the policy context for local economic development in the Eastern Cape Province. The policies are guided in the first instance by the Provincial Growth and Development Plan. Agricultural initiatives are guided both by the PGDP (such as the Siyazondla Homestead Food Production Project) and the provincial

Rural Development Strategy.These policies in turn inform the strategies of the district and local municipalities.

2.5.1 Provincial Growth and Development Plan

In 2004 the government of the Eastern Cape published the Provincial Growth and Development Plan (PGDP). This plan was intended to serve as an overarching framework for socio-economic development planning for the decade starting from 2004 to 2014. The main aim was to provide a stimulus for transformation and to ensure realisation of this dream, six core objectives were set, namely: agricultural transformation, poverty eradication, manufacturing diversification, infrastructure development, transforming the public sector and developing human resources. These six “pillars” of the PGDP provided the foundation for 27 associated programmes.

The PGDP focuses on increasing agricultural production, incomes and employment among the poorest households, particularly in the former “homelands” under Agrarian Transformation and Food Security (ATFS) goal. This plan also suggests that programmes need to be clustered around three areas of intervention, namely:  Promoting food security through expanded smallholder production;  Expanding the asset base of the poor through effective land tenure reform;  Increasing the use of land for commercial agriculture in the former homelands, especially through ownership and institutional mechanisms that benefit the poorest households.

The programmes associated with the agriculture pillar are the MFP initiative, the Siyazondla Homestead Food Production Project, the comprehensive nutrition programme and the integrated agricultural infrastructure support programme.

2.5.2 Siyazondla Homestead Food Production Project (SHFPP)

The maize production initiative which is the main focus of this study, is aligned with the Siyazondla project which aims to support the production of nutritional food in rural and urban homestead gardens, meeting immediate needs while strengthening household livelihoods and laying the foundation for livelihood diversification and

18 enhanced economic exchange. According to the PGDP (2009), the aim of Siyazondla is not only to improve nutrition levels and strengthen household food supply, but also to support surplus production where possible and feasible (Eastern Cape Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, 2010).

2.5.3 Impact of the Provincial Growth and Development Plan (PGDP)

According to IDASA (2010), the desired impact in terms of improving the lives and the wellbeing of people of the Eastern Cape has not yet been achieved. This reality manifests itself through the number of service delivery protests by citizens across the province. Although provincial economic growth has been robust over the past several years, this growth has not benefited the poor fundamentally by contributing to job creation and poverty reduction. This is confirmed by the community survey conducted by Stats SA (2007) and further confirmed by the Census 2011 results where growth seem to be concentrated in sectors that employ skilled labour and showing a decline in sectors that have the potential to employ large amounts of unskilled people, such as agriculture.

According to Sangoni (2009), nearly seven out of 10 people were still living in poverty during his term in the office as the Premier of the Eastern Cape. This is confirmed in the PGDP report (2009) where it is stated that various factors contributed to the lack of progress on PGDP targets. The contributing factors will be explained in the next paragraph as follows:  Policy environment: the absence of an overarching, integrated medium-to- long range national development strategy had a detrimental effect on the implementation of the PGDP and the efficacy of intergovernmental coordination.  Resources: lack of adequate funding and inadequate technical resources contributed in retarding development progress.  Implementation: the weakness of the PGDP is not in its underlying strategy, it is in the lack of adequate capacity within the public sector.  Leadership: the PGDP is not seen as the central enabling framework to which all initiatives must align. At the level of political leadership, the PGDP has no champion (PGDP, 2009).

To address the abovementioned challenges, President Zuma noted in his inauguration speech, that the government should not rest as long as rural people are unable to support themselves from the land. His statement was later supported by the Eastern Cape Premier, NoxoloKiwiet in her inauguration speech when she promised that the Eastern Cape government would intensify its rural development initiatives by implementing state-facilitated agricultural and agro-processing programmes aimed at creating decent work and addressing food security.

The intensification of development initiatives as was suggested by the Premier, led to the development of the Eastern Cape Rural Development Strategy which will be briefly discussed under the next sub-heading.

2.5.4 Rural Development Strategy for the Eastern Cape Province

The Rural Development Strategy (RDS) defines the rural agenda for the Eastern Cape, and sets down a series of objectives and associated programmes. It also outlines the necessary enabling environment for rural development and suggests a number of institutional and funding mechanisms for successful implementation (Eastern Cape Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, 2010).

The purpose of RDS is to provide a framework for the improvement of rural areas and of the quality of life of rural people, as well as the exploitation of the comparative advantage of rural areas. RDS is driven by a growing recognition that past and present rural development initiatives have not translated into concrete delivery within rural localities with adequate scale and impact.

Among other key elements, the RDS aims to address the following:  Food security:Indigenous knowledge systems need to be combined with modern technology to optimally fulfil household food needs and allow excess capacity to be used for job creation.  Agricultural production and its multipliers:Rural development is believed to have a multiplier effect on the rest of the economy. This view was confirmed by a World Bank study on Latin America and the Caribbean when it reported that one percent growth on agricultural Gross Domestic Product

(GDP) was found to be associated with 0.12 % growth in non-agricultural production (DARD, 2010)

2.5.5 Amathole Regional Economic Development Strategy (AREDS)

According to Bovu (2011), Amathole Regional Economic Development Strategy focuses on enabling local municipalities to own, regulate and manage the available land and buildings within their jurisdictions and to use them as sites where economic activities can take place.

The strategy proposes eight strategic interventions namely, to:  Facilitate the development of the priority economic sectors within the ADM, by utilizing all resources at its disposal including sector development interventions being driven by other spheres of Government;  Facilitate connectivity between different municipalities, different interests and stakeholders;  Develop the infrastructural capacity of the ADM and ensure an enabling spatial framework by utilizing inter alia, local municipal assets;  Develop “and deploy” a marketing strategy for the ADM‟s Tourism products;  Create an enabling environment for business development and growth;  Manage the natural resources and state assets with the assistance of other spheres of government in a manner that ensures the long-term transformation and sustainability of the economy;  Promote the development of the pro-poor economy;  Assist with developing the human resource and skills base of the people of the ADM (AREDS, 2008-2010)

2.6 IDP and LED in Mbhashe Municipality

 Supporting existing small and medium sized enterprises;  Investing in hard (physical) infrastructure;  Investing in soft infrastructure e.g. education and workforce development;  Supporting growth of selected business clusters;  Supporting informal and newly emerging businesses;  Targeting previously economic disadvantaged parts of the local area for growth;  Job creation through the combination of strategies and initiatives;  Ensuring sustainable use of resources;

Mbhashe municipality‟s IDP (2011/2012) entails various agricultural development projects that were prioritised for 2011/2012 financial year, including the following:  Maize production;  Vegetable production;  Livestock improvement;  Poultry;  Citrus fruit

Among other crops/grains, maize is being used the most by the households and for that reason it is regarded as the staple food of the Mbhashe community. (Mbhashe Municipality IDP, 2011/2012).

According to the Mbhashe draft IDP (2012- 2017), maize production project is done in a way which does not collide with the Department of Agriculture‟s massive production programme. The programme is called “SILIMILE” and farmers from six (6) villages of Mbhashe participated during the 2011/2012 financial year. According to the same document, the farmers are in partnership with the municipality with the common goal of increasing maize production as indicated in chapter 1.

In this partnership farmers are expected to contribute R500 each for the payment of tractor driver and procurement of fuel. On the other hand, the municipality co- ordinates, provides fertilizer and seeds for ploughing. Each village is expected to cultivate one hundred (100) hectares of maize during 2011/2012 financial year.

The next chapter will focus on the methodology that will be used to obtain information on Mbhashe “SILIMILE” (maize production initiative) project. The

22 collected information will be utilized to assess whether Mbhashe municipality and its community benefited from the maize production project

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter explains a combination of research methodologies that will be used in assessing the impact of LED in the Mbhashe Local Municipality.

The sampling techniques, research instruments or tools that will be used to collect data will be explained in detail.

3.2 Research methodology

For the purpose of this study, mixed research approaches will be used. This means that the study will follow both the qualitative and quantitative research approaches.

Mixed method research is commonly defined as a research method that combines elements of both qualitative and quantitative research approaches, for in-depth understanding and verification (Creswell, 2003). It offers better generality and particularity, as well as magnitude and dimensionality (Greene, 2008). It is inclusive, pluralistic, and complementary and it also encourages an assortment of approaches to the selection of methods and thinking and the actual conducting of the research (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004). The mixed methods approach therefore intensifies the effect and enriches the adaptability of the research design (Gilbert, 2006).

The reason for the use of the mixed methods approach is to gain a better understanding of the problem through the strength provided by the combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches (Creswell, 2003).

3.2.1 The target population

Bless and Higson-Smith (2000) defines the target population as the set of elements that the researcher focuses upon and to which the results obtained by testing the sample should be generalized.

In this study the target population consisted of beneficiaries of the maize production project from Dutywa, Willowvale and Elliotdale. The views of the relevant Traditional

Leaders, Councillors and officials will be included to get more information about the maize production project.

3.2.2 The sample

Welman and Kruger (2001:46) state that if the size of the population makes it impractical and uneconomical to involve all the members in the population. It is necessary to obtain a sample of research participants that best represent the population.

Purposive or judgemental sampling was used to obtain this sample. Purposive sampling uses the judgement of an expert in selecting cases or it selects cases with a specific purpose in mind (Neuman, 2003:213). The researcher selected fifteen beneficiaries of the maize project respondents who are specifically informative on the subject.

To this end, fifteen beneficiaries of the maize production project were selected from the three wards in Dutywa, Willowvale and Elliotdale. This was followed by selecting the nearest village to town from each ward, namely Ndakeni near Idutywa, Tswelelitye near Willowvale and Madwaleni villages near Elliotdale. The nearest villages to town were selected for two reasons, namely; to cut the costs due to limited budget for this research project and secondly, the nearest villages to town are easily accessible and the terrain of the furthermost villages in Mbhashe municipality is bad.

The views of relevant Traditional Leaders, Councillors and officials were also included to get more information about the maize production project for the purposes of triangulation. In order to ensure proportionate representation, five beneficiaries were selected from each sampled village of the three mentioned above.

3.2.3 Research tools used and their advantages

Research tools that will be used in this study include questionnaires, structured interviews and document analysis. These tools will be briefly explained under the sub-headings as follows:

 Questionnaire and structured interviews Allison et al (1996) claims that an interview is a good way to gain insight into the meanings, interpretations, values and experiences of the interviewee and his or her world. Gubrium and Holstein (1999) also declare that interviews are dynamic conversations where meanings are “cooperatively built up” by both interviewees and interviewers, conveyed by the interviewees as well as received, interpreted and recorded by the interviewers.

In this study, a questionnaire with open ended and closed questions was used to ensure that all the above-mentioned research questions were adequately covered. Befile (2009:52) suggests that researchers should use fewer open- ended questions, because they are more time consuming to complete and difficult to analyze. The questionnaire, for the purpose of this study, is designed to have fully structured closed statements or questions.

Befile states that the advantages of closed statements or questions are that the results of the investigation become available fairly quickly, that respondents understand the meaning of the statements better, responses can be compared better with one another, and answers are easy to code and analyse.

Three questionnaires have been designed for this study including a questionnaire for the beneficiaries, Community Leaders and a third one for Officials.

 Document analysis The documents that were used to collect information include but not limited to the following: Provincial Growth and Development Plan, Eastern Cape Rural Development Strategy, Amathole District Municipality Economic Development Strategy, Amathole District Municipality IDP, Mbhashe Municipality IDP and relevant legislation.

3.3 Data analysis

Coded and uncoded data collected from the participants was summarized as statistics using the SPSS programme and excel. The analysed data will be

26 presented in Chapter 4 by using Excel computer software to produce tables, pie charts and histograms as suggested by Mouton (2001).

Descriptive statistical analysis was used to analyze the data and that was done in the form of percentages and frequencies of occurrence supported by documented evidence from the available literature.

CHAPTER 4

ANALYSIS OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

4.1 Introduction

This chapter will focus on the overall analysis of the research results for the Mbhashe municipality maize production project. All the questions covered in the questionnaire for beneficiaries will be analysed briefly but more attention will be given to those that will contribute more towards answering the research questions. The researcher will justify his research findings by making reference to the literature study and by getting more information from the new sources whenever possible.

The research findings from the interviews with community leaders and officials will be used to enhance the credibility of the findings through triangulation. The last part of the chapter will focus on the challenges facing the maize production project and the remedial measures which were proposed by the respondents.

4.1.1 Gender of farmers in Mbhashe Municipality

Figure 2: Participation in the maize initiative by gender

The above pie chart depicts that 93% out of the fifteen farmers who participated in this study were males whilst only 7% were females. According to the officials involved in the project, females are more interested in vegetable production and

30 poultry farming than in maize production. The LED officer believes that gender participation for Mbhashe LED initiatives is well balanced and it is influenced by the interests of the participants.

Based on the findings from both the beneficiaries and the officials, it can be argued that 7% participation by women in maize production should not be construed as lack of female participation in broader LED initiatives.

4.1.2 Age of farmers in Mbhashe municipality

Figure 3: Age distribution of surveyed Mbhashe maize farmers

The above age distribution depicts the outcome of a random sample from the Mbhashe maize farmers. It shows that 53% of the respondents are at the age of 61 and above whilst 40% is between the ages of 41 and 60. Only 7% of farmers range between 31 and 40 years of age. According to the LED officer, this pattern of older farmers is common throughout the municipal area. The LED officer cited two possible reasons for this, firstly; young people lack interest in maize production. Secondly, the older farmers are land owners whilst the youth lacks access to land and thirdly, the old farmers are the more experienced in farming than the youth. In support of this view, PDOA (2006-2009) states that the average age of the experienced farmers in the Eastern Cape is very high and there is insufficient participation by youth in agriculture.

Based on this finding, the municipality and the community leaders need to join hands to find a way of maximising the participation of young people in agricultural projects.

For this desired outcome to be achieved, young people may have to be given the opportunity to choose agricultural projects that they find interesting.

4.1.3 Farmers’ level of education

Figure 4: Education levels of surveyed farmers(The lower axis refers to the level of education)

The above figure shows that one quarter (26.6%) of the farmers have never been to school whilst farmers with education standards of 1-5 and STD 6 to 7 accounts for 53.2% of the farmers‟ sampled population (26.6%+26.6%).

Mbhashe Municipality IDP (2012-2017) reveals that 26, 8% of adult population have not attained any formal schooling. It is therefore not surprising that a similar proportion have no formal schooling and that the majority of farmers have not gone above standard 7 in terms of the education level.

Therefore the municipality needs to design a training programme that will be at the level of the farmers‟ education standard. The training of farmers who have never been to school may become a serious challenge that the municipality or the department of agriculture will have to address. If an external service provider is appointed to conduct the farmers‟ training, the terms of reference should provide guidelines on how the level of education issue should be handled.

On the positive side, Census 2011 has revealed that there has been some improvement in levels of education for the black Africans in the Eastern Cape Province. According to Stats SA (2011), the number of Black Africans in the Eastern

Cape with no schooling has dropped from 24% in 1996 to 22% 2001. The latest Census 2011 results show further improvement as the rate has dropped to 10.5% (Stats SA, 2011).

4.1.4 IDP consultation in Mbhashe Number of There was good IDP consultation Percentage respondents at the village/ward level

2 Strongly disagree 13.3

5 Disagree 33.3

6 Agree 40

2 Strongly agree 13.3

Total = 15

Table 1: Shows the perceptions of maize farmers about IDP consultation

The above table shows that just over one half (53%) of Mbhashe farmers agree that their communities were consulted by the municipality during the IDP review process. On the other hand, almost the same proportion (47%) feels that there was no consultation.

It is interesting to note that three out five farmers who are not happy about the IDP consultation are from Ndakeni village, which is the closest village to the Mbhashe municipal offices. In the other two villages, four out five farmers confirmed that communities were consulted during the IDP review process.

Contrary to the above argument, only one out of four community leaders who were interviewed agreed that there was extensive consultation during the IDP review. It may therefore be argued that there is general dissatisfaction on the part of the Traditional Leaders as far as the issue of IDP consultation is concerned. This may be an indication that there is room for improvement in terms of IDP consultation in Mbhashe.

According to Ceasar and Theron (1999), Integrated Development Planning (IDP) is an all-inclusive plan within a municipality that ensures that all projects, activities and initiatives have been planned for. This argument is supported by the IDP Guide Pack 1 of 2001 when it stipulates that the central aims of IDP are to provide a holistic,

33 integrated and participatory strategic plan guiding the work of the municipality. Phago (2004) seems to support this view when he refers to the IDP as a planning initiative that seek to ensure that current service delivery challenges are addressed.

Poor IDP consultation may lead to irrelevant services being delivered to the communities hence it becomes very important for the community members to be given an opportunity through consultation to voice their priorities. The LED Portfolio Councillor (LPC) in Mbhashe argued that IDP consultation is not the only tool that the municipality uses to engage the communities. He mentioned Community Based Planning (CBP) as one of the engagement tools used in Mbhashe to interact with the communities.

4.1.5 Fulfilment of farmers’ socio economic needs

Figure 5 shows that 60% of the farmers believe that Mbhashe municipality meets their socio economic needs and 40% do not agree. The fact that 60% of farmers agree that Mbhashe municipality met their socio economic needs is commendable. However, 40% who disagreed indicates that there is still a room for improvement.

Figure 5: Perceptions of the farmers whether Mbhashe Municipality meets their socio-economic needs

On the other hand, the responses from three out of four community leaders who were interviewed show that only few socio economic needs have been met so far and most of the needs are yet to be addressed. According to IDASA (2010),

34 developmental local government is intended to have a major impact on the daily lives of South Africans and should continuously seek new ways for improving the standard of living and quality of life of the people.

4.1.6 Farmer’s expectations from their partnership with Mbhashe municipality

After obtaining information about the expectations of the farmers from the maize production project, it was necessary to find out what the objectives of the project were in order to establish correlation between the two.

The feedback from the Portfolio Councillor and the LED Officer revealed that the objectives of the maize production project in Mbhashe include the following:  To promote sustainable livelihoods within Mbhashe by encouraging the farmers to produce for themselves. According to the Porfolio Councillor, their role as Mbhashe municipality is to create conducive environment for farmers to maximise agricultural production.  To promote local processing of agricultural production including maize. The municipality aims to achieve this by procuring grinding machines for the maize farmers;  To maximise maize production so that farmers can sell the surplus in the local market.  To create job opportunities  To alleviate poverty;

Madwaleni village (Near Ndakeni (Near Dutywa) Tswelelitye (Near Elliotdale) Willowvale)

To get enough maize To get fertilizer, weed killer To get fertilizer, weed killer production for selling and to chemical and tractors from chemical, fertilizer and earn profit; the municipality; seeds from the municipality

To get enough maize to Fencing of the mealie fields; It was expected that the feed poultry and livestock; municipality would buy

tractors and a maize grinding machine for the farmers

To address poverty; To be assisted to get To be advised on how to enough maize for both

consumption and selling; increase maize production

To get fencing, seed and to get enough support and To get high quality maize ferilizer from the technical guidance from the that can be sold to the local municipality; municipality; markets at a reasonable price

To get the support from the Farmers expect to be paid To be given high quality municipality for at least for fencing breed seed and be given three years the opportunity to choose the type of fertilizer suitable for the land type

Table 2: Farmers expectations of their partnership with the municipality

The White Paper on Local Government (1998), explains developmental local government to be, “the local government committed to working with citizens and groups within the community to find sustainable ways to meet their social, economic and material needs and improve the quality of their lives”.

The above statement clearly shows that community involvement in municipal planning process cannot be over emphasized as that will assist in ensuring that there is correlation between the objectives of the project and the expectations of the community members including maize farmers. This argument gives rise to the following question: Were farmers‟ expectations met? The answer to this question is discussed under the next subheading.

4.1.7 Fulfilment of farmers’ expectations of the maize initiative

Given the farmers‟ expectations, it was important to measure the extent to which these expectations were met by the maize initiative.

Figure 6: The perceptions of the farmers about the fulfilment of their expectations

Figure 6 indicates that only 13% agree that their expectation were fully met. The majority of farmers, namely two thirds (67%), believe that their expectations were met only partly. One in five of the farmers (20%) believe that their expectations were not met at all.

The 20% of the farmers whose expectations were not met come from Ndakeni village near Dutywa. There seems to be a lot of dissatisfaction in Ndakeni village about the maize production project. The main complaint was about the lack of support by the municipality. The Ndakeni farmers are also not happy about not being paid for fencing the mealie fields. However, when they were asked by the researcher why they want to be paid for fencing their own mealie fields, they argued that it is the municipality‟s responsibility to employ people for fencing.

Partnership means two parties meeting each other halfway, not the municipality doing everything for farmers. It is important to educate the farmers about what Local Economic Development (LED) means and about their role as partners with the municipality and the Department of Agriculture. During the consultation and planning phases, each party‟s roles and responsibilities should be clearly set out to prevent expectations that were not intended.

4.1.8 Challenges identified by maize production farmers in Mbhashe

Even though the objectives of the maize production project were partly met, the findings reveal that there were lot of challenges in the implementation phase. The consolidated findings from the farmers of the visited areas reveal that the maize farmers were confronted by the following challenges:  Ploughing starts very late e.g. January to March It is supposed to start in October/November with December being the latest;  Resolutions taken at the meetings between Mbhashe municipal officials, department of agriculture officials, the Community Leaders (CL) and the farmers are not implemented;  Appointed service providers bring malfunctioning tractors which delays progress  Lack of fencing for the mealie fields;  Lack of irrigation facilities;  Too much rain damages maize;  Poor attendance of meetings by the Farmers ;  Shortage of the fertilizer. Sometimes farmers have to get it from other villages;  The soil was never analysed to determine the type of seed and fertilizer that will be required;  Lot of maize was eaten and destroyed by the wild and domestic animals due to lack of fencing;  Late arrival of tractors for ploughing  Shortage of seeds, tractors and chemicals;  Reduced yield as a result of ploughing late;  Poor monitoring of the service providers.

On the other hand, the maize production challenges identified by Mbhashe Municipality in the IDP seem to be partly congruent with the challenges identified by farmers. The municipality identified the following challenges:  Poor management of tractors make it difficult for farmers to access them;  Major infrastructural backlogs as most of the areas are not fenced, more especially in the Elliotdale area where terrain is the worst in Mbhashe municipality.

 Along the Mbhashe and Nqabara rivers there are valleys which are suitable for maize production, but the limitation is extreme bad conditions of road making it difficult to reach the ploughing fields by an auto-mobile.  Limited funding for the roll-out of the proposed programme in the next few years and making the programme sustainable.  Shortage of markets for the produce (Mbhashe IDP, 2012-2017)

According to the feedback obtained from the Community Leaders and the Officials, other challenges that were faced by the maize production project include the following:  Unfavourable climate conditions;  Poor service delivery by the appointed service providers;  Shortage of funds;  Lack of co-operation between stakeholders including poor attendance of meetings by farmers;  Delays caused by the municipal procurement processes;  Shortage of tanks for maize storage;

4.1.9 Strategies to address maize production challenges

Given these challenges that were identified by the respondents, it was important to assess whether the Mbhashe Municipality had strategies in place to address the challenges facing the maize farmers.The question was first put to the farmers and then to the Municipal officials and the Community Leaders.

Figure 7: Perceptions on availability of strategies to address maize production challenges

The above figure shows that only 20% of farmers agree that there are strategies in place to address maize production challenges. On the other hand, 80% of farmers believe that the municipality does not have strategies in place to address their challenges. They cited the common challenge of starting ploughing very late as a challenge that has been reoccurring over the years and accused the municipality and the Department of Agriculture of failing to address it.

Contrary to the views of the beneficiaries, the Councillors and the Officials unanimously agreed that there are strategies in place whilst the Traditional Leaders were not sure if there are any strategies in place. According to the municipalities‟ IDP (2012-2017), the municipality does have strategies in place to address the challenges that the farmers face.

Based on the mixed responses received from the Community Leaders, beneficiaries, officials and the information derived from the IDP; it can be argued that, the strategies to address the challenges are in place and the challenge is at the implementation level. The challenge at the implementation level has manifested itself through the number of farmers (80%) who do not even believe that there are any strategies to address their challenges. The Portfolio Councillor also cited communication as a major problem that impedes progress in the implementation of the LED strategy.

4.1.10 Community benefits from the Maize Production Project (MPP)

The maize production project was a major LED initiative and that it was important to assess whether the three communities had benefited from the initiative. The pie chart below depicts the farmers‟ perceptions about community benefits from the maize production project

Figure 8: Feedback from farmers on whether the communities benefited or not from the project

According to IDASA (2010), the effectiveness of good local governance needs to be judged by the capacity of local government structures to provide an integrated development approach to social and economic development issues and to supply essential services congruent with the needs and desires of the local communities.

According to the findings, two thirds or 67% (27%+40%) of Mbhashe farmers believe that their communities have benefited in the following ways from the maize production project:  Increased maize production;  Farmers sell maize to the community members at a cheaper price;  Farmers usually ask community members to assist them and they give them maize in return;

 Employment of casual labour;  Grinding machines have been procured to process maize;  Farmers have been capacitated.

The abovementioned community benefits were also confirmed by the officials and by the community Leaders.

In contrast to the above findings, 33% of farmers argue that, only farmers who take part in the maize production project benefit and not the community. This group of farmers believe that their production is only sufficient for their own consumption and other community members get no benefits. According to the PGDP (2009), the aim of Maize Production Project (MPP) is not only to improve nutrition levels and strengthen household food supply, but also to support surplus production where possible and feasible.

The following table shows a breakdown of farmers‟ responses on whether the communities benefit from the maize initiative, according to their areas:

Respondents Madwaleni ( near Tswelelitye (near Ndakeni (near Elliotdale) Willowvale) Dutywa)

1 Yes no no

2 Yes partly partly

3 Partly partly no

4 Yes partly no

5 Yes partly no

Table 3: Perceptions on community benefits from the maize project, by sample area

The above table shows that the majority of farmers who claim that their communities did not benefit are from Ndakeni near Dutywa. The community members in Tswelelitye seem to have partly benefited according to the Farmers‟ responses. It seems from the above table that the area where the maize production project was most successful is Elliotdale.

According to Mbhashe municipality‟s IDP (2012-2017), the soil depth in Willowvale and Elliotdale is more suitable for maize production than Dutywa area. However, the

42 farmers from Dutywa area also complain about the lack of support from the Department of Agriculture and the municipality.

4.1.11 Employment of community members

Employment creation is an important aspect of LED. The respondents were thus asked how many people apart from the beneficiary were employed on the maize farms.

Figure 9: Number of community members employment in the MPP

The above figure shows that the majority (two-thirds or 67%) of farmers did not employ any community members for the maize production project. Only 33% of farmers (13%+13%+7%) managed to employ a few community members.

According to Census 2011 results, unemployment rate has increased in the Eastern Cape to 37% and LED projects are supposed to be used as a tool to reduce this astronomical unemployment rate, not only in Mbhashe municipality but in the Eastern Cape Province as a whole.

According to Mpengu (2010), the aim of LED is to create employment opportunities for local residents, alleviate poverty and redistribute resources and opportunities to the benefit of all local residents. It can therefore be argued that LED in Mbhashe municipality does not adequately address the problem of unemployment.

4.1.12 Measures suggested by Maize Producing Farmers (MPF) to ensure improved maize production and optimal implementation of the led project in Mbhashe

The farmers were asked for their suggestions on how the maize initiative could be improved and they responded as follows:

 The municipality should buy two (2) tractors or at least one tractor for the farmers per village and stop depending on unreliable service providers;  Ploughing should start as early as October/November, December should be the latest;  The municipality should build proper storage for maize;  A suitable market must be identified for farmers to sell their maize  Seed should be selected by farmers not by the municipality. Farmers want high breed seed and not poor quality seed that is being given to them by the municipality. Farmers believe that poor quality of seed leads to poor yield in terms of maize production  Planning should start in good time  The municipality should implement the resolutions taken at the meetings  Pre inspection of service providers‟ resources must be done before the tender is awarded. This is due to the fact that some of the service providers have tractors that are either not drivable or are having lot of mechanical problems  Farmers should be capacitated through training so that they can be able to work independently in future  Fencing of the mealie fields and the provision of gates in addition to fencing;  The municipality should provide different types of seed  Municipality should provide more water sources and irrigation schemes  Soil should be analysed before ploughing to determine the type of seed and the type of chemicals required  Resources should be made available early, for example tractors arrive very late;  Municipality should provide technical advice to the farmers continuously;

In addition to the aforementioned suggestions by the beneficiaries, the community Leaders and the Officials further suggest the following remedial measures to improve maize production:  Provision of enough funding for the project;  Commitment by all stakeholders involved;  Farmers contribution should be increased from R500 to a reasonable amount;  Procurement should be finalised as early as June to avoid delays during the ploughing season;  Communication among stakeholders must improve;

4.2 Conclusion

The maize production initiative was a major LED investment by the Mbhashe Municipality in collaboration with the provincial Department of Agriculture.The results of the survey have highlighted both successes and challenges. Based on these findings, conclusions will be drawn and recommendations made in the next chapter that may assist the Municipality in future extensions of this initiative.

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary of research question, aim and objectives of the study

The aim of this study was to evaluate the implementation of Local Economic Development programmes as part of the IDP objectives of Mbhashe Local Municipality. The main focus centred on a maize production initiative which involved a budget allocation of R1 000 000 for the 2011/2012 financial year.

These objectives were achieved and the research questions answered through a combination of several research tools, which included a review of documents, such as the Mbhashe IDP, and questions posed to the various groups of respondents in survey questionnaires.

5.2 Conclusions

This study has noted that Local Economic Development (LED) is a process by which public, business and non-governmental sector partners work collectively to create better conditions for economic growth and employment generation. The purpose of LED is to build up the economic capacity of local areas to improve their economic future and the quality of life for the community

Based on the above statement and the findings, it seems that Mbhashe Maize Production Project has not fully met the qualification requirements for LED, namely; employment generation, partnership between NGOs, business sector and the public. It also became clear that efforts to promote community participation through IDP consultation need to be doubled. This will assist in ensuring that there is correlation between the project objectives and the expectations of the community. Maximum community participation will also assist to clarify the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders involved as it was revealed by the findings that not all stakeholders are clear about their responsibilities.

Another area of concern is inadequate funding for the maize production project, for example, R1000 000 for six (6) villages with each village receiving an allocation of

200 000 is not enough. This budget constraint manifested itself through the dissatisfaction expressed by farmers in terms of the shortage of resources.

Furthermore, LED has a profit motive and should contribute towards economic development of the community but most of the farmers‟ yield was only enough for their own consumption. Even those farmers who managed to yield big quantities of maize did not sell their production above the level of individual village members. It is worth noting that the transactions that take place at the informal sector level do not get recorded when GDP is calculated. Considering that GDP is the most important tool for measuring economic growth, it can be concluded that the maize production LED initiative in Mbhashe municipality did not rise above poverty alleviation level to the local economic development level. A plethora of challenges mentioned under the findings may have contributed towards limiting the success of MPP in Mbhashe.

5.3 Limitations of the study

Mbhashe municipality is a large area consisting of approximately sixty one wards within its area of jurisdiction. The focus of the study was restricted to three wards due to time and budget constraints. It is also worth noting that only one village was selected from each ward of the three wards.

Furthermore, various methodological limitations must be taken into consideration when analysing this study. This relates mainly to biasness in terms of selecting the villages from the three areas of Mbhashe municipality (Elliotdale, Dutywa and Willowvale). The villages nearer to the main towns mentioned above were selected to avoid the challenge of bad terrain in Mbhashe villages and to ensure accessibility of the study sites for the researcher.

Despite the aforementioned limitations, this study managed to gather valuable information that will inform planning in Mbhashe municipality. The LED impediments that need to be attended to were also identified and recommendations will be made to overcome them.

5.4 Recommendations

Based on the findings of the research on the maize initiative in Mbhashe, a number of recommendations are made that may address issues that emerged during the research. The main themes focused on effective consultation during the IDP process and during the introduction of new LED initiatives, the need to focus on the large number of unemployed youth, administrative or procedural as well as technical issues that may limit the effectiveness of LED programmes and projects, such as the maize initiative.

The recommendations are addressed seriatum.  Poor IDP consultation may lead to irrelevant services being delivered to the communities and for this reason; the municipality is being encouraged to involve farmers and other community members through consultation to say what their priorities are. It is further recommended that, the municipal officials and Councillors should double their efforts in promoting their IDP consultation meetings with the community members in order to ensure maximum participation.  All community members, also the farmers, need awareness to educate them about what Local Economic Development (LED) means and to clarify their role as partners with the municipality and participating sector departments, such as the Department of Agriculture. Local Economic Development is about partnerships. The farmers should play their role and understand that they have obligations when participating in LED programmes. Furthermore, although they may be the drivers of the maize initiative, it should not be about the Municipality and the Department of Agriculture alone supporting the farmers. Local business stake holders, NGOs and other government departments and agencies need to be brought on board to ensure that LED is an integrated effort. It must be noted that officials and community leaders expressed their concern that even when meetings were called, the attendance by farmers was poor. It is important that the reasons for the poor attendance should be identified and addressed.  In a municipality with a high proportion of youth, the farmers that were interviewed during the research process were quite elderly, and it appears

that very few young people in Mbhashe are involved in farming in general and the maize farming initiative in particular. Mbhashe Municipality should target the unemployed youth when implementing the LED projects. Investing on the youth means investing for the future. While every person has the right to participate in LED initiatives, it is important in the longer term to promote participation in agricultural projects among the youth, as it does not make economic sense to invest on farmers who are already above the pensionable age. It is therefore the view of the researcher that young people should be encouraged to take part in agricultural development initiatives such as the maize production project.  The Community Leaders and the municipal officials need to come up with strategies to encourage maximum participation of the youth in agricultural projects. In this regard, the youth may have to be given the opportunity to choose agricultural projects that they find interesting.  There are a number of procedural and technical issues that posed challenges to the effective and efficient implementation of the maize programme. o The municipality needs to design a training programme that will be at the level of the farmers‟ education standard. The training of farmers who have never been to school may become a serious challenge that the municipality will have to address. o The tendering process for the supply of tractors should be finalised long before the start of the ploughing season to ensure that service providers are appointed on time in order to avoid delays in ploughing. The farmers have correctly stated that late start for ploughing has detrimental effects on the quality and quantity of maize produced. o The municipality should ensure that the service providers who win the award have the capacity to provide good service by inspecting the tractors to check whether they are in good condition in order to avoid undesirable mechanical challenges that may delay the project. o Service level agreements with target dates should be agreed upon by the service providers and the municipality in consultation with the beneficiaries. This should be followed by putting measures in place to

ensure that there is continuous monitoring of the service providers and to ensure that set timeframes are adhered to. o Farmers believe that poor quality of seeds lead to poor yield in terms of maize production and therefore it is recommended that farmers should be given an opportunity to choose the quality and the type of seeds they want o Soil should be analysed before ploughing to determine the type of seed, fertilizer and the type of chemicals suitable for different areas. It is also possible to have different types of soil in the same village area and the agricultural experts need to look into that. o Issues such as the lack of fencing, shortage of water sources and late commencement of ploughing need to be attended to with immediate effect if the maize production initiative is to yield the desired results in Mbhashe o A technical committee need to be established by the municipality and the department of agriculture and this technical committee should report directly to the Portfolio Councillor for LED. Among other members CDWs should be part of this committee and the responsibilities of the committee should include providing technical advice to the farmers and monitoring and evaluation of the project. o An operational plan with clear times frames and roles and responsibilities need to be compiled in consultation with the beneficiaries and other relevant stakeholders to ensure ownership of the plan. o Risk prevention and mitigation strategies must be incorporated into the plan to ensure that progress is not derailed by unforeseen circumstances. o Performance indicators need to be agreed upon by all parties involved.  The research findings indicate that the maize initiative did not achieve the LED objective of employment creation. The efforts of the municipal staff and the other government support structures should investigate ways and means of growing the maize farming initiative to become more intensive and commercialised, so that the individual farmers will be in the position to employ more farm labourers.

 The Portfolio Head for LED in Mbhashe should arrange a meeting with farmers from Ndakeni village as they seem to be dissatisfied about quite a number of issues involving the roll out of the maize production project. An unsatisfied group of participants may discourage other farmers to become involved in the maize initiative. For this reason, it is important to address the issues raised by the Ndakeni farmers.

5.5 Concluding comments

Local economic development at local level is identified by the government as a critical tool to address high levels of unemployment and poverty in South Africa. Agricultural programmes, such as the maize production initiative, is an appropriate means of using existing local expertise in a sector that traditionally provides food for rural families. It is important, however, that farmers should move beyond mere subsistence agriculture and that efforts should be made by the various spheres of government to commercialise traditional farming practices.

The investigation into the Mbhashe maize initiative enabled the researcher to answer questions related to the implemention of agricultural programmes in a rural local municipality. Successes and challenges were identified and reasons for these were sought by means of interviews with a range of stakeholders, which included the beneficiaries, the municipal officials involved in the initiative and community leaders in the sample areas.

It is hoped that the insights yielded by this research project will assist the local municipality to address issues that prevent the optimal impacts and benefits of such agricultural initiatives in poor and rural local areas.

Furthermore, millions of rands are wasted on failed LED projects. While lack of adequate funding for the Mbhashe maize initiative has been highlighted as a concern, it is nevertheless important to also ensure that LED initiatives are well planned and successfully implemented to ensure that scarce financial resources are applied optimally to yield the best possible results.

Finally, food production is of paramount importance, particularly if the objective is to provide the rural poor with affordable food. Maize is a staple food in South Africa. It is therefore critical that food production projects are implemented successfully in order to meet this objective.

REFERENCES

Amathole District Muncipality.2012/2017.Draft Integrated Development Plan (IDP).Unpublished.

Aliber, M. 2002. Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development, Cape Town: Human Sciences Research Council Publishers, Pretoria

Allison, B., O‟Sullivan, T., Owen, A., Rice, J., Rothwell, A. and Saunders, C. 1996.Research Ski for Students.Kogan Page, London

Befile, T. 2009.An investigation of the implementation of Integrated Development Planning (IDP) as a mechanism to alleviate poverty at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.NMMU: Port Elizabeth.

Berg-Schlosser, D. and Kersting, N. 2003.Poverty and Democracy: Self-help and Political Participation in Third World Cities, London: Zed Books.

Binza.M.Z. 2007.A Public-Private Partnership model for the improvement of Local Economic Development in South African Metropolitan Government. Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University: Port Elizabeth.

Bless,C&Higson-Smith,C. 2000. Fundamentals of Social Research Methods: An African perspective.Juta Education (Pty) Ltd: Landdowne.

Bovu, K. 2011.Review of the Amathole Regional Economic Development Strategy:Executive Insights, East London.

Ceasar, N. and Theron, F. 1999. Assessing Attitudes and Perceptions on IDP – The Case of Stellenbosch.AdministratioPublica, 9 (2).

Creswell, J.W. 2003. Research design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. 2nd edition.Sage Publications, London

Cresswell, J.W. 2006.Mixed Methods of Research.Sage Publications, London

Dyantyi, P. 2011/2012.Mbhashe Local Municipality Integrated Development Plan (IDP). Unpublished.

Eastern Cape Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.2010. Rural development Strategy (Draft for discussion only):Unpublished.

Eastern Cape Province, 2009.Assessment of the Eastern Cape Provincial Growth and Development Plan.Office of the Premier, Bhisho

Gaster, L & Squires, A. 2003. Providing quality in the Public Sector: A practical approach to improving public services. USA

Gilbert, T. 2006. Mixed Methods and Mixed Methodologies: The Practical, the Tactical and the Political.Journal of Research in Nursing.11 (3).

Greene, J.C. 2008. Is Mixed Methods Social Inquiry a Distinctive Methodology?Journal of Mixed Methods Research.2 (1).

Gubrium, J. F. and Holstein, J. A. 1999. Qualitative Research: Volume II (105-121). Sage Publications, London

Haffajee, F. 2002.Johannesburg‟s new broom starts to sweep things up: local government: current affairs.Financial Mail, 165 (5).

IDASA, 2010. The state of local government and service delivery in South Africa: issues, challenges and solutions. IDASA Local Governance Unit

IDP Guide Pack. http://www.capegateway.gov.za[Accessed 20 March 2012].

Johnson, B.R. and Onwuegbuzie, A.J. 2004.Mixed Methods Research: A Research Paradigm whose time has come.Educational Researcher.33 (7).

Malefane, S.R., 2008. Research at municipal levels of government in South Africa. Paper presented at the Local Government Conference. School for Public Management and Administration, University of Pretoria. 17 April 2008

Mbhashe Local Municipality.2011/2012. Integrated Development Plan (IDP). Unpublished.

Mbhashe Local Municipality.2012/2017. Integrated Development Plan (IDP). Unpublished.

Mosiane, M.B. 1999.Urban coalitions and local economic development in Mafikeng.Masters‟ dissertation, Department of Geography, University of Witwatersrand. Johannesburg.

Mouton, J. 2001. How to succeed in your Masters & Doctoral studies. Van Schaik Publishers, Pretoria

Mpengu, M (2010), Impact assessment of Local Economic Development in the Amathole District Municipality with special reference to Agriculture, A ctreatise submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Public Administration at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth

Nel, E. and Binns, T., 2001.Initiating 'developmental local government' in South Africa: Evolving local economic development policy, Regional Studies, 35 (4), pp 355-362.

Neuman, W.L., 2003. Social Research methods: Qualitative and Quantitative approaches. Person Education, Inc: Boston.

Phago, K.G., 2004.Consolidating Service Delivery within the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality: Public Private Partnerships and their Role in Extending Access to Local Governance. Paper submitted for a Master’s dissertation at the University of Pretoria (Mamelodi Campus). Pretoria University Press, Pretoria

Planact, 2001.Module 3: Planning for Development. Planact,Johannesburg.

South Africa, 1996. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act No. 108 of 1996.

Ramafamba, E., Mears, R. 2011. The Role of Service Delivery in Local Economic Development: A Case Study of Mamelody Township. University of Johannesburg: South Africa

South Africa. 1998. The White Paper of Local Government. Government Printer, Pretoria

South Africa, 1998. Local Government Municipal Structures Act, Act No.117 of 1998. Government Printer, Pretoria.

South Africa, 2000. Local Government Municipal Systems Act, Act 32 of 2000. Government Printer, Pretoria.

South Africa, 2006. National Framework for Local Economic Development (LED). Stimulating and developing sustainable local economies, 2006 – 2011.

South Africa, Department of Provincial & Local Government, 2000. Local Economic Development: Strategies and Instruments, Local Economic Development, Manual Series Volume 2. Government Printer, Pretoria.

South Africa, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), 2002. Strengthening sustainability in the integrated development planning process: Government Printer, Pretoria

South Africa, Department of Provincial & Local Government. 2002. The LED draft policy: Refocusing Development on the Poor. Government Printer, Pretoria.

South African Local Government Association (SALGA), 2003. IDP Guide Pack: General overview. See http://www.salga.org.za [Accessed on 28 March 2012].

Stats SA, 2007. Community Survey.http.www.statssa.gov.za [Accessed on 28 March 2012].

Stats SA, 2012. Census 2011. http://statssa.gov.za[Accessed 10 November 2012].

Swinburn, G et al, 2003. Local Economic Development: A primer. Developing and Implementing Local Economic Development Strategies and Action Plans. The World Bank, Washington DC

Welman, J.C. and Kruger,S.J. 2001. Research Methodology.Oxford University Press, London

ANNEXURE A: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR BENEFICIARIES

Village Name: ______

Name of the interviewer: ______

Date: ______

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR FARMERS WHO WERE PARTICIPANTS IN THE MAIZE PRODUCTION PROJECT AT MBHASHE MUNICIPALITY DURING 2011/2012 FINANCIAL YEAR PERIOD ONLY.

I am a student at the Nelson Manadela Metropolitan University (NMMU) doing research on the impact of the Maize Production Initiative in Local Economic Development (LED). I have designed this questionnaire in order to complete my research project which is part of the University requirement. The information collected will be used for academic purposes and to assist Mbhashe Municipality to assess customer satisfaction and to identify challenges that and service delivery in its area of Jurisdiction. No identification is requested from you and your responses will be kept strictly confidential.

You are therefore requested to answer all the questions as truthfully as possible. Indicate your choice with an “X” in the boxes provided. Please choose one answer for each question. You are also requested not to forget to add your comments in the spaces provided.

Your answers will contribute positively towards identifying challenges that the farming community is confronted with. The identified challenges will be brought to the attention of the relevant authorities. Therefore, your co-operation in this questionnaire will be highly valuable and appreciated.

SECTION A DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Question 1

WHAT IS YOUR GENDER?

1. Male

2. Female

Question 2

WHAT IS YOUR AGE?

1. 61 and above

2. 41 - 60

3. 31 - 40

4. 21 - 30

5. 20 and below

Question 4

WHAT IS YOUR HIGHEST STD OF EDUCATION/POST SCHOOL QUALIFICATION?

1. Never been to school

2. Primary (std 1 – std 5)

3. Junior secondary (std 6 – std 7)

4. Secondary (std 8 – std 10)

5. Certificate

6. Diploma

7. Degree

SECTION B: MUNICIPAL INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Question 5

Using the scale below, mark the number that best represents your response.

1. Strongly disagree 2. Disagree 3. Agree 4. Strongly agree

6.1 There was extensive community consultation during the formulation of 1 2 3 4 the IDP.

6.2 The municipality‟s IDP addresses the socio economic needs of the 1 2 3 4 community.

6.3 The municipality‟s IDP addresses the socio economic needs of the 1 2 3 4 local farmers.

SECTION C – LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Question 6

What were/are your expectations from the maize production project?

______

Question 7

Were the above-mentioned expectations met in your opinion?

1. Yes

2. Partly

3. No

Question 8

What were the challenges in the implementation of the maize production project?

______

Question 9

Does Mbhashe municipality have any strategies in place to address the abovementioned challenges?

1. Yes

2. No

Question 10

In your opinion, has the community benefited from the maize production project?

1. Yes

2. Partly

3. No

Question 11

If you answered yes or partly above, what has the community benefited? If you answered no, skip this question.

______

Question 12

How many community members were employed as a result of Maize production project?

1. No community members

2. 2 and less

3. 3 - 5

4. 5 - 9

5. 10 - 19

6. 20 and above

Question 13

What measures do you think need to be taken by the municipality to improve maize production and to ensure optimal implementation of LED?

______

ANNEXURE B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR COMMUNITY LEADERS

Question 1

What is your position in the community/Municipality?

1. Portfolio Councilor

2. Traditional leader

3. Ward Councilor

4. Ward committee

5. Chair person

6. Other (specify)

Question 2

Were the communities consulted in your area of responsibility during IDP review process?

1. Yes

2. Not sure

3. No

QUESTION 3

What were the objectives of the Maize Production Project?

………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………

Question 4

If the communities were consulted, was the consultation per village or per ward?

1. Per village

2. Per Ward

3. Not sure

Question 5

Are the municipal Community Development Workers (CDWs) visible in the community to ensure success of developmental projects?

1. Yes

2. Not sure

3. No

Question 6

Has the municipality done enough to assist the farmers in maize production?

1. Yes

2. Partly

3. No

QUESTION 7

What were the challenges in the implementation of the Maize Production Project?

QUESTION 8

What do you think the municipality should do to improve maize production and to ensure optimum implementation of the LED in Mbhashe?

………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ANNEXURE C: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR OFFICIALS

Question 1

What is your occupation?

1. IDP coordinator

2. LED officer

3. CDW coordinator

4. CDW

5. Other (specify)

Question 2

Were the communities consulted during IDP review process?

1. Yes

2. Not sure

3. No

Question 3

If the communities were consulted, was the consultation per village or per ward?

1. Per village

2. Per Ward

3. Not sure

Question 4

What are the objectives of the Maize Production Project?

Question 4

In your opinion, were the above objectives met?

1. Yes

2. Partly

3. No

QUESTION 5

What were the challenges in the implementation of the Maize Production Project?

QUESTION 6

What do you think the municipality should do to improve maize production and to ensure optimum implementation of the LED in Mbhashe?

Question 7

Are there strategies in place to address the abovementioned challenges?

1. Yes

2. No

Question 8

If you answered yes, which strategies are in place?

………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… Question 9

In your opinion was the allocated budget for maize production in 2011/2012 enough?

1. Yes

2. No