COPYRIGHT AND CITATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR THIS THESIS/ DISSERTATION
o Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
o NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
o ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
How to cite this thesis
Surname, Initial(s). (2012) Title of the thesis or dissertation. PhD. (Chemistry)/ M.Sc. (Physics)/ M.A. (Philosophy)/M.Com. (Finance) etc. [Unpublished]: University of Johannesburg. Retrieved from: https://ujdigispace.uj.ac.za (Accessed: Date). ..... MASTERS DISSERTATION
S.D. MORUANE U6(0 fr>()RfA
THE SUSTAINABtLiTY OF COMMUNITY PARTtCtPATION IN
DEVELOPMENTAL PROJECTS: NORTH WEST PROVINCE
BY
DIMAKATSO SINAH MORUANE
MINI - DISSERTATION
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE MASTERS OF ARTS IN SOCIAL SCIENCES (COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENn
IN THE
FACULTY OF ARTS
OF THE
RAND AFRIKAANS UNIVERSITY
SUPERVISORS : PROFESSOR MITCHELL TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNO~EDGEMENTS ABSTRACTS OPSOMMING LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL ORIENTATION . 1 cD Introduction . ([) (~ Problem orientation . ([J @ Motivation for study . -25 4. Study focus ...... •...... 4 5. Statement of problem . 5 6. The Value of the study . 5 - ;.'~ ()) Aims and objects of the study . 7.1 Aim . .~ 7.2 Objectives . 6~ 8. Assumptions ,...... •...... 7 @ Research Questions . on @) Definition of concepts . 8 10.1 CoInmunity participation ...... •...... •...... 9 @ustainability . 9 10.3 Community development projects . 9 10.4 Motivational factors . 9 G Research methodology : . 1~9-> {-::g:::' ~G Type of research ...... •...... ~. . --':;,:.:..---.. \11.2)Research design . 10 . ~" , 11.3 Population and W8!f of sampling ...... •...... 11 - .... ,"-.. .~ '>:1 ", (11.4, Methods of data collection ...... •...... •...... "~. - >-..." lL< 12. Validity ...... •...... •...... 12 13. Reliability . 13 13.1 Piloting . 13 14. Umitations ofthe study 1"3 Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVI8N ..'" '" 16 1. Introduction...... 16 1.1 Definition 17 .1.2 Factors intJuencing partiCipation '" '" 19 1.2.1 Need assessment...... 20 1.2.2 Organization. 22 1.2.3 Resource mobilization 23 1.2.4 Leadership 26 1.2.5 Management 27 1.2.6 Focus on the poor 29 2. Obstacles to Community Participation 32 3. Community Development Projects 34 Condusion . 35 Chapter3 OVERVIEWS OF POUCY ON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: NORTH WEST PROVINCE 36 3.1 The department circular no 22 of 1981 36 3.2 National Parks Board .. 37 3.3 Agricor ...... •...... •...... •... 37 3.4 Community Development 37 3.5 The office of Governors and Local Government 38 Chapter4 PARTICIPANT'S OPINIONS ON COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPMENT PROJECT: AN EMPIRICAL STUDy...... 41 1. Introduction 41 2. Description of the Empirical Findings 41 2.1 Method of data collection 42 2.2 Population group . . 42 3. Discussion of Empirical Resufts 42 3.1 Biographical data , 42 3.1.1 Table 1: Sex and marital status 42 3.1.2 Age in years 43 3.1.3 Highest educational qualifications 44 3.1.4 Religious affiliation 46 3.1.5 OCCUpation 46 3.1.6 Households ...... •...... 47 3.1.7 Level of Participation in projects 47 3.1.8 Housing 48 3.1.9 Period of participation 49 3.1.10 Problemsexperiencedduring participation 51 3.2 Experiencesduring participating 54 3.2.1 Improvement of communication and interactionskills 54 3.2.2 Need assessment 55 3.2.3 Screening 56 3.2.4 Training 57 3.2.5 Evaluation of the project 58 3.3 Strategiesused to counteract problematicsituations .. 59 3.3.1 Gossip 59 3.3.2 SUb-groups ...... •...... 59 3.3.3 Lack of feedback 59 -.: 3.3.4 Absenteeism and poor performance by others 60 3.4 Opinion about ~~lon making lev~ 60 3.4.1 Table 10: Leadershipstyle preference 60 3.4.2 Opinionsabout profit sharing 61 3.5 Merits of governmentsponsored projects 63 3.5.1 Advantageswhich include 63 3.5.2 Disadvantages.. 63 3.6 State versus private funded projects 63 3.7 Motivationfactors for participation 64 SUMMARY 65 Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONAND RECOMMENDATIONS 67 1. Introduction ...... •...... •...... 67 2. COnclu$ions ,. 67 2.1 Characteristics ofthe participants '" 67 @ Suitabilityof proj~ 68 2.3 Basic needsto be addressed first 69 2.4 Problemsexperienced by participants 69 2.5 Need Assessment 70 2.6 Screening 70 @Training 71 ~Technical assistance and funds 71 ~onitOring and Evaluation . 72 3. Recommendations. 73 3.1 Recommendations for Research 73 3.1.1 Basic needs 73 3.2 Recommendations for Pradise 74 3.2.1 Manpolllfer 74 3.2.2 Training 74 3.2.3 Contrading. 75 3.3 Recommendations for Policy ,. 76 3.3.1 Funding.. 76 BIBLIOGRAPHY n ANNEXURES LIST OFFiGURES FIGURE NO. FIGURE TITLE PAGE NO 1. Qualifications of respondents 45 2. Period of Participation 50 3. Ratings of Various Problems 52 and 53 4. Mode of Recruitment 56 5. Opinions on collective selling 62 LIST OF TABLES TABLE NO TITLE OF THE TABLE PAGE NO. 1. Sex and Marital status 42 2. Age in Years 44 3. Educational qualifications 44 4. Households per house 47 5. Level of Participation 48 6. Types of I?welling 48 ....."- 7. Problems experienced 51 8. Opinions on Communication 54 9. Evaluation of Projects 58 10. Leadership style responses 60 11. Opinions about sharing profit 61 12. Preferences for Government Versus 63 and 64 Private sponsored CD projects ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank the following persons who contributed towards making the compilation of this dissertation a success: Professor Mitchell, My course leader for his enormous guidance and support .... The office of Community Development for availing information District Office Rustenp\.Jf~ and particularly Miss Anita Viljoen, for typing the document. ABSTRACT The North West Province is predominately comprised of rural areas. The occupants of these areas are mostly rural, underprivileged with only a few of the important basic facilities. In most areas the community still get water from the village tap, use wood for heating and candles for lighting. Unemployment is rife, despite the fact that there are mines around Rustenburg, the area in which this study is carried out, has quite a number of people who are jobless. Community Development Projects have been started in this area of the province to uplift the standard of living ofthese communities, but to no avail. The aim ofthis study ls to investigate the opinions of participants concerning these projects, with thefinal aim of improving maximum participation. The failure of these projects is a concern to service providers, service consumers and funders. OPSOMMING Die Noord-WesteJike Provinsie bestaan hoofsaaklik uit landelike gebiede. Die inwoners van hierdie gebiede is hoofsaaklik landelik, minder bevoorreg met slegs 'n paar van die noodsaaklike basiese fasiliteite. In meese gebiede word water nog steeds van die gemeenskaplike kraan verkry, hout word vir verhitting gebruik en kerse vir beligting. WerKJob~heid is wydverspreid, ten spyte van myne rondom Rustenburg, is daar 'n groot aantal mense in die gebied waar hierdie studie uitgevoer is wat werkloos is. Gemeenskapsontwikkelings projekte is in hierdie gebied inisieer om die lewensstandaard van hierdie gemeenskappe op te hef, maar sonder sukses. ~,:doeIstelling ,~, van hierdie studie was om die menings van deelnemers betreffend hierdie projekte te ondersoek, met die finale doelwit om maksimum deelname te bevorder. Die mislukking van hierdie projekte is 'n bran van kommer vir diensverskaffers, diensverbruikers en fondsverkaffers. Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL ORIENTATION 1. INTRODUCTION The ~eed to develOI:LcommunitLes in the North ~E!J:~t..PrO,,-il1~_~D_r:!QLQe.~.unger emphasised. The former Bophuthatswana Government had also been highly ------~--- iI)YQI"e(:Lpr~ITI()!iDgthe development of cgmmunities which falls mostly, within the •... ------_:..~._.,.-.~. -_.-.•. _.. _-~---.---"-...,--.~_._--~ North West Province boundaries under the new dispensation. The Government of National Unity implemented strategies for Development, the RDP to improve the standard of living of rural and deprived communities. The system of local government pioneered a special field under its realm, TLC, to link into the issue of facilitating development in their areas, today much on development is still to be desired. All the structures did not impact in any significant or adequate ---'-"--._--.__ .~,--~.,-_ .....- .. ,-,,--~_._-- way to change theJives of the marginalized and disadvantaged. In the former Bophuthatswana a special department was established for development, the department of Lands and Rural Development. Parastatal bodies like Agricor and BNDC (Bophuthatswana National and Development Co-operation) also had a stake in development. Government officials would corne up with funds and prospective projects were to be established in the com.munity. Much as funds were made ~vatlable, golicy was also there to gujdJt.howju~~ere supposed to b~ used. Muqllwas and is still done to develop communities but with little success. 2. PROBLEM ORIENTATION 9QJ!lrnunity.Developrnent projects exist·inall areas or North West Province (Annexure B: The map of the North West Province). Such projects exist mostly in rural areas. The premise of the government is that such projects will eradicate poverty and improve the standard of living. In line with the principles of development as' outlined by BUrkey (1993:35-39tthe ~overnment should give the community the latitude to choose the project of their choice plan for it and initiate it. The assistance --._ .. ~. -_." ,---... of the government should only be there when needed. In most instances this has not been the case, the government owned projects and even prescribed what kind of - --'~"-'~~'-'-""~'~-----.-.~.""" - ~ _. # - ~ ------~~ ~.~--~_.~ ~ .------. - ~ Rrojects should be started. ~~ While Paper for Social. we.Ifare PoliCYfichoeS that communities should take l~~ve~jnitiatives--towards~Jhei~-own develop~. As expected, however, the prevailing situation could be different. In the Rustenburg region, being on area 119 of the North West Provin,tEt..a number QL§_~lthe,~_~~je~--~~vE!-bee~ated--- including sewing and knitti,D9 :wolects..l baking and brick-making p(Oje.,~, candle ~g..aru:lgardening,proi~ct~ The sustainability of these projects is a concern to many people including sponsors and service providers. i. Participants in these projects are initially trained, they receive support from community development officers and they receive once off funding to enable them to r-j \ buy raw material. However in a short 'time they stop participating and the project (,!i J /' ceases to exist. How long will the government invest in projects with a minimal life span as opposed to the envisaged sustainable and poverty eradicating projects ? @ ~9JJVATION FOR THE STUDY The new paradigm shift aimed at eradicating the legacy of the apartheid era, where the r.najo.dty.VJ.~r~.Aeprivedof services and infrastructure, is a challenge to the ,,~"-" _.'" government. the dep-rivEtd and__marginalized_.need"upgrading. By way of "._-- - .. ,,--,- ".:-.-~"'-~" ,-, ... ~ redistributing services and infrastructural amenities to concur with the value of equity expounded by the Constitution of Republic of South Africa. Still there is a need to development communities to have self initiative and to be self sufficient and self ,·--··,·-·--··---·-----·,· ._x_._ .._..... ~,.._.... '.L~. __ ~·C'·· '.,' • "_.~. ' reliant because the government cannot provide for all. The problem of the increasing unemployment rate in' South Africa can never be denied. Communities are experiencing enormous problems where families live with no income. Projects are started in communities, particularty in Rustenburg, to alleviate this. Initially, people would appear enthusiastic about such projects but 2 after a short time they lose interest, stop participating and gradually fall away from the projects. This is surprising since, from all accounts, a firm CD foundation was laid in that: • These communities chose the projects • They envisaged the projects as meeting a need for them • The prospect of the projects yielding dividends for them was always apparent (income generating). • The initial funding is provided by government and need not be repaid The researcher, colleagues and sponsors (the government in this case) were concerned about the collapse of Community Development Projects. The government woul(!. like to be responsive to the needs of people by rendering cost effective services hence there is a need to promote the phenomenon of Community Development. ThfLCurrentsituation.ofdemocracy-in.SouthAfrica.permits people to have a say and ~ '-,.-<""--- -~'-"-"'-'~-"~'~~" ..--,"~,-, ...... ~ ..•.-.~ .. , make"._-----cont!.tb_l!~Qn~ on issues.affecting them.. The researcher thought that this was an opportunity, through this study, for the coml1llJ..~!!Y.!!!E:!mbe~. to influence policies jhat _govern s~ryice.-r~J1.d~ri1Jg_towa(d~_Jh~!!1...:... Furthermore to make inputs on guidelines for CD project implementation. In the researcher's opinion, it is only when the government understands what people need that it can be responsive to their needs. So, it suffices to mention that through this study, participants will raise their voices and make suggestions for improving sustainability of CD projects. Findings and recommendations of this study would be of use to the Community Development component of the Department of Health and Development Social Welfare because projects are their only vehicles for development. 3 4. STUDY FOCUS The Rustenburg region community was chosen for the purpose of this study. Several projects (as stated in page 3) have been started in the various areas of the region including Phokeng, Mamerotse,Tlapa and Rankelenyane villages. The townships in this region, Monakato, Phatsima and Tlhabane had a number of these projects running as well. Rustenburg had been rated high as an area providing employment opportunities. The town has been embodied in quite a number of centres providing the best economic output for the North West Province. The Platinum and Chrome mines in Rustenburg provideemployment not only to people around local inhabitants, but also to outsiders. The AECI-company and many other smaller industries have been providing employment in the area. Casino hotels including Sun City and Tlhabane Sun have been centre of attraction for tourists and at the same time provide job opportunities for community members. Recently these companies have taken a different orientation where thousands of people have been retrenched by many of them, including Sun City hotel where 2000 people were retrenched in June 1997 and AECI which closed down completely leaving 3 500 people unemployed. The unemployment rate in Rustenburg is extremely high and most families are without any source of income. These depressed conditions contribute to rural poverty that was already there. Eighty five percent of the community of Rustenburg is faced with the challenge of not only fighting to eradicate poverty, but also of creating employment and semi employment opportunities for people who are still of working age, but who were retrenched or unemployed. Annexure E confirms unemployment rate in this part of the NorthWest Province. 4 The Department of Labour in Rustenburg has been contacted to substantiate this fact with the figures (statistics) as kept by their office. 5. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The sustainability of community participation has been an issue of concern to Community Development personnel in the North West Province. In the various communities of this province, developmental projects have been started, but have not existed for more than two years. Various reasons among community workers have been put forward to explain the failure of these projects such as, non-involvement of the community itself, dependency of the community on the government, failure of the government to determine the needs of people a.o. - ;~. On the other hand, a mission statement of the government is to promote sustainable Community Development. The researcher is of the opinion that factors that could influence maximum participation in CD projects can be understood from the participants point of view. In order to do so it is necessary to ask participants why they ceased participating in CD projects. 6. THE VALUE OF THE STUDY A study of this nature would be of value to the community development field as it will provide policy makers and practitioners with information to construct user friendly guidelines for starting CD projects. Furthermore the study would provide participants in the community with an opportunity to have a say and voice their opinions concerning projects that would be more acceptable and beneficial to them, rather than struggling to meet requirements set for them by someone not in full understanding of their situation. 5 The need to have sustainable projects is of paramount significance. Thus taking findings and recommendations of this study into consideration, the problem of lack of sustainability of community participation in projects can be alleviated. On the other hand, this would save the government funds that would have been otherwise channelled to unsuccessful attempts to eradicate poverty. 7. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 7.1 Aim This study seeks to investigate the issue of a lack of sustainable community participation in community development projects by eliciting data from community development participants. Emphasis will be on gathering information of problems they experienced,.:their shortfalls as well as their strengths. The participants will provide guidelines on how to improve and maintain consistent participation to ensure sustainability ofthese projects. 7.2 Objectives @to study a community in the North West Province in which a CD project was established to assess their motivation for participating in CD projects; 7.2.2 to gather inputs for relevant and responsive policy guidelines on initiating and running of community development projects. 7.2.3 to investigate the individual as well as the collective experiences of participants in CD projects. 0~.~') To provide findings and recommendations of the study to the Rustenburg , ... ", .,.-/ -~ community development district office. 6 8. ASSUMPTIONS People join CD projects with expectations, but unfortunately they are based on short term goals like getting food or money (wages). While in the project, they come to realise that this can only be achieved after products are produced and sold hence they get demotivated and stop participating. The prevailing circumstance, as it is apparent in most community development projects, is that communities have not been fully involved in decision making that affects them. The government made funds available to sponsor community projects, and also formulated guidelines on prospective projects to be initiated. This in itself is a hindrance to participation as the very projects outlined may not be responsive to the needs of a particular community. Prior consultation with ./ communities was minimal, if not non existent. Burkey (1993) mentions that communities should be given a chance to identify their own needs. It is further assumed that people prefer that remuneration from the proceeds of these products sold should be individualized. The equal sharing is not highly favoured as people contend that they are not contributing equally to the success of the project. Furthermore, they perform different activities within the project, for example, some are portfolio holders e.g. secretary, chairperson, treasurer and others are doing the actual line functioning e.g. baking. Thus the sharing of capital accrued should be aligned with the job performed. Much as these are assumptions, the researcher is of the opinion that the basis of reality for these assumptions will surface once the study is completed. 7 9. RESEARCH QUESTIONS Collins (1985), Grinnell (1988) and Bloom and Fisher (1982) agree that in the research process a hypothesis is a statement showing the relationship between two variables. It is a statement about what the reality is thought to be, a statement presumed to be the truth but, only lacking substantive evidence. Such a statement is usually presented as a condition of relationship between two variables (Schuerman, 1987:9). Although a hypothesis serves as a gUide for the research process as to what kind of data to coiled, there are some studies where the hypothesis need not be formulated especially in exploratory studies. The researcher does not have enough information to assume relationship between concepts. So he is only exploring the prevailing situation or problem area. Since this study is also exploratory in its nature for the _... '. North West Province the researcher does not have a hypothesis for her exploratory intentions, the researcher has research questions. Questions to be addressed by the study are: • What are the participants' opinions about the current lack of community participation in CD projects? • How do they envisage relevant and efficient CD projects to promote self reliance and sustainability? • Which motivational factors are regarded as basic to promote and maintain community involvement in CD projects? 8 10. DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS 10.1 Community participation This concept will be treated as synonymous to community involvement and refers to self reliance and self help where communities are engaged in developmental projects. 10.2 Sustainability Sustainability in this study implies the existence of fully functioning income generating project existing for not less than three years. 10.3 Community development projects These are self-initiated undertakings of communities with or without financial aid from the government to produce goods. The proceeds of their joint efforts are then shared amongst them equally as wages only after the selling of their produce (Annexure C gives an indication of such projects in North West). 10.4 Motivational factors For the purpose of this study, these refer to basic issues of encouraging individual participation such as training, funding, screening as well as resources to carry out the activities of the project such as raw materials and venue. 11. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 11..1 Type of research 9 This research is basically applied research where emphasis is not on seeking fundamental knowledge about social behaviour, but utilizes very fundamental knowledge to promote effectiveness in service rendering (Collins, 1987:258). When distinguishing between applied and basic research, Schuerman (1983:9), mentions that basic research is designed to develop theory while applied research is meant to develop information to be utilized for some end. Much as social work is vulnerable to accusations of non professional status lacking a clear cut body of knowledge, Grinnell (1988:35) contends that this is caused by pressure for research endeavours to further professionalize the profession. The same position is apparent in this study where the emphasis is to utilize knowledge to improve service or program effectiveness. Findings of applied research can be used to solve problems of immediate concern (Bailey, 1982:2). -;." In conclusion the researcher is of the opinion that findings of the study will be used in formulating gUidelines that will be user friendly and acceptable to participants in CD projects. This in tum, maximising participation and increasing sustainability of projects. 11.2 Research design Reid and Smith (1981:64) refer to the design as an overall plan or strategy of how questions are answered or hypothesis tested. The design provides a framework for the research process. The research design specifies what information is needed, from whom and when it is to be gathered (Schuerman, 1983:21). The design of this study is basically exploratory. Exploratory designs are used when little or nothing is known about the subject Collins (1987), Grinnell & Williams (1990) and Grinnell (1988). The rationale for this design for the study emanates from the fact that only a relatively small number of 10 subjects need exist from which the researcher needs to collect data. The subjects consist of individuals who had experience of participating in CD projects. Nevertheless, Collins (1987:256) mentions that even though data is collected from a small sample, the design is still scientific. 11.3 Population and way of sampling According to Dane (1990:214), the population or universe refers to the total number of people representing the unit. Thus the population of the study refers to all people who once participated in CD projects and those who are presently participating. These people must be within the confines of the Rustenburg area. Their names will be drawn from the register kept by the Community Development Officer at the District Welfare Department Offices. According to the r~ister 65 people had since participated in CD projects. Since it is . ~ .• - obvious from the onset that the population was not large, the researcher included all of it The researcher interviewed every person she could contact as long as her or his name appeared in the register of CD projects rather than drawing a sample. It suffices to say all participants had a similar attribute (their participation) and they belonged to the projects in Rustenburg. Thus they have equal chances of selection. The population under study would include both females and males of various age groups irrespective of their educational level or religious affiliation. 11.4 Methods of data collection There exists quite a number of data collection methods for implementation in data gathering, questionnaires, interview schedules, observation and records - Grinnell (1988), Arkava & Lane (1983). 11 For the purpose of this study. a structured interview schedule was chosen as a method of data collection. The researcher personally contacted the respondents at their homes and interviewed them according to the interview schedule. She personally filled in their responses (AnnexureA). It did cut on extra expenses of hiring extra personnel or engaging in postage expenses. This method of data collection maximized the response rate and ensured timeous responses as information was provided there and then. Late responses were avoided. Despite the advantages, the interview schedule had some disadvantages for this study. Anonymity was not ensured as the researcher came into direct contact with respondents. It was not economic in terms of time as the researcher had to spend a lot of time tracing respondents at their homes and the area covered being large. The researcher utilized her own transport to reach the various areas and this exercise was costly. The interview bias could have not been minimized as the researcher was flexible in providing explanations of questions the respondents could not understand. Again the respondents could have given answers they thought will be pleasing to the interviewer, more so that some knew that she was a social worker. 12. VALIDITY 12 Dane (1990:254) mentions that the validity of the measuring instrument can be ascertained where the items of the measurement measures the phenomenon under study and nothing else. This is face validity or content validity for this study the items of the interview schedule should focus on community participation and nothing else. By way of ensuring the validity of the interview schedule the researcher consulted her colleagues for their professional opinions. She again utilized her knOWledge and understanding of community work and tapped opinions of people who once participated in CD projects in constructing the interview schedule. Further efforts taken were consultation held with community development liaison officer in the district of Rustenburg on the relevance of items included in the interviewing schedule. The RDP officials working at the town council who are now defining themselves as officer in the office of Strategic Unit of Development were also consulted. It is apparent that quite a number of significant individuals had an opportunity of ensuring the validity of the measurement. The course leader also shared his expert opinion with the researcher on this matter. 13. RELIABILITY The reliability of the measurement should ensure that the same responses are yielded over again. (Dane, 1990:253) 13.1 Piloting The researcher engaged in piloting the interview schedule to eight people to ensure that it conveys the same understanding before implementing it in the true research process. By so doing the researcher was also ascertaining other aspects such as the simplicity of questions, the length and the mood of respondents when answering questions. Thus the test - retest reliability measure was adopted. 13 14. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 14.1 Time when communities where starting to question the delivery of the Government of National Unity. The government during the political campaigns made election promises to people that they will provide employment opportunities and provide basic facilities such as water and electricity . At the time of this study the government was in its third year of power, but its delivery of services was not yet visible to people. In tum, the majority of people lost their jobs through retrenchments. Even for public servants. they were informed of the absorption process and packages as a way··'·of trimming the public service. So people were becoming disillusioned about the future within the realm of the ANC led government. 14.2 Furthermore the population studied induded only those people whose names appeared in the CD projects register kept at District office. Other self-initiated projects existed and did not register their names as they funded their own projects. Basically the community liaison officers kept the register as a form of control and accountable measure for funds they made available. Hence they could not register independent community projects like the ones funded by churches. The researcher knew that such CD projects existed but could not contact their participants as she did not have their full particulars like those registered by community liaison officers. 14.3 Much as the researcher concentrated on the 65 participants as listed in the register, not all people could be reached or contacted. Others relocated to other areas unknown to their ex-neighbors. 14 Although the researcher chose to carry the interviewing exercise during weekends and after hours, participants were not always at home due to social commitments. Finally this study did not determine reasons of those who did not participate in CD projects who could have contributed meaningful information as well, despite the fact that they were never participants. 15 Chapter 2 LITERATURE STUDY 1. INTRODUCTION Community participation has been proposed as an approach which empowers' people to assume control over their lives. Is this realistic or is it just a slogan without any meaningful content? This is a concern raised by authors such as Mafora (1992:1), Cobbett (1987:324), de Clercq (1994:239). The very concern shared by the' researcher on this phenomenon in the North West Province (de Clercq 1994:238). Cobbett (1987:324) mentions that community participation in the impoverished homeland communities is an important priority yet it was rarely effective and self .,..•. sustaining. Governments, parastatals and international funders have all initiated different versions of community development, but most have failed to get the full participation of the community as an equal and active partner. The study conducted by de Clercq (1994) in Winterveld, an impoverished black community in a former homeland area (Bophuthatswana) falling in the North West Province, indicated problems of enlisting full participation from communities that have been dispossessed and given temporary status by policies of the apartheid years. How is it possible to involve communities in the context of segregated and authoritative administrations. Awarding to the author, changing laws, continuous struggles fragmentations (Bantustans) made it difficult for people to take full initiative for their development. 16 1.1 Definition According to Rifkin, Muller and Bichmann (1988:933) the concept community participation needs to be understood clearly prior to evaluating the prevalence and magnitude of this concept especially in Primary Health Care programmes. Midgley (1985) explains community as having two meanings. Firstly community comprises a group of people living in the same geographical area sharing the same basic values. Secondly the community is a group of people sharing the same basic interests. The definition can still include "at risk" groups. Participation has a wide range of meanings as well. Crucial to the definitions three basic characteristics indicate that participation must be active, mere receiving of services is not participation. Participation must involve choice (the right to choose and make decisions). In making choices during full participation, choices must have the possibility of being effective (Rifkin, Muller and Bichmann (1988:933». On the basis of these designed concepts, Rifkin (1988) identified six factors influencing participation which can be used again in assessing this phenomenon in existing projects. These include - need assessment, leadership, organization, resource mobilization, management and focus on the poor. A continuum can be developed with series of points where these factors can be assessed and plottings being done on this continuum. The narrow ends showing low participation and the broader ends high participation. This finally resembles a spectrum visualizing community participation for a model spectrum with the continuums (See appendix D) Community participation is thus a social process whereby specific groups with shared needs living in a defined geographical area actively pursue identification of their needs, take decisions and establish mechanisms to meet these needs. 17 In the context of Primary Health Care this pertains to the transformation of the past health system where new communities take full action to improve their health status through their own opinion and decisions. The community may even negotiate and bargain for the redistribution of resources where they are needed most to achieve the principle of equity. (Rifkin, Muller and Bichmann 1988). Clinard (1970:125) shares the same premise of defining community participation as a collective initiative of families in the neighbourhood to develop their own community. The author further contends that community participation and community development are synonymous. Researcher maintains a different view point here and aligns herself to Swanepoel (1992:89) where community development is seen as an end result of community participation, initiative~ and capacity building. Further arguments being that community participation emphasizes the active involvement of community members in whatever action taking place in their area. With community development, as it has been the case previously, it can be carried out without the involvement or even the knowledge ofthe community. The government, especially in rural areas, put up projects which they term to be developmental and supposed to meet the needs of communities as perceived by them. Around Rustenburg, quite a number of clinics are built without the involvement of the communities and such structures are alternatively rejected by the very communities they were intended for. Robega Clinic being an example. Paul (1987:2) gives a more comprehensive definition by referring to community participation as an active process by which beneficiaries being the client group (community) enhances their well-being in terms of personal growth, income, self reliance or any other value they all cherish. 18 Accordingly the involvement of people starts from need identification, decision making, contribution of personal as well as material resources and the evaluation of their own actions. This in tum will develop their well being and finally give them personal gratification. Community participation demands the full involvement of communities through the whole developmental process. It is quite possible that external assistance may be needed to assist the community to pursue their needs, but decision-making should be left completely in the hands of local people. Funders and facilitators should not dictate to the community. Only the poor, can best tell of their poverty state rather than being told by outsiders (Burkey, 1993:62). The importance of the community identifying their own needs and feeling those needs can not be under estimated because it is only if they perceive the need that they will pursue action to meet the said need. Thus active participation is maintained by sharing common needs, common objectives that need to exist between the community and development agents (Cobbett 1987:324). The involvement of communities in developmental projects should mark a level of transition from "low level of participation in decision making, involvement in activities and utilization of resources with the ultimate intention of building self reliance and with spontaneous efforts". Sanders cited by Paul (1987:17). Thus participation is not an coercion, but a free will action that may establish mechanisms to even shift resources to achieve equity. 1.2 Factors influencing participation Chabalala (1995:43-49), Mafora (1994:46), Rifkin Muller et al (1988:933) give a model against which community participation can be reassured according to need assessment, leadership, manaqement, organisation and resource mobilization. Furthermore the other factor is focussing on the poor which forms the crux of the policies of the new government of South Africa. 19 Mafera (1994:46) cites that in the study which she conducted at an informal settlement of Imizamo Yethy in Houtbay, based on the effectiveness of the health intervention programme, she monitored and evaluated community participation ra~eyhan health improvement. Her findings were that community participation was hig1l"at the end of the programme as compared to baseline data. Consequently the intervention programme did not only address diarrhoea and respiratory infections, but was aimed at assessing the up level of community participation. Their participation in the programme finally assisted them to identify other possible programmes. Bichmann (1988:935) in his study of the uncoordinated rural health programmes in Nepal, discovered that it was only through Nepal's decentralization act and the six to five year plan, where locally recruited village health workers and voluntary health leaders came into existence. Health committees created thereafter managed to guarantee community involvement. Thus community participation is only fostered by active involvement of loyal people in issues affecting them. The discussion of indicators ofcommunity participation serve as a departure for the Chapter. 1.2.1 Need assessment Rifkin, Muller et al (1988:938) mention that professional assessment places this indicator at the narrow end of the spectrum. With actions of the community members in assessing and analysing needs, it moves it to broader participation. According to Swanepoel (1992:57) the first step that community developers should be consider as basic is to start building confidence and trust among community members. However, the community should be assisted to identify their own needs and prioritize them to come up with the most important that will shape the project. M~fora and Cerff (1994:46) regard need assessment as an interface of production and consumption where the professional assessor needs to enter into formal and informal discussions with communities to help them identify needs. In the process 20 the assessor needs to ascertain available capacity (resources) as well as constraints towards achieving stated needs. Meetings and surveys can be held, but finally the community should tully participate in need analysis and be able to reach a consensus. Once the need assessment process is completed and where it involved community members fully, then the formation of action groups to pursue such needs will be an automatic process. AO C~sjJJdies presented by Nientied, Mhennie and De WIl (1989:18-22) indi~ ~ ~'~ow potential development projects were done and how they failed d~ly because ( / the communities were not involved nor consulted. In Karechi! Sq~camps, nrel United Nations Development Program worked on a settlement upgrading in 1997. The common man in Karachil was supposed to remain silent and the authorities made decisions and approved plans affecting their lives. The "top down" planning compelled the community to co-operate and execute directives to work on needs they did not identifYas crucial to them. Some of the squatter residents had to destroy and rebuild their houses to accommodate the roads upgrading. The community co operation diminished and some even stopped donating their labour to such projects because they were not targeting their needs. Where as a community they needed improved water supply and an improved sewerage system in the squatter area. In Madres, the very premise was taken towards slum upgrading where housing projects were implemented by government officials as a perceived need but the community not being consulted. At the end of the projects the community felt that the maintenance of the provided houses as well as all the services in the locality was not their responsibility, but that of the government. They never said they wanted houses and they exonerated themselves from paying service fees (rent boycotts). he actions that in~~mmunity members in research and analysis of needs is the only way to maximize their participation (Rifkin, Muller, Bichmann (1988:938». It is only when the community participated in need assessment that they will pursue actions to meet their needs. They will commit themselves to the project. Thus the 21 involvement in planning and implementation should also be seen as crucial where they always have to make decisions about issues affecting them. 1.2.2 Organization "lf the health programme is to be community based, the organizations must exist among community people to implement the program" (Rifkin, Muller et al 1988:939). If developers decide not to use community organization the sustainability of their projects is questionable thus putting this indicator at the narrow end of the conitinuum because there is no community participation. De Clercq (1994:245) mentions that community structures play a vital role in pressing and addressing identified needs. Such structures exert influence over broad community decision making.. The community developer or programme planners should assist the community to form action groups that will finally elect committees to function as task teams. Where such organizations exist, they need to be supported and gUided through. The importance of an appropriate organizational structure for full community participation in projects needs to be highly stressed. Such structures have different ways of being formed, but in case of electing a committees or action, to represent such a structure, this should be done democratically. The elected should have members good repute, be credible and represent basically the interests of the community (Cobbett, 1987:330). Very often structured organizations do exist in communities, but in most instances with political or personal agendas. Such organizations existed mostly in townships in the South African context as liberation movements fighting for equal rights. After the inception of GNU (Government of National Unity) in 1994, such organizations still . exist and even mushroomed in rural areas as civic associations. Where focusing is on.developing these communities. They act as mouth pieces for their communities to receive basic health and development services such as clinics, electricity, water, etc. 22 Mafora (1994:46) mentions that the broader community interacts with organizations within their geographic areas. The community is able to articulate their grievances there and state their views and opinions. Such structures provide a platform for participation of community members. Members have knowledge about lives at hand and can be instrumental in allaying suspicions and mobilizing resources. The Black Sash report of 1993, concerning the harassed and persecuted non Tswanas of the Winterfeld area in the former Bophuthatswana homeland indicated how local organizations managed to mobilize the majority of residents to resist Bophuthatswana citizenship. Citizenship was seen as an attempt to rob the community of their South African rights. Organizations in local communities should be able to "meet not only health needs but also other needs as identified." Clark, Bekker and Cross (1994:84) indicated that local organizations receive more - .~. support from community members and on the other hand need to give the community feedback on developments achieved. Still the majority of such organization have no skills to act as equal partners in negotiations within government officials, NGO's or even foreign donors. Thus they need empowerment through training of staff members and even continuous support to ensure that they acquire skills to maintain development in their neighbourhood. 1.2.3 Resource mobilization Mobilization of local resources ensures self-reliance, commitment and responsibility to initiated programs. Where local resources are being utilized, e.g. staff, the government is exempted from allocating the source resources like its personnel f~ program/projects developments in such area~iZing the utilization of outside l resources such as money, manpower or materials reduces costs and interference in the project or program the community is embarking on (Rifkin, Muller and Bichmann, 1988:939). The indicator for resource mobilization does only foster commitment, but also the control of local people over their projects. 23 Community members are important contributors whose faculties resemble good resources (Swanepoel, 1992:61). Identifying human potentials among community members that would be used in developmental projects to achieve their needs. The author mentionsthat resources for community participation include: i) Human resources - including norms, values, beliefs and traditions of community members. There is a need to understand all these basic issues in the ~ ------~ ,J:Ommunity bEtC@use working against them could yield negative results. These very issues can be used for disciplin~'YJ~~I'P-O~~ in casethere is deviation from them. The community would thus like their values to be respected. ii) Natural resources - This refers to resources provided by nature and include water, soil or temperature. Much as these are shared resources, the developer needs to ensure that they are compatible with the project in order to enlist full participation. iii) Manufactured resources - Including roads, communication and amenities or infrastructure. The community need to fully utilize resources that are relevant to the project at hand. Where such resources are not available e.g. Communication with other structures, this should be initiated through mobilization. Money is another ~Cial _moneY-iLcII>eY~~1 th~.J1!()jecl + IeSQ!ll! Mobilizing-resources can be from within by focusing at what is available within the community by using the capabilities of the very community by even making them aware of resources in their midst e.g. leadership, still, mobilization of resources can be from outside where the developer need to link the community and complement the resources they have. Clerk, Cross et al (1994:84) Boaden (1980:39-41) Paul (1987:13) and Anzorla (1980:190) share common views about external resources. That they are within the hands of external people who invariably want to have a say in the use of resources 24 they provide e.g. donors and external funders. Usually they provide fu sand give---""j schedules or time frames ana-d ignore the fact that coromuni evelopme~t is a ~o: process and that people need time to deyeIQP_CQncrete_mQ~ of participation for ( ...... ",,,,------...._--- .~~ --capacity building. _._.. UNICEF and SIDA are basically funding most programmes in South Africa. These donors often come with their own agenda's and emphasize selected interventions (Seminar paper 1994:7). In most instances projects are started from "top down" with ..Jlo proper n~ssessment. Recently (1997 August) in No~t Province, community developers..werarushed to writabusiness-plans-for-communities..because..., ~QQ,QQO.~§ release.Q from NationaLQffice..foLdevelopmental-projects-Si the whole process was rushed need assessment was never done. One tends to question where is community participation? Once these funds are secured will the community fully.p~rticipate in such projects? \ ~munities are resources inJbllmselves Ib~ Deed-lo-be-fully-illl/oIlI~ level of the· . nUor them. Much as external funders are important to ~ ,augment resources available, decisions should still be left in the hands of local~ ( communities and they should provide the necessary information. ) Cobbett (1987:332) mentions that in mobilizing local resources community developers need to assist by transferring basic project management skills to lo.cal .memb~r~_J.oJTlakt:t.!hem competent in managing their proj~c::ts. Thus training in --"-"-"'---""-'-'.- ', .. -, ~."-,,._-,-"~"<.._-.,.-~ maflag.eria-'-.flJ~.c:tions, .prC?i:?'em solving, .£ommuni~tion anct-teRort_wDJiD9"..wilj , . enhance their participation. Experience has indicated that if people know and .' ....•••• ""..... --.;fr> ------,-~- I ynderstand what they are doing, they get motivated and ~rform excellently, but if f Jhey are confused and~ncJear this ~" then impact negatively 00 their iovohLeme~ Thus if community members possesses these skills, they would feel competent and therefore maximum participation. 25 1.2.4 Leadership Leadership is defined as a "process of being able to influence and mobilize other people towards achieving stated goals or objectives" (Jojwana, 1987:121). Leadership is comprised of different qualities and attributes and the combination of these being able to solicit the commitment of others. The constructive involvement of others is basic because there is no leader without followers. Leadership is the capacity to secure willing support of people in the achievement of the organization's worthwhile goals. Basically it is necessary to find out who the existing leadership represents, how leadership is impacting on the interests of the majority especially the poor and how it was elected. "Leadership is meaningful for community participation if it enjoys the support of the majority" (Rifkin et al, (1988:939». - .~; Development agents shou!5J acknowledge that by .working..and co-operating with local leaders, the chances of achieving maximum participation of the community are --'~'-"---'-'- .". - ~_._-_.,....~------.---~--~'-- '" greater. Swanepoel\,1992:72) cites that for full participation of local p~pl~ communities leadership should come from the elected action groups or comh1ittees. These groups or committees should be democratically elected, rather than official making themselves leaders or choosing their own leaders. Committees provide for democratic participatory mechanisms, the sharing of information and skills as well as conflict management. With a democratic and charismatic leader, members are able to make decisions and to question status quos not compatible to their needs (Walters, 1985:26). The author recommends the committee as a necessary leadership structure in working within developmental projects because it offers other people opportunities for development. Unlike empowering one person. Furthennore availability, responsibility and tasks are shared which in tum facilitates progress. 26 Rifkin, Muller and Sichmann (1988:939) indicate that the attitude of leaders towards programmes or projects is crucial because followers or committees tend to support what their leaders see as good and acceptable. 1.2.5 Management According to Rifkin, Muller and Bichmann (1998:939) management as an indicator in community participation include management of organizations in the programme and the programme itself. If management structures favour professionals then this indicates a narrow participation of community members. Management has been regarded as a technical and specific field in which responsibilities were viewed as requiring expert knowledge and skills. Ordinary community memb.ers. were excluded from performing this function because their .;.,. knowledge, competency and skills were doubted. Thus the professionals or developers would be the ones concerned with drawing business plans, allocating funds Le. budget, control those funds, keep expenditure and income reports (financial matters). Although the project will be in the community, the running of this project will be from their offices far away from the community. Cobbett (1987:39) mentions that the professionals were taking advantage because they saw poor people as having low self esteem and doubting their ability to control and manage their own lives. t is quite evident from experience that community management and control over ( "I nding or even devel0pl11ent is not at an adequate level, but it important to.build and , ----... _..... i strengthen. thE!rn. More highly sophisticated procedures for management can be--' avoided so that the community can also have more input in management. In such instances they will not only be involved at identifi~ds and share in the benefits of the projects. They will in fact be taking full control and management of their own project and, hence, personal development. 27 Clark, Cross et al (1994:87) mention the fears of developers and funders over bUdget controls and time schedules if they leave everything in the hands of omm u n i ti es . That moneys will not be allocated for or will even be squandered and that considerable time may be lost before the project could achieve its intended ~oals. In such instances, professionals need to build capacity where it is lacking in the community. In order to transform and empower communities to be able to manage their project in future, there is a need for skills transfer. "The community need to be trained thoroughly in management related aspects including conflict management, book keeping, finance management, HR management, bUdgeting and documentation" Cobbett (1987:333). Management structures should be expanded and broadened to include the decision making group as the end beneficiaries of the project services. The White Paper on Developmental Socia~ Welfare (1997) contends that no decisions should be taken for .... -. any group of people especially women, people with disabilities or the aged. Thus the board of Management or any committee targeting the needs of these people should have representatives of these people within their management structures. The GNU (Government of National Unity) premise was to involve local communities as much as possible and to hold them accountable for their own development. These policy intentions are outlined in Acts of Parliament. Act No. 2 of 1997 : North West Health Developmental Social Welfare and Hospital Governance Institutions Act, outlines how local communities would be represented in governance structures for health and welfare issues. According to the Act, local people wil be having a role to play in upgrading services and even in the employment of professionals to render these efficient and effective services. The case study of assessing community participation in developmental work that was done in Winterveld in 1983, shows how government authorities ignore local communities commitment to their own development. Winterveld has been a unique area meant for "Bantu only" awarding to the Native Trust and land Act 1989. The 28 area bordered RSA and former Bophuthatswana with different Ethnic groups the Tswana's, Ndebele's, Shangaans, Sothos, etc. In 1977 (after the independence of Bophuthatswana) the Nationalist government persuaded Mr Mangope to take over the area and pledged substantial funds for the development of the area characterized by poor health, illiteracy and unemployment (Black Sash 1983). The Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) consisting of representatives from relevant government departments from Bophuthatswana and RSA was formed. The proposed upgrading strategy of this task team was to address some political issues e.g. identify documents, residence permits, pensions and employment rights. The budget of R188.5 million was made available and the Development Bank of South Africa took over the management and the administration of the development ~ .~.~ program. The community was never involved in any decision making, planning, implementation or monitoring of the project. The IGWG task team did not think of them as knowledgeable enough to be involved in any management or administration functions (DBSA 1987:10). What is worth noting is that the program ran into problems suffering from an inappropriate implementation framework which did not secure adequate and ongoing community participation. Failure to involve the community finally led to missing the crucial needs of the community as proposed to what the IGWG focused on. Community participation can only make sense if developmental agencies assist the community with information, documentation, education and skills for it to play an informed role at all stages (de Clercq, 1994:244). 1.2.6 FOCUS ON THE POOR Swanepoel (1992:6) mentions the fact that recent observations by experts in South Africa on the aspect of community development indicated that the differences between. the. poor community and ideal community is more on human attributes rather than physical attributes such as wealth. According to the author the poor are 29 ~gn.orant, ill informed, lack resources and leadership and they are low in adapting to]v« ~ange. In the new South African context, the development and empowerment of the poor who are basically the groups that have been marginalized by the Apartheid era is receiving great attention. Woman, children, disabled and black rural communities have been disadvantaged of basic services to address their needs. The government is reaching out to such communities and in line with the Equity principal of the Transformation process, resources are being redistributed to address the plight of the poor. Clark, Cross et al (1994:87) voiced a concern over the fact developers are not poverty literate. They are not sensitive to the problems of communities they propose to be serving. They care less to understand the effects of poverty on the disempowered communities. Powerful projects could yield sustainable result if initiated by powerful interest groups and very rarely such projects are initiated with the involvement of the poor. The voice of t~J~QPLis-usually-less-heardbecause ,.------"----- r jhe.y personally have low esreem-and are helpless. Basic reasons being that they lack political power and their low socio economic s~tus that distance them from government and development agencies. 'Where members need only expect material benefit without their capacity being strengthened, this is not participation but exploitation" (Craig, 1985:173-191). Capacity building among poor people is crucial because they only lack skills and knowledge, but otherwise they possess the ability that only needs to be sparked on by involving them so that they learn, develop insight and be capacitated. The officials or developers need to accord value to local communities contributions and respect their views and options because they are the people who understand their situation best 30 Burkey (1993:62) shares the same opinion with the researcher that the poor should not be told that they are poor. They are the only ones who can tell and define their poverty level. This opinion indicates clearly that ifthey can define their poverty level, then they can even make choices on projects that will best address their needs. In developing poor people, then there should be a transition from low level of participation in decision making, involvement in activities and utilization of resources with the purpose of achieving self reliance. Change must be fostered. However, this transition should be done with inner spontaneous efforts. People participate in projects for individual growth and personal power, if the project fails to provide this they hope and withdraw (Checkoway, 1995:4-5). Thus the poor do not participate in projects for money only. They need to accumulate market related skills which can finally assist them to secure permanent work. It was indicated earlier (page no?) on that all the factors influencing community participation can be converted to indicators that can be evaluated in some kind of a continuum. This is not possible with this last factor because it is difficult to identify the poor. Being poor is a relative term and different connotations can be given to this aspect. Furthermore referring to the continuum how do we conclude on being too poor or less poor? Still it is difficult to differentiate in the context of this study, those who are very poor from those who are just poor. Hence the difficulty of placing this factor in the continuum. Thus this factor does not merge with the qualities of the other factors, but is also an important factor influencing community participation. The phenomenon of community participation has been awarded enough recognition by even industrialized countries like America. In 1973 the Office of Economic Opportunities (OED) was launched to attend to problems of the contemporary poor with emesurable problems (Marais & Rein, 1973:153). This was in line with the Poverty AJleviation Act in that country which emphasized maximum feasible participation of the disadvantaged through faith in their intellectual power and local competencies. 31 Case studies of organizations implementing policies of the OEO were done at the initial introduction of these policies. These organizations were then followed up for 2 years. Discoveries were that the participation of the "poor" in programmes fostered local responsibilities and encouraged mutual help amongst them. Individual's inferiority complex and poor self image improved as people now took active initiatives in handling local issues. Other needs were identified, new programs started and authorities were confronted on resource allocations (Marris & Rein, 1973:153). The OEO case studies indicate that maximum community participation transforms the socio-economic standard of communities if exercised practical and in true sense ofthe word. 2. OBSTACLES TO COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION The term community jnvolvement and community participation has been under a lot of consideration -internationally and not least in South Africa. Zwi et al (1988) indicate that countries have been subjected to a great struggle towards improving health status through Primary Health Care where communities need to be actively involved. Maximum participation was not reached in most instances due to a number of obstacles or impending factors e.g. poor information giving, lack of feedback and non involvement of community members in decision making. Boaden (1980), Paul (1987), Anzorha (1980) mention that community projects lack sustainability because full participation of communities was not enlisted. Funders of projects become anxious and feel that working with the community to increase participation will cost them money and time. The pace of development among communities will differ and it is crucial to give the community enough time to develop their mode of participation. This is not only a concern about production, but their interaction and relationship development as well as change in human skills. Funders and donors often come with their agendas, schedules and choice of .. projects, because they want to achieve their own goals. The community then has to fit into the "readymade" or tailored plan because they are desperate for resources. 32 This pressurises them to choose projects that are not addressing real needs. Eventually they lose interest and withdraw from participating in such projects. De Zoya (1993), Hope and Timmel (1984), Walters (1985) and Mafora (1994) indicate that the state of conflict existing within community members plays a very important role. Conflict exist due to scarce resources, clashing interests and nationalities or personalities and needs. As indicated conflict is constructive as long as it is reasonable and can be handled correctly. In itself it fosters growth among community members. Walters (1984:39) in her Cape Town study on participation of local people in the Zakhe Organization, discovered that conflict was down played. This caused an enormous withdrawal of participants to the extent that the project almost collapsed. Conflict among community members should be acknowledged and that consensus seeking should be a first preference. Through engaging people in discussions, debates and arguments, an agreement can be reached finally. -;•• <. Lack of capacity among communities to locate the dimensions of their own problems and sources of help can adversely affect their participation (Clark, et ai, 1994:89). The need to train the disempowered communities can never be underrated. Grossly disadvantaged communities like women and children and people with disabilities need human skills training so as to build their positive self image. If they are well capacitated then the chances are that their participation in projects addressing issues affecting them can be depended upon. Cobbett (1987:328) mention that the highly directive, paternalistic and requlated actions of the government result in a considerable degree of alienation and cynicism among South Africa communities. Enlightened top-town projects are mostly preferred. Guidelines are provided on how to write business plans, standard requirements are laid for trading and if the community project does not meet the requirements, it is not funded. The budget is allocated from above and the community need to operate within these boundaries. At the end, people are being given orders to carry out and withdraw from participating, thus not even considering that finally the programme will benefit them. 33 Poorly motivated and underpaid staff fail to support and galvanise communities for maximum participation (Cobbett, 1987:331). 3. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS "Community development is a movement designed to promote better living for the whole community with active, participation and on the initiatives of the community" (Cobbett, 1987:324). Emphasis is placed on social as opposed to economic development. Thus community projects aim at improving health, nutrition, education and welfare ofthe community rather than economic gains. Development projects can be undertaken by government e.g. RDP or even by local communities. Usually such projects resemble a collective effort to address a need and the time phase can not be specified. . ",,'- In most in instances people will participate in projects only if they see the benefit of their participation that should not always indicate monetary gains, but emotional and capacity building. People need to participate fully by making decisions and having the opportunity to realize their potential as well as to take action for their own development. Welfare Update - October 1998:4 refers to the recent paradigm shift by the government to eradicate poverty by involving communities in developmental projects i.e. flagship programme. A reference is made that with the developmental approach to welfare to self help schemes to address poverty related problems will be promoted rather than making people recipients of social grants. In flagship projects women are directly involved with their efforts combined their children under the age of five benefit. Flagship projects were established in the Nine Provinces and differ according to need and market forces. In the North West Province Tlhabololo Development Programme in Mathateng is but one example with four sub projects: Poultry farming, candle making, communal vegetable gardens and sewing and 34 knitting garments. One hundred-and-thirtyWomen participate in this project (Social Welfare, 1997:27). In this case, the researcher has an argument, that there is no such a thing as community projects where the whole community is supposed to be actively involved because at the end such projects lose ownership. However in the case where only 130 women from the community are screened thoroughly and targeted because of certain attributes they share as unemployed, poor, haVing limited education and with children under five, chances are that there will be sustainability because these 130 women tum to see the project as theirs and thus own it. This ownership in community development is crucial for a specific group rather that expecting the whole communityto take responsibility for a project. CONCLUSION The phenomenon of community participation has been discussed in this chapter. The basic indicators have been identified which in tum give guidance of determining the extent of participation, if any, from communities on projects. It is quite evident that projects exist and sustain themselves if the community fully participates in such projects. It is then only through their active participation that they can change, transform and develop. The next chapter gives an exposition of the development policy of former Bophuthatswana homeland as it has a direct bearing on the community within the North west Province to date. 3S Chapter 3 OVERVIEW OF POLICY ON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: NORTH WEST PROVINCE. It suffices to start by giving the scenario of Community Development Policy of the former Bophuthatswana, TaVC states since its legacy still impacts on the participation of communities in the recent government. The communities still feel that the government needs to provide for them. Prior to 1994 elections, Community Development in the former Bophuthatswana was not governed by a clear cut policy. There existed various Departments as well as parastatal bodies which all claimed to be developing communities, but little if not nothing was achie.yed~ 3.1 THE DEPARTMENT CIRCULAR NO. 22 OF 1981 - SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY IN BOPHUTHATSWANA According to this policy document, the principle of self-help and mutual help is embodied in the traditions and customs of Tswana people. Thus the policy made it explicit that the welfare policy should align itself with the culture of the people. Social workers should be accessible to the community for purpose of general help and guidance for their development (circular 22, 1981:3). According to the policy as well as in practice social workers in the former Bophuthatswana have been generalists who were basically practicing according to three methods, casework, group work, and community work. It was expected of them to visit communities, help them identify their needs and advise them accordingly on how to meet those needs. Social workers had to work with the community to identify possible projects to address their needs. But still this was done under very limited resources. In 1992 1994, the NNSDP (National Nutrition System and Developmental Projects) funds were released and social workers had to recommend projects for funding. This 36 process was rushed and the communities received no training what so ever. Finally this project did receive moneys, but in no time mismanagement was identified and projects diminished. 3.2 NATIONAL PARKS BOARD Much as this organization is mostly parastatal, it also ventured in to community development. Pilanesburg Parks Board in Mankwe employed specialists on community development. These officers reached out to communities and mobilized them to start on projects and they accessed funds from Parks Board to finance these projects. Their focus areas included vegetable gardens, waste management and the building of guest houses to attract tourists to rural areas. To date the Bakgatla community and Madikwe community are still being mobilized to follow on those developmental projects. Still very little is achieved as the community see this as -_.., belonging to all of them and nobody taking full ownership. 3.3 AGRICOR Adding more to the already existing bulk of officers engaged in community development, was the Agricor personnel. Agricor encouraged local communities to engage in agricultural projects basically gardening and farming. They also provided seeds and farming equipmenfs and also encourage rural communities to grow crops and start vegetable gardens that will supplement their diet and for selling. ., .' .~ .3~4 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Despite the fact that.everybody was involved in community development, there also existed a·special department the Department of Population and Rural Development, that 'Was~sed ~ spearhead the developmental projects in the province. Their concerncentered around population related matters and still to ensure that they carryout"1he devel~ment process of communities. 37 3.5 THE OFFICE OF GOVERNORS AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT These two offices existed in all the districts of the erstwhile Bophuthatswana. Every district had the governors office which was viewed as a district co-ordination office. Governors were appointed by the then state president and they attended to all issues in their districts including Departmental issues. Still these offices had components of Community Development. The community development officers of the District Governors offices also played a role development. They visited communities, helped them identify needs including creches, clinics as well as other projects meant for Development. Community Development during this era, was complex and uncoordinated. All these sectors (bodies) with each involved in CD, applied their own strategies, but yet targeted the same com.munity. Finally the very community became more confused as they did not know who were the relevant persons to work with. Officers engaged in some kind of departmental competition with no collaboration where each organisation bring the best resource package and had to convince the community that they are the best. The implicit fight over communities led to officers without a lucrative resource package being redundant as far as community development is concerned. Basically projects monitored by social workers were the first to collapse due to poor funding. Communities redirected their participation to other projects facilitated by organization that offered the best resources. In the new dispensation this state of affair precipitated to subsequent conferences held in the North West Province in 1997. On the 22 August 1997 the first Community Development Bosberaad was held where the discussions centered around Community Development versus Social Development in the North West Province. 38 Consequently a 3 days workshop was held as from 25th - 27th August 1997. This was a national workshop were all the nine provinces were represented. The purpose of this workshop was to come up with a working document to govern Community Development. The shortfalls of the previously used gUidelines of operation led to the need to improve the strategy of operating. The new policy document (guidelines) on Community Participation in service delivery came into existence and hopefully it would alleviate the problem of fragmented Community Development actions. SEVERAL KEY ISSUES HIGHLIGHTED IN THE DOCUMENT Participation in intersectoral service delivery The new social welfare policy for South Africa opts for the intersedoral approach in service delivery. The concerted efforts of different stakeholders including the community, is given first priority. Chapter four of the document deals with this issue and regards the community as the key stakeholder in service delivery projects. Mention is made of the capabilities and resources within the community that should be seriously tapped and that the community should be engaged from need assessment to project monitoring. No project should be off the ground without the involvement of the community in need assessment and prioritization. Chapter 6,7, and 9 give an exposition on facilitation and management of community participation. The emphasis is on how to foster people participation rather than being more theoretical on community development. The significance of the community participation charter is fully discussed on page 102 ofthe document. 39 Since it resembles more of a contract, in a way if participants made an informed, consent this could prevent the overwhelming pulling out of people from projects once .they have retained membership. The other aspects that are viewed as comer stones of community participation such as importance of feedback, monitoring (auditing) as well as evaluation ofthe projects are highlighted in this document as well as the impact they have on the subject. In conclusion the guidelines included in the Community Participation in service delivery document (1997) give a -positive step towards fostering better community participation. It upholds the participation of coi'nmunities as the crucial factor. It also addresses omissions and shortfalls on policy for project management that existed previously. 40 Chapter 4 PARTICIPANT'S OPINIONS ON COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPMENT PROJECT: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY. 1. INTRODUCTION Research is a systematic process that aims at providing information to resolve problems or formulate theories. It unfolds in stages of formulating the problem, hypothesizing, studying the literature, gathering data through the empirical survey, analyzing the data and finally compiling the report about the findings. The final report also provides for conclusions and recommendations. In the previous chapters, the researcher studied literature on the phenomenon of Community Development. She further consulted with key informants (people) who provided the best information on the subject. The researcher also consulted policy documents and guidelines for Welfare Policy in former Bophuthatswana state although vague, and the recent Community Participation in service Delivery Guidelines document (HSRC 1997). The overview of these documents were reported on in Chapter 3: . In this chapter, the researcher gives the report on the findings of the study about the experience of participants in CD projects and their suggestions on how maximum sustainability can be ensured. Annexure A (Interviewing Schedule) was used· to gather data. 2. DISCRIPTION OF THE EMPIRICAL FINDINGS 41 2.1 Method ofdata collection Quite a number of data gathering methods were available to the researcher but the interview schedule was rated the most appropriate for a study of this kind. The reason being that the phenomenon under study has most been researched in the North West Province. The interview schedule was structured and thus provided uniform questioning of respondents (see Annexure A). 2.2 POPULATION GROUP The population for the study comprised all people who once participated in CD projects and whose names were kept in the Register held by the Community Development Officers in the Rustenburg District Office. .•_0' The register reflected the total number of 65 names as well as the residential particulars of these people. Since they are few the researcher decided to study the whole population. The researcher managed to contact 34 participants of the said group. Others could not be reached due to factors beyond the researcher's control as already discussed in Chapter 1 of this document. 3. DISCUSSION OF EMPIRICAL RESULTS. 3.1 Biographical data 3.1.1 TABLE 1: Sex and marital status Marital status and sex SINGLE MARRIED WIDOWED DIVORCED TOTAL Male 2 3 1 2 8 Female 10 6 5 5 26 Total 12 9 6 7 34 42 SEX Findings of the study indicate that females are the majority. They form seventy eight percent of the total number of participants. This is not suprising because in black communities particularly in rural area, women stay at home as housewives when men go for work at the mines and in big cities such as Johannesburg and Pretoria. The community around this area of study fits well into this category as women are left at home to raise children when their husbands compete in the labour market such as the surrounding mines and outside the area in the neighbouring cities. MARITAL STATUS From the table, it is apparent that quite a number of the participants were single. They represent thi~ five percent of the total population. The majority is single, and this could be attributed to the fact that their singlehood pressurized them to resort to the projects for financial assistance since they had no partner to rely on. Still they do not live alone in their households. They do have children to care for. The divorced in the study represent twenty one percent of the participants. This did not corne as a surprise to the researcher because the divorce rate in the area is showing an increase. Even from the case statistics of social workers marital disputes and divorce exceed all other case categories (Rustenburg Statistical report, 1997). 3.1.2 Age in years From the table below it is evident that most participants represented an early middle aged generation and are 36 & 45 years. Hence the reason why most are single parents, followed by those who are married and quite a number already being once married and now divorced. 43 TABLE 2: Age in years AGE FREQUENCIES PERCENT 31-35 2 6 36-40 4 12 41-45 17 50 46-50 8 23 51-55 3 9 Total 34 100 3.1.3 Highest educational qualifications The researcher deemed it fit to include the qualifications of the respondents. This will indicate the level of-literacy in the community. ••~<. TABLE 3: Educational qualifications EDUCATIONAL STANDARD FREQUENCIES PERCENT Grade 0 - std 5 20 59 Std 6-std 8 12 35 Std 9 - std 10 + 2 6 Total . 34 100 The above table indicates that most participants could only pursue their educational _~es up to standard five. Fifty percent of the total population falls within this level. Since most of them could not go beyond standard 10 the possibility is that much as they could wish to secure employment, it is difficult to do so with the qualification they are holding. For CD projects training people of this caliber would require 44 simplified and practical methods of training because some could not even read or write well. Thus training them through manuals will not have much of an impact. Simple practical training could be more relevant Hence the training on candle making was a practical exercise on how candles are made. The poor qualifications of respondents, from the researcher's point of view could still be attributed to their low socio-economic level, which finally even impacted on their literacy level. Figure 1 below illustrates the levels of qualification of respondents. FIGURE 1 : QUALIFICATION OF RESPONDENTS 100 .. 90 ...- 80 70 60 50 59% 40 30 35% 20 10 0 6% grade o-std , std ()- std ~ std ~ .std w+ 45 3.1.4 Religious .affiliation Religious affiliation is also another way/structure of bringing people together. According to findings on the study the predominately attended churches are the lutheran church with twenty-six percent (26%) of respondents as members. Both the Roman Catholic and the Anglican church each has fifteen percent of membership. The other respondents indicated that they attend ZCC, NG Kerk, IPC and Faith Mission. The majority of respondents, ninety-four percent are affiliated to a church and they attend regularly. It is evident then that the community still values the norm of coming together as a unit to worship together. Another dimension discovered is that members of a Certain church e.g. lutheran church will be participating together in a project. But still those with few members belonging to their different churches - ~ .., participate anywhere. 3.1.5 Occupation The responses of the study indicated that onehundred percent (100%) of the respondents were not skilled for any particular job. They were unskilled labourers who were not gainfully employed. The situation around Rustenburg was demotivating for those seeking employment since most people who were employed were retrenched from their jobs. In addition, the level of their educational qualification was another factor hindering employment. This, however, does not mean that people with low educational qualifications cannot be employed in anyway. 46 3.1.6 Households Findings indicated that only six percent of the respondents mentioned that they are staying alone whereas the majority, that is thirty two out of the total number of 34 respondents, indicated that they are staying either with their spouses, their children or relatives. The housing situation is unsatisfactory as participants are staying with their other family members in cramped houses. Much can not be done on this aspect of their living condition l.e, improve their houses. The money they get from the proceeds ofthe project is used to support their dependants. TABLE 4 : HOUSEHOLDS PER HOUSE OCCUPANTS FREQUENCIES PERCENT Alone 2 6 With other family- members 32 94 .. Total 34 100 3.1.7 Level of participation in projects It is important to include the responses on this subsection because it indicates the types of projects that existed in the district as well as the projects that were the preference ofmost community members. Table no 5 present responses on the type of projects that were in existence as well as participation in those projects. 47 TABLE 5 LEVEL OF PARTICIPATION IN PROJECT PROJECT TYPE FREQUENCIES PERCENT Sewing 7 20 Knitting 4 12 Baking 6 18 Brick laying 4 12 Gardening 8 23 Candle making 5 15 Total 34 100 The above table indicates that to date seven types of projects existed in the district. The Gardening Projects managed to draw the attention of most respondents, that is twenty three percent. The reason behind being that rural communities have long being involved in subsistence farming (crop farming). Thus gardening could be -> found to be the most familiar and profitable. Furthermore such projects did not require formal training, nor special raw materials. Also they could be more accessible especially in rural areas where there is enough land for extensive cultivation as compared to townships and urban areas. 3.1.8 Housing The type of dwelling (Housing) respondents occupy provides an indication of the socio-economic level of the community level ofthe community. TABLE 6: Types of dwelling HOUSE TYPE FREQUENCY PERCENT Shack 16 47 Mud house 5 15 Brick houses 9 26 Other 4 12 Total 34 100 48 The above table indicates that forty-seven per cent (47%) of respondents live in shacks. It is not surprising to arrive at such findings because the majority was unskilled and unemployed for some years. Some are living in brick houses, but did not build the houses themselves. Either they inherited them from their parents or were looking after the house for somebody else working elsewhere. Thus with the prevailing economic situation quite a number of respondents indicated that it would be difficult for them to build their own proper houses because they are not employed. 3.1.9 Period of participation The period of participation in a particular project is important to indicate the days, months or years a person committed himself or herself to the project. This in tum gives an indication to sustainability; because the shorter the period of participation, the less sustainable the project. The sustainability of projects depends on regular community participation. The frequency of participation as indicated by the responses of the participants was low. Participants indicated that they were not attending regularly and that is even proved by the attendance registers where some will even be absent for a week or so. 49 FIGURE 2: PERIOD OF PARTICIPATION 100 90 80 70 70% 60 50 40 30 30 300/0 20 20% 10 0 Less than Less than Less than 30 days 1 year 2 years Figure 2 indicates that seventy percent (70%) of the respondents mentioned that they participated in the project for the period less than a year. This indicates that the majority never exercised much participation for long. Only thirty percent could go beyond a year with their project. but could not stay more than two years. Whereas at the beginning of this document mention was made of the fact that for the project to be described as sustainable it must be active for not less than three years. 50 The findings above indicate that community development projects in this district were not sustainable. People withheld their participation in these projects for various reasons which are explicitly given in Table 7 below. 3.1.10Problems experienced during participation Respondents indicated that they withdrew their participation in the Projects of their choice basically due to problems that existed. Table below indicates the rating as given by respondents. TABLE 7: Problems as experienced TYPE OF PROBLEM FREQUENCY PERCENT 1. Poor attendance by others 34 100 - 2. less work by others 28 82 3. Pressure from above 25 73 4. little payments 22 64 5. Delays in payments 20 58 6. Gossips 15 44 7. Lack of feedback 10 29 From the table above, it is important to note that the presented problems are rated in their order of their frequency. With one (1) representing the most frequent problem according to respondents and seven (7) the lowest frequency. It is worth noting again from the above Table that a hundred percent (100%) of the respondents share the same opinion that poor attendance by others finally led to them withdrawing their participation from the project. The amount as well as the period of getting money is also important. The majority of respondents indicated that the other problem that led to their withdrawal was that they received little cash from the shared profit and this only came after a long period. 51 It is apparent that people join CD projects with certain hopes and expectations. That they are going to get money quickly and attend to their financial constraints. As soon as their expectations are not fulfilled, they lose hope and stop participating. The uncertainty of not knowing how much you are going to get at the end also demotivates participants. According to information gathered dUring the study, people prefer being told how much they will get and when. After selling their products, which at the beginning does not yield a considerable amount, people tend to be frustrated by the little money they get after devoting a considerable amount of their time to the project. They despair and stop participating. This is not surprising to the researcher since it was found that communities compare participation in CD projects to salary paying jobs. Thus they expect month end salaries which was not possible until their products were sold and that they were merely sharing the profit. Still, on the issue ofproblems experienced during participation, it was noted that it is crucial to first meet the basic needs of people. According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, people need food, water and shelter. It is difficult to work on the project with an empty stomach, especially if no meals are provided. In most instances funds were made available for projects for the purchasing of raw materials, not for catering. In such instances those who cannot afford to bring a meal find it difficult to work with an empty stomach. Figure 3 provides an illustration of ratings to their problems by participants as contributing to failure of projects. World Bank (1996:77) discussed the importance of making a commitment since little can be accomplished without it. FIGURE 3: THE RATING OF VARIOUS PROBLEMS AS CONTRIBUTING TO PROJECT FAILURE: RATINGS 1. = Poor attendance 52 2. = Less work 3. = Pressure 4. = Inadequateremuneration 5. = Delayed remuneration 6. = Gossip 7. = Lack of feedback Percentage 100 100 90 80 82% 10 13% 60 64% 50 .. , 580/0 40 44% 30 29% 20 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 FIGURE 3 th~GLthaUrregul~j!tt~!!~C!nce Participants mentioned~, .~_c.."_'_'''_'_.~.of other~_~<_.~_. project"«_~~~ members _ • « __<..• - ' •• _'______,.. __ and the laziness of others caused a serious concern because in the end they were e~cted t~_!t:!~u~_.c;;glTllTli~l~!!~.~~lly through payments. 53 The fact that payments were few and sometimes delayed, demotivated the hardworking group even more. Thus they did not see the purpose of continuing participating if they were not retarded rewarded in accordance with the level of their work 3.2 EXPERIENCES DURING PARTICIPATION Authors such as Burkey (1993) and Yap (1982) mentioned the fact that community development should enhance personal growth and development of an individual. Individual members should be empowered so that finally their concerted efforts should yield a self reliant and self sufficient community. Thus it was important to find out from participants about any experiences dUring their participation that led to self growth. If such attribute changes could be ascertained they could be reinforced to maintain the long standing participation of communities. 3.2.1 Improvement of communication and interaction skills Walters (1985:28) as indicated in the literature review contends that community -y participation can be enhanced by task rotation such as chairing meetings and minute taking to improve an individuals communication skills. The Table below provides findings of the study on this subject. TABLE 8: Opinions on improvement of communication skills RESPONSES FREQUENCIES PERCENT Strongly agree 5 15 Agree 12 35 Uncertain 10 29 Disagree 7 21 Strongly disagree 0 0 Total 34 100 54 From the Table it is evident that a high number of respondents indicated that they experienced a positive change in their communication and interaction. Fifty percent indicated that they experienced growth and improvement in their communication skills. (The responses on Agree and Strongly agree). This is acceptable with the shortage of manpower in this District which finally exposed them to more public and administration functions. In Rustenburg, when these projects were in full operation, there was only one community liaison officer who could not monitor the progress of all these projects. Hence projects lacked sufficient opportunity for contact making with her and members had to learn to communicate with the outside world all by themselves. 3.2.2 Need assessment The process of need assessment is crucial for deciding on the focus of every project. Prior to any action taking, it is important to conduct a need assessment survey to find out what is really needed by the community. This in turn helps to make projects responsive and relevant to the community's felt needs. Seventy six percent (76%) of the total population studied mentioned that they never engaged in any need assessment for their project's viability. Some mentioned that they were individually contacted by government officials and told to start with particular projects identified already. Others mentioned the fact that they were called to a meeting and told to start working on a certain project. From the responses gathered it is evident that need assessment does not receive full attention although it is a fundamental aspect of every project. It is not surprising to end up with such different responses to the question. As already indicated in Chapter 3, there were different departments and parastatal bodies ln the fonner Bophuthatswana government.all .of .which ..claimed a stake in 55 community development. So every body had his own way of initiating projects. Interesting to note is that the majority were unprocedural and run contrary to established DC practice. Those who confirmed that they engaged in a need assessment, and forming only twenty four per cent (24%) of the respondents, mentioned that the project started was identified by them. They mentioned the fact that their choice was based on the fact that their products were marketable within their community, such as vegetables and bricks. 3.2.3 Screening Respondents were asked as to whether they were screened in any way prior to participating in CD projects. The majority mentioned that they were never screened. They were chosen by key people in the community, projects leaders or invited by their friends to join the project. Figure 4 below indicates the level of recruitment modes that were used to attract respondents to the projects. 3.2.4 MODE I STYLE OF RECRUITMENT FIGURE 4 : METHODS OF RECRUITMENT TO CO PROJECTS Percent too 90 80 .70 f-- 60 6O~ 50 40 30 30% 20 10 o 5cr4 5~ 1 2 3 4 FIGURE 4. 56 Key people such as headmen and tribesmen in the community at times play an important role since they would understand community members better as well as their plight. On the other hand their positions could influence a person to participate for fear of disappointing the authority. However, in case where such multiple strategies are in use as in the above figure, this could create misunderstanding unlike cases where one system is used to identify people for participation. Furthermore, people need be further screened as a way to determine their suitability and commitment. Such a procedure can lead to optimal performance. 1. Key people in the community =60% 2. Project leaders = 30% 3. Friends = 5% 4. Relatives = 5% 3.2.4 Training Training is important to equip participants with knowledge of what is expected from them. People need to be trained in executing certain project functions such as administrative functions and the actual manufacturing of products. Projects such as baking, sewing, knitting and candle making need people to undergo considerable training before in order to produce quality products. The respondents were asked as to whether they received any training for the project of their choice. Eighty-eight per cent (88%) indicated that they received no training. Twelve percent indicated that they were given training in candle-making. The training was offered by a wax selling company from Johannesburg on condition that the project members will purchase wax from them and not from any other company. The manual report for the training, many of these people personally conducted the training, is attached (Appendix C). 57 3.2.5 Evaluation of the project Much as government officials are not supposed to own community development projects, it is important to make visits and ascertain progress made by participants. Respondents were asked as to whether their projects have ever been evaluated. The responses were as indicated in the table below. TABLE 9: RESPONSES ON EVALUATION OF PROJECTS. RESPONSES FREQUENCY PERCENT YES 0 0 NO 34 100 . Total 34 100 All the respondents, that is a hundred per cent (100%) of respondents, indicated that there was no evaluation of CD projects. It is worth noting that during the initial stages ofthe projects the issue ofevaluation should also be addressed. Participants should be informed on how the project would be evaluated and they should also be familiarized as to the method of evaluation. Participants should be equipped with the method of evaluation since they are also the key people for implementing it (Emmett and Steyn et aI1997:137). However in all the projects that were started in this part of the North West Province, evaluation was never considered as an integral part of the project life cyde. The majority 100% of respondents mentioned their wish for the progress they made to be assessed and to be informed oftheir achievement as to whether it is up to standard. Evaluation of projects is not only done to ascertain progress, but also to identify obstades, difficulties as well as a need for replanning. Emmett and Steyn (1997:38) mention the fact that the correct time for evaluation is when the project is beginning to show results and different projects therefore will have different stages and times 58 for evaluation. Without doubt provision should be made for formative and summative evaluation it should be a continuos process to identify obstacles and to replan if possible. 3.3 Strategies used to counteract problematic situations Table 9 indicates the type of problems experienced in CD project. SUbsequent to that several questions were asked as to how respondents dealt with these problems. 3.3.1 Gossip Fifty-nine per cent (59%) the majority, indicated that they just ignored this. Fifteen per cent of responses indicated that participants eventually left the project due to gossip. Twenty-six per: cent (26%) mentioned that nothing was done in projects about this. It is evident that petty gossip was not entertained in most projects and thus viewed as worthless. Petty gossip can be harmful to the project because participants will spend most of the time discussing and being accountable to issues that are not related to the project. Sometimes it can even lead to fights and poor relationships that will directly impact the project. 3.3.2 Sub-groups Seventy per cent of the respondents mentioned that they ignored this interaction dynamic as it appeared. Much as it existed in several projects it brought no harmful effects. 3.3.3 Lack of feedback Respondents advanced the fact that lack of feedback made them despair because th~y never knew their stand points. They raised issues of concern to the respective executive committees and at times to funders and they never got answered. S9 3.3.4 Absenteeism and poor performance by others The respondents mentioned that they confronted them individually and in meetings. Others changed their attitude whereas others remained adamant and less co operative. Sub-groupings, lack of feedback and absenteeism have been explored in this study due to the fact that once these elements surface participation will be affected. 3.4 Opinions about decision making level In Community Development, communities should be given the latitude to take decisions on issues affecting them. It was seen as important to get the opinions of people concerning the best leadership style. 3.4.1 TABLE 10: LEADERSHIP STYLE PREFERENCE LEADERSHIP STYLE FREQUENCY PERCENT Directive 4 12 Non directive 30 88 T.otaI -34 100 The majority, eighty-eight per cent (88%) of respondents indicated their preference . of non-directive leadership over directive leadership. Reasons advanced being that it promotes initiative, growth and self discovery. Proponents or supporters of a non directive style of leadership regards such leaders as democratic and involving all people in decision making. Twelve per cent (12%) showed preference of a directive leadership style basically for providing direction and maintaining order. Interestingly the respondents that gave this response were chairpersons in the executive committees of their projects. This 60 could then be viewed as a point of view motivated by the positions they held in the project. 3.4.2 Opinions about profit sharing As in most projects, participants share profits equally among themselves. However, that there could be differing opinions on this matter. The researcher asked this question to find out how people feel about the equally shared profit. TABLE 11: OPINION OF SHARING PROFIT RESPONSES FREQUENCY PERCENT YES 15 44 NO - 19 56 ~ _.~ . Tataf 34 100 The responses opposing the equal sharing were more than those accepting the equal sharing of profits. A follow up question as to why not equal sharing, is that people should be remunerated (awarded a share) according to performance because people's performance is not always the same. A follow up question was asked on how respondents feel about selling their produce as a group. The response rate of eighty per cent (80%) indicated that people prefer selling products individually rather than as a collective. This feeling could be attributed to the fact that most respondents already indicated that the level of performance differs. Thus if an individual sells for himselflherself, he could ensure that the product is sold as fast as possible to give him cash immediately to use than having to wait for the group to sell theirs. 61 FIGURE s. OPINIONS ON INDIVIDUAL VERSUS COLLECTIVE SELLING. 100 90 80 80% 70 60 50 - 40 30 20 10 0 Collective Individual .. .. ' Selling Selling Figure 5 presents the opinion of respondents on individual vis collective selling. Those who disagreed with the majority indicated that if one's products are not bought she will suffer the loss unlike if the selling is done collectively. Thus if she sold all her produce she would keep profit. According to them, this will serve as a motivation to them, to work hard. The other important issue raised was that when selling as a collective and sharing thereafter, it is always easy to put some money aside to go and buy other raw material or stock. The researcher also accept the second reason as best to ensure that the project continues to operate. 62 3.5 Merits of government sponsored projects The responses indicated that there are advantages as well as disadvantages of government CD projects. 3.5.1 Advantages which include: Funding, clear cut gUidelines of operation, sustainability and expertise knowledge from government officials. 3.5.2 Disadvantages Disadvantages of government sponsored projects cited as rigid rules, no choice for participants, people who do not really know your problems and the pressure of being rushed. The other"disadvantage being officers who disappear for quite some time and will reappear when the members have already lost hope. 3.6 State versus private funded projects The respondents were asked to compare state funded projects to private-sector projects. This question was asked because there were private organizations such as parastatal bodies Agricor, Parks Board etc. that were also involved with community development projects. The expectation was that the respondents could have had the chance to partake in both kind of projects or by merely observing or communicating with participants from these projects and comparing the two they could share some information. 63 TABLE 12: PREFERENCES FOR GOVERNMENT VIS PRIVATE SPONSORED CD PROJECTS RESPONSES FREQUENCY PERCENT Privately sponsored 15 44 State sponsored 19 55 Total 34 100 Fifty-five per cent (55%) of the responses indicated a preference for state sponsored projects. However some preferences were also made that the government should fund all projects whether initiated by government itself or by community based organizations. As of now the government subsidized NGO's and CSO's minimally. This in tum restricts plans to expand projects and to embark on more projects. However, with the prevailing financial situation of the government, further expansion . ..,.'. is questionable. 3.7 Motivational factors for participation Respondents indicated that there is a need to motivate people to participate in CD projects. Motivators ranked in order of preference include: (i) Training {ii} Adequate and proper facilities {working environment} (iii) Financial or remuneration (iv) Close working relationship with facilitators of the project. Data provided above was basically collected in accordance with the interview schedule. additional information also surfaced. Firstly. people have fears about their participation in that they are not sure of what they will finally achieve. They are uncertain as to whether their participation will be -rewarded in a positive way. 64 Secondly, the need to meet basic needs was expressed by respondents. Some people expressed their concern of going to work at the project where you have no food to eat in your own house when you return. It is difficult to work on an empty stomach. Thirdly, it was evident that the community does not have enough information on CD projects. They equate CD projects to employment facilities where they expect to be paid either on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. Fourthly, the soaring retrenchment rate at the neighboring firms e.g. AECI and Sun City hotel posted a gross fear to those who have long been unemployed. The community is already desperate and was concerned about the marketing of any product from CD projects. Fifthly, their concern is that CD projects fail and that the government should better focus on creating job facilities than for them to focus on CD projects as sources of income. This could be attributed to the election campaign strategy of the ANC led government where people were promised jobs. They are now confused, desperate and hopeless because the opposite was happening. SUMMARY This chapter focused on identifying fundamental phenomenon related to Community Development projects as experienced by participants during their participation in such projects. Furthermore sought their opinions about issues of concern which need to be taken into consideration if maximum participation is to be maintained. It is worth noting that respondents also highlighted issues that were overlooked and that finally led to the collapse of projects they participated in -lack of sustainability of such projects. 65 Some suggestions were also made on the importance of motivating people to participate in Community Development Projects as well as factors to be considered in motivating people. The highly rated being remuneration or rewarding, followed by close working relationship with project facilitators then training and finally conducive working environment. Taking the foregoing factors into account. an overall conclusion that could be drawn is that project participants need to take the initiative to secure a suitable venue for their projects, manage the project themselves with the assistance of the community development worker in order to achieve sustainable participation. In this way leadership and responsibility for projects would be largely shared by those participating in it. 66 ChapterS CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1. INTRODUCTION At the end ofthe research process, it is important to draw conclusions from the data gathered and based on that provide some possible solutions in the form of recommendations. This chapter will first address conclusions draw from the findings of the study and thereafter recommendations that could improve the situation of sustainable participation in CD projects. 2. CONCLUSIONS 2.1 Characteristics of the participants Findings of the study indicated that seventy-six per cent (76%) were women, most of them being single. This is not surprising taking into consideration that rural women stay behind to raise children whilst men go to cities and towns to compete in the open labour market. The majority as indicated in the study stay with children and are therefore pressurized by their singlehood to participate in CD projects with the hope of getting a financial boost in order to meet the needs of the children since they are unemployed. Considering their ages and their qualification, a conclusion drawn is that in the Rustenburg district, the majority of women at ages 41 and 50 years, do not have Std 10. Ninety-four per cent (94%) could not study beyond Std 8, with fifty-nine per cent (59%) ofthose having not gone to school at all or only attended school up to primary school level. Thus illiteracy amongst these women is high. Such a factor needs to be taken seriously when embarking on community development projects. Their low level of qualifications could be contributing to their unemployment rate because most 67 employment agencies, up to the level of domestic services would prefer people who can either read or write English. Unemploymentwas the driving force behind participants" participation in CD projects and were thus motivated by economic rewards. They viewed projects as employment opportunities where they will get pay (financial reward). This faulty perception let to frustration and lack of courage that finally led to some stopping to participate because they did not get monthly wages. However, this naive thinking could still be attributed to lack of sufficient information dUring the preparatory stages. The situation could have been different if the conducive platform of information giving was secured at the beginning. Participatory could have been clarified on what CD projects entails and could have joined in with an informed choice. Unfortunately the authorities rushed over CD projects hence the confusion among participants. 2.2 Suitability ofprojects Communities had no choice of projects as the funded projects in this part of the North West province included, sewing, knitting, baking, brick laying, gardening and candle-making projects. These are all long term projects where the commonly produced items need to be sold before sharing the proceeds. This situation caused uncertainties to participants as they wondered when that moment will be. These projects were not sufficiently productive to meet their physical needs as well as their financial needs. Neither did they equip them with either managerial or administrative skills that could be marketable in other contexts. Lack of guidance and insufficient training from the facilitators made issues worse as they were not available to the participants as and when they needed them for their offices are in town (Rustenburg) whilst CD projects were operating at rural villages. Participants needs are immediate and CD is a long term method. Unless participants are continuously motivated, very few could remain in the project until it reaches its viable state as everything is gloomy and unclear at the beginning. 68 2.3 Basic needs to be addressed first Maslow's hierarchy of needs indicate that basic needs such as food and shelter need to be satisfied first. CD projects need to take the principle of "start where the client is" seriously. Additional but important information picked up during the study is that people decide to participate in CD projects when they are financially desperate and even unable to provide themselves with food. They get to the project with the hope for immediate relief from the hunger they feel. They tend to go to the project's venue because something to eat is provided, if not, the attendance rate of the project remains low and thus jeopardising sustainability. 2.4 Problems experienced by participants The findings of the study indicated that seven most prominent problems were prevalent during the life period of CD projects and thus affected the projects adversely. These problems include poor attendance by other members, other participants being more industrious then others, in adequate payments, delayed payments, lack of feedback on their work, gossip amongst them as well as pressure from those in authority. At times, when these problems could not be fully attended to, they could bring the project to a standstill. The first four problems as sequentially listed relate more to task goals and directly impact on the concrete goals of the organisation. Directly impacting on the production level of the project. If there is poor attendance, less commitment and unclear policies on payments obviously there will be less production (task goal). On the other hand, process goals are very crucial to govern the interaction of people in the working situation, in this case CD project working phase. Effective communication forms the basis to speak the language of the community and willingness to listen carefully to them (Hagg, 1998:5). The transparent management that frequently update workers on the developments of the company exempt itself from unnecessary criticism, scrutiny and unnecessary attacks. Communication in CD projects was grossly hampered by directives from facilitators and on the other hand they failed to give feedback. Participants got 69 demotivated by the fact that they received no compliments on their performance in CD projects which could have been intrinsically motivating. The relevance of task goals and process goals as complimentary to one another in CD project was emphasized by the participants. 2.5 Need Assessment In assessing community participation, an indictor such as need assessment to any specific programme/projects is crucial. It is not surprising to arrive at the conclusion that need assessment in the true sense of the process, was never done as seventy six per cent (76%) of the participants mentioned that they joined the project after being told by someone else of its existence. Thus the broad ccimmunity consultations either in the form of interviews, brain storming sessions, discussions or meetings have never been carried out except with representative groups. Hence the conclusion that participants did not have a choice on the CD projects nor had the chance on decision-making on the very issues that affected them. They never empowered to understand their needs therefore their relevance in participating. 2.6 Screening The reason that participants were not screened from the beginning as indicated in their responses negatively affected for their commitment and willingness. Some were referred by headmen, others invited by friends to join CD projects. Thus they joined and left CD projects at their own accord. This could have hampered the projects' progress as the participants could have joined for various implicit aims, with some joining for the sake of using the project for personal gain or to satisfy hidden ag~ndas. Thus making progress difficult. Experience has indicated that headmen or tribesmen at times can become very biased especially where they do not enjoy optimum support from their followers. Those who oppose their leadership usually 70 end-up forfeiting opportunities and being sidelined. This could also not have been an exception in choosing CD projects participants. The researcher conclude that with no proper screening measures in place unsuitable people were allowed to participate in CD projects whilst the more deserving and more suitable people could have been left out. 2.7 Training Adequate need assessment and screening helps to identify both human and physical resources and at the same time clearly indicates the type of training participants will need, based on the objectives of the project. The majority of participants indicated that they never received any training during their participation in CD projects. Training is important fo( capacity building and for transfer of skills especially to rural communities who got involved for the first time in projects. Training in project management and for their administrative and vocational skills is imperative to run the projects and for their sustainability. In the projects mentioned above little was done on training which is crucial for human development hence the empowerment of communities was almost nil. The failure to realize and experience personal growth by participating in CD projects led to a high turnover among participants as well as absenteeism. The need for relevant continuos training could have sustained CD projects, as people could have acquired new skills and thus being motivated. 2.8 Technical assistance and funds ....-- CD projects especially those in rural communities could not exist in the absence of outside support especially in the form of funds, technical assistance and education. Jjm9in9 i~~~~1 tOJl~_~cp-roj~~()fjthe grQ!JI'l~~Jf.l!!le North West Province the NNSDP (National Nutrition services and Development Projects) funding,_.ga,,-~__?~ once off funding to projects. This did not s':!stain the projects as some of the funding ..----.-.~- - . . 71 allocated could only buy equipment and participants struggled to buy raw materials. This in turn delayed the progress of CD projects. Since funding was allocated at the beginning of the projects, some was squandered and wrongly spend as members .were still not clear as to what they were supposed to do with it. Again no technical assistance was given to participants in the form of balancing their financial books or drawing up project budgets. Finally some CD projects ended up with unnecessary financial expenditures that resulted in inadequate and delayed payments to participants. Some had came to an unanticipated halt as they were financially exhausted. 2.9 Monitoring and Evaluation Community development literature emphasizes the fact that community participation requires collective decision making and action. The participat()ry~~ppr()ach mentioned here, should not be excused for taking away the responsibility of monitoring and evaluating the progress of CD projects which is basically to be done by community development officers. In this part of the province shortage of manpower had a serious impact on the monitoring and evaluation of CD projects. C!t~rQj~~~_~r~an~c:ated funQs_.~n~U~ft on their own to find ways and meansJQJ~~hieveJheir project goals. Several lost "'-- • _ ... ~ __..,._.__ ~'."~_' '_"""'_"'_'_"h''''~_' ..__•._...•.~...... , --~._"-~.._._~•.• --."•.. , •... _.. '-.-'--., --~-~-- ,,' -, -' .. --_•• ,-_._._.' .Q!rection and~~.~i~~~aders failed to provide members with information as and when 1!~!~~t~g. Misunderstandings finally led to cliques, among participants like in the Lenatong candle-making projects where members united against their executive committee on suspicions that the executive committee mishandled the project money. It was only after this out of control situation where the community development officer intervened only to find that a huge amount of money could not be accounted for. Sti!1 with lack of unclear policies and gUidelines, criminal charges could not be laid against the executive committee. This could still be attributed to community 72 developers for fully understanding that they failed to monitor the activities of the project. 3. RECOMMENDATIONS Based on the findings and conclusions drawn from this study, it will be proper for the researcher to provide recommendations that could improve sustainability of participation in CD projects. 3.1 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RESEARCH 3.1.1 Basic needs Individual participants' i~dividual circumstances should be thoroughly assessed and alternative situation~' be explored for immediate relief of the situation facing himlher. CMR (Christelike Maatskaplike Raad) in Rustenburg runs CD projects from the offices of their Social Workers for sewing and leather work making shoes and bags. Daily, this NGO serves two meals per day to participants engaged in the activities of the projects. They experience no problem of absenteeism as participants know that they will get food at the centre. The same policy is recommended to CD projects as a way of instilling motivation and sustaining participation. The poor socio-economic conditions of participants does not afford some of them the opportunity of even buying food for themselves. Thus they see no purpose to come to the project site only to work with an empty stomach. So letting them have something to eat, in turn, will boost the viability of the project because their primary needs would be attended to. The Manual on Community Participation in Service Delivery authored by Emmett, H~gg and Steyn, et ai, 1997:128 indicate that inter sectoral collaboration and co ordination are corner stones of community development. Based on this philosophy, participants can also be referred to Social Security Offices to apply for a grant on 13 Relief of Social Distress. This grant serve as an interim service for three months where the applicant is assisted financially whilst improving her socio-economic situation. 3.2 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTISE 3.2.1 Manpower It is quite evident that most projects failed to survive and participants withdrew due to minimal contact with the community development officer. The greater Rustenburg district had, at the time of this study, only one community development officer. This is far from being adequate as one officer could not monitor seven already established projects (as listed) and provide technical advice. On the other hand she is expected to conduct need assessments in the other 34 rural villages and mobilize communitiesto start development projects. The approved structure for the community development component stand at twelve (12) posts for community liaison officers. The strong recommendation is that these posts be filled immediately so as to address the problem of manpower shortage. It is only, when there is an increase in the number of community development officers or liaison officers as they are called that the communities can be fully educated on CD projects. Again need assessment and mobilization of resources can be done on a broader scale and procedurally for sustainable and viable CD projects. 3.2.2 Training Training should be an ongoing process. Training is crucial for project management, vocational skills and administrative skills. As indicated earlier the majority of participants in CD project could only pursue their educational interest up to standard 8..Some members from this group could not write or read. Thus starting educational classes for those could provide a process of personal development. One recommendation is that after work, classes be put in place for these participants and 14 ABET (Adult Basic Education and Training) co-ordinators be invited to offer this kind of training. Other projects need a specific kind of specialized training for example candle making, sewing, knitting and baking projects. Technical experts should be invited to come and offer training to participants. The facilitators in this instance being community liaison officers, should explore options of getting people even outside the Province to come and train participants so as to equip them with knowledge and vocational skills to produce quality products. 3.2.3 Contracting The problems of absenteeism and some participants being more industrious than others could best be addressed by putting some kind of control measures in place that could finally regulate individual participations. A written contract is recommended where individual participants will be entering into an agreement with the project managers concerning their participation. The contract should not be a fast and hard rule, but should make a provision to serve as notice in case one needs to withdraw. The community development officers should improve on monitoring systems and also continuously evaluate progress made in CD projects. Participants should also be trained in less complicated methods of evaluation so that they can also monitor and evaluate their own projects, (self evaluation). Self evaluation should capitalize on strengths of participants whereas their weaknesses should be seen as areas for improvement. 7S BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. AMMETT, T; Hagg, G. et al. 1997: "Community Participation in service delivery". HSRC, RSA. 2. ARKAVA, ML & LANE, TP. 1993: Beginning Social Work Research Massachusers: Allyn & Bacon, INC. 3. ANZORENA, LJ. 1980: Participation is difficult but necessary - Bankok: AlT. BATTEN, TR. 1957: Communities and their development. Oxford University Press. 4. BAILEY, KD. 1982: Methods of Social Research, New York. The Free Press. _,,0- 5. BENNETT, FJ. 1994: Community Participation in Primary Health Care, ISER< Rhodes University. 6. BLACK SASH, 1983: "Internal Report on the harassment of non-Tswana persons resident in Bophuthatswana". 7. BOADEN, N. 1980: Planning and Participation in practice. A study of public participation in structure planning, Planning Journal, Volume 13, Part 1 &2. B. BROKENSHA, D. Maximum, Feasible Participation, USA: Social Science Journal, Volume 9, No 1, 1994. 9. BURKEY, S. 1993: People first, a guide of self reliant participatory development, London: Zed Books. 10.. CHECKOWAY, B. 1981: Six strategies of community change: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL, Volume 30 No. 1 January 1995 p 2-20. 78 3.3 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY 3.3.1 Funding The last recommendation is on the funding of CD projects. It became clear from the study that the government has been the key funder of CD projects through the Poverty Alleviation Fund and the previous NNSDP funds. The once off funding system appeared inadequate whereas CD projects could still get outside funding even directly from National level as long as their business plans were convincing and they had a proven and reputable background. Emphasis being on their sound financial accounting strategies, because every funder would like to have a clear and convincing report of how the money was used. Secondly the revised draft document on the new financing strategy is readily welcomed by the researcher as it makes provision for periodical funding of projects rather than a onee-off funding. The provisions of this policy is motivating as participants would be in the know that once their project achieves a particular milestone they would then be funded to achieve the next milestone. This in tum will be introducing better control to funding rather that investing a large amount that is later unaccounted for. Thirdly the NPO Act (Non Profit Organizations Act) of 1998 provides for more formal procedures of registering for fund raising even where registration for fund raising, is optional. This is a challenge to participants to make an extra effort to raise funds for the sustainability of their CD project rather that society relying on government funding. As a way of conclusion, these recommendations when fully implemented could possibly result in changing the status quo of CD projects in North West. The envisaged positive change could result in maximum participation in CD projects which will finally yield viable and sustainable results. 76 11. CLINARD, R. 1970: Slums and Community Development London: Zed Books. 12. COBBETI, MJ. 1982: Agricultural Social Change in KwaZulu South Africa: The impact of sugar cane farming in Noodsberg SUbregion. PhD, Thesis, London School of Economics. 13. COLLINS, K. 1985: Social Work Research. RSA UNISA. 14. COLLINS, K. 1987: Social Work Research in McKendrick, BW. (ED) Introduction to Social Work in South Africa, Pretoria: Haum Tertiary. 15. DANE, FC. 1990: Research methods. California. Brooks/Cole PUblishers. 16. DE CLERCQ, F ~ 1994: Putting Community Participation into development work. The difficult case ofWinterveld, Development Southern Africa. Volume 11, No 3, August 1994. 17. CLARK, C; BEKKER, S &CROSS, C.: "Civic Capacity BUilding" Indicator SA, Volume 11, No 4, Spring 1994. 18. Department ofWelfare. 1997c.: White Paper for Social Work. Pretoria: RSA. 19. EMMETT, T; HAGG, G & STEYN, M. 1997: Community participation in Service delivery: Guidelines for Health and Welfare Personnel: HSRC. 20. De ZOYSA & COLE KING, S. 1983: Remuneration for the Community Health Worker. World Health Forum. 21. FERNANDEZ-WHITE, J. 1983: Organizing Squatters in Community Participation, Nairobi UNCHS. 79 22. Fund Raising Act, No (77) of 1977 23. GRINNEl, RM. 1985: Social Work Research and Evaluation. Itasca: FE Peacock Publishers. 24. GRINNEL, RM. 1987: Social Work Research and Evaluation. Itasca: FE Peacock Publishers. 25. GRINNEL, RM & WilLIAMS, M. 1990: Research in Social Work: a Primer Itasca: FE Peacock Publishers. 26. HOPE, A. &TIMMEl, S. 1984: Community Workers Handbook. Johannesburg: The Grail. 27. KORTEN, DC. 1989: Community Organization and Rural Development. A learning process approach. USA. Horward University. 28. LEVI, Y & LETWINH 1987: Communities and Co-operatives Participating Development England: Cowers publishers. 29. MARRIS, P & REIN, M. 1973: Dilemmas of Social Transformation: Poverty and Community Action in USA. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL, Volume 9 No 1. of 1974. 30. MATORAH, F & CERFF, P. 1994: Sodal Turmoil and partidpation: An Informal Settlement Health Intervention. Critical Health, No 46, July 1994. 31. MBIGI, L & MAREE, J. 1995: Ubuntu. the spirit of African transformation management. Randburg: Knowledge Resource. 80 32. MCLAGEN, P & NEL, H: The age of participation. Randburg: Knowledge Resource. 33. MIDGELEY, T. 1995: Social Development. The developmental perspective: Social Welfare London: Sage Publishers. 34. MOLEFE, SP. 1981: Social Welfare Policy in Bophuthatswana. Circular no 22 of 1981. Mmabatho: Bop. Printers. 35. NIENTTED, P & MHENNIE, B. 1989: Community Participation in low income housing: Potentials or Parador. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL Volume 25 No 1. 36. PAUL, S. 1987: -Community Participation in Development Project. The Worfd .-,' Bank Expenditure Washington. 37. RIFKIN, SB & WALT, B. 1988: Primary Health Care: Measuring participation in Social Science and Medicine. Volume 26 No 9.1988. 38. SHEPHERD, D. 1983: The ILO experience: Community Participation in decision making for basic needs. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL Volume 25, No 1, 1989. 39. SETTY, E. 1985: People Participation in Rural Development. A critical analysis. INDIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK: Volume 15 No (2),1985. 40. SCHUERMAN, JR. 1983: Research Evaluation in the human services. New York: Free Press. 41. SWANEPOEL, H. 1992: Community Development. Putting plans in action. RSA, JUTA. 81 42. UNCHS.1983: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL. Volume 25 No 1, 1990. 43. UNCHS. 1984: Community participation in Nairobi, Social Development Volume 25, No 1,1990. 44. WALTERS, S. 1985: Community participation in COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL, Volume 22. No (1), 1987. 45 WHITE PAPER FOR DEVELOPMENT SOCIAL WELFARE, 1997. 46. YAP, KS. 1986: Promoting community participation through training habitant. Community Development Journal, Volume 11, No 4, 1987. -- 47. ZWI, A; MARKS, S & ANDERSON, N.: Apartheid and the frontline states. Social Science and Medicine, Volume 26, no 9,1988. 82 1 INTERVIEW SCHEDULE ON COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION . .". _ ..... IN ' DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS YEAR 1997 NAME OF RESEARCHER: S. D. MORUANE -" .. " INTRODUCTION The Government of South Africa requires that communities should take initiatives in their own development Of much concern in the Rustenburg District is that communities identify projects and start participating in these projects but after a short while start to withdraw their participation. Reasons behind are not known. This research is embarked on to identify . problems in C.D. projects participation and to formulate possible strategies for sustainable participation. • You are requested to answer the following questions honestly and enestly • Please answer all questions • The information you give will be treated confidential • Thank you in adv~~ce for your time and providing the valuable information A. DEMOGRAPHIC DATA 1. SEX ~. 2. AGE GROUP 41-45 46 51-55 5& 3 3. MARITAL STATUS SINGLE MARRIED DIVORCED WIDOWED 4. HIGHEST STANDARD PASSED 5. OCCUPATION 6. REUGION 7. HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION 8. TYPE OF DWEWNG B. YOUR INVOLVEMENT 9. Have you ever been involved in a C.D. project? Specify the type. IYES I NO I 10. How long did you participatr-:e?~~ _ IDAYS 11. What Was your portfolio? 4 12. What problems did participation in the project present? Poor attendance of others Poor management Gossips Delays in payments Uttle nts Sharing profits less work by others No infonnation giving Pressure by those on top Others 13. Do you personally like working with others? IYES I NO I c. EXPERIENCES DURING YOUR PARTICIPATION ~ ~~ Did participation in C.D. develop personal attribute? Ifso, what attributes? 14. During your involvement in C.D. did you participate in a need assessment if so, specify? 15. While a participant in a C.D. project(s) were you involved in a training project? Ifso, elaborate 16. Were your communication and interaction skills improved upon as a result of your participation? . Strongly Agree I Uncertain I Disagree I Strongly Disagree 5 17. Did sub-groups develop during the C.D. projects"in which you participated? I YES I NO I 18. Some leaders have a tendency of denying people the right ofdeciding for themselves. Ifso, how did you respond to it? 19. Gossips can effect one's desire to participate in C.D. projects. If you have experienced any, how did it affect you? 20. Was feedback on your performance in the projects provided? What effect did the the feedback or lack ofit have on you? 21. Were you sCreened before participating in the project(s), if so how were you screened? Vvas it adequate? 22. Were you aware of any evaJuation of C.D. participation? Ifso how was it carried out? What effect did it have on you? 23. Were incentives offered to enhance your participation in the project? If so what incentives were offered? 24. Do you think that lack of active involvement by some members had a de motivating effect on the involvement of other members? IYES I NO 25. How were the "felt needs" of members assessed? Were members "felt needs" taken into account with the establishment of projects? 6 26. People of the same sex should participate in similar projects? Strongly Agree I Agree I Uncertain I Disagree I Strongly Disagree 27. Political affiliations within communities affect their participation in C.D. ifso elaborate 28. Is it better to have people ofthe same political affiliation working together? [YES I NO I D. DECISION MAKING AND LEADERSHIP IN C.D. PROJECTS 29. Do you think that decisions in C.D. projects should be made by all participants in the project? IYES I NO I 30. Decisions should be made by those in a higher position (e.g. executive committee) to be carried out by D.C. projects participants? Strongly Agree I Agree I Uncertain I Disagree I Strongly Disagree 31. To what extend would a non-directive approach to C.D. promote participation? 32. Do you think that a non-directive approach would promote initiative amongst project participation? If so in what way(s)? 33. From your experience could a directive approach promote progress in C.D. projects more rapidly e.g. at the beginning of the project? 7- 34. Based on your experience could a non-directive approach be preferable to promote participation during the middle and later stage of a C.D. project? 35. What kind ofmanagement style (directive & non-directive) would you recommend for a C.D. project? - 36. Managers of C.D. should make decisions alone and inform people on their decisions. Strongly Agree I Uncertain I Disagree I Strongly Disagree 37. Do you think that greater involvement in decision-making would increase participation? Strongly Agree I Uncertain I Disagree I Strongly Disagree 38. Which leadership style do you think is the most relevant for C.D. projects? 39. When some people work hard to make a project succeed, while others remain unmotivated, do you think that this will negatively affect overall participation? 40. How should the products of a project be distributed? 41. Even if people do the same job they can not be given equal shares because they never performed the same. Strongly Agree I Agree I Uncertain I Disagree I Strongly Disagree 8 42. Participants should share profits equally if products are sold? IYES I NO 43. From your experience do people prefer selling goods for themselves rather than as part of a collective project (effort)? 44. Do you think C.D. are beneficial to participants? Ifso in what way? E. THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT AND WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS 45. What are the advantages and disadvantages of C.D. projects sponsored by the government?' 46. Would you say C.D. projects initiated by CSO's and NGO's enjoy greater community participation ifso elaborate? 47. Are projects initiated by NGO's and CSO's more suitable than those initiated by government? IYES I NO 48. Should C.D. projects be sponsored by government? Strongly Agree I Agree I Uncertain I Disagree I Strongly Disagree 9 49. Should skills training be presented to participants as a way ofincreasing motivation to participant? Strongly Agree I Agree I Uncertain I Disagree I Strongly Disagree 50. Some fonn of remuneration should be made as an incentive to work for the project? Strongly Agree I Agree I Uncertain I Disagree I Strongly Disagree 51. What motivators should you regard as effective? . " "~:.' '..t {J":'. 'h.~.• , i~~~,~ ".: ,'~' " '.....- ~~I . ,'t;:·"; • ,I- "'~'~':~'" ~ ~': i~ : • ' c " ..' '" " ( i::, t\" ,lJf' 'f I"' .,';" ,.," ·,I:I;IlI:' ,: .',' ,,' " ':1\ .l 1-, I:, t. ,,' ".'.:, !; )' ';' .~ . .,.' 'I " ... " 'r, ,.> " Ii'". . ., , -' ~\ . . POVERTY RELIEF I AND INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT FUND ( R203 ill 1998/1999 ) LICHTENBURG RECOMMENDED 1. BETHEL Kl'lITIING AND SEWING R15000.00 2. GATELANG PELE FRUIT JUICE PRODUCTION RI6000.00 3. TLHABOLOGANG KNITTING PROJECT R30000.00 4. ITIRELENG SELF HELP PROJECT RJO 000.00 5. TSOGA 0 ITlRELE FOOD PLOT IUD 000.00 6. lTEKENG COMMUNITY PROJECT RJO 000.00 7. KETLADIRELA,;$ELF HELP GROUP R22700.00 8. GATELAPELE LUNCHEON CLUB RIO 400.00 9. BOlTEKO LUNCHEON CLUB RJO 000.00 10. ITIRELENG LEARNING FOOD GARDEN R30 000.00 TOTAL AJ.'VIOUNT = R134100.00 DELAREYVILLE RECOMMENDED I. GOO - SELEKA FOOD PLOT R15 000.00 ., TLHABOLOGANG GARDEN PROJECT R30 000.00 3. BATLHAPING FOOD PLOT R49000.00 4. THUSOREEBONE R 30 000 fOO 5. UTLWANANG POULTRY RI00 000.00 6. THUSANO OLD AGED SELF HELP R15 000.00 7. TERJv1INATOR STEEL AND BRICK R60000.00 8. THULATSIDPI SEWING Al'ID K1'ITITING PROJECT RIO 220.00 ,9. LETLHABILE SEWING PROJECT RJO 000.00 10. TLHAPING FOOD PROJECT R44 000.00 11. GEYSDORP FOOD PLOT R16 000.00 12. BOITEKO FOOD PLOT R62 000.00 TOTAL Al'\10UNT =R461 220.00 " ZEERUST RECOMMENDED 1. AGISANANG CAL"'IDLE:MAKING R25 000.00 2. MOSELAPETLO DRESSMAKING PROJECT R12 310.00 3. EMA.NG BASADI CANDLE MAKING PROJECT RIO 000.00 4. NYETSE ORANGES FARM R210 000.00 5. MOTHEO PROJECT R30 800.00 6. DIRISANG CHICKEN PROJECT R50 000.00 7. DOORNLAAGTE BRICK MAKING PROJECT R50 000.00 8. ITIRELENG R17400.00 9. THUSANANG SEWING PROJECT MARUPING R32 000.00 10. UNITY CAPENTRY PROJECT R35 000.00 11. lKAGELENG LEATHERCRAFT PROGRAM RIOO 000.00 12. QUICK SERVICE COM:MUN1TY PROJECT RJO 000.00 13. THUSANANG BRlCKMAKlNG PROJECT R10 000.00 14. MAlTEKO VEGETABLE GARDEN R60 000.00 15. KHUNOTSWANE VEGETABLE GARDEN R13 500 .00 TOTAL AMOUNT = R706 010.00 - .~ .. GAYESA RECOMMENDED 1. REAGAJ.\10TSE SEWING R13 896.00 f BOlTEKO POULTRY CHlCKEN R53400.00 3. THUSANAt"fG BRlCK MAKING R70 000.00 4. TSHANENG PlGGERY PROJECT R53 000.00 5. THUSANO POULTRY R60 000.00 TOTAL AIVIOUNT = R250 896.00 TAUNG DISTRICf RECOMlVIENDED 1. TLHABOLOGANG SELF HELP PROJECT R72 000.00 ., PHUTHANANG PROJECT R13 035,00 3. BAITIREDI DRESSMAKERS R12.6 000.00 4. PANfPIERSTADT SEWING PROJECT RJO 000.00 5. IPOPENG DISABLED ORGANISAnON RIOO 000.00 6. E.E.A.P ( EQUAL EMPLOYMENT AGENCY) R30 000.00 TOTAL Al'\10UNT = R371 035.00 ·. KUDUMAN"E RECOMJ.\1ENDED l. BOKAMOSO WOl\1EN'S ORGANISATION R70000.00 -, OARABILE WELFARE ORGANISATION R50000.00 3. R.E A'DIRA COl\1MUNITY SEWING PROJECT R40000.00 TOTAL Al'\1OUNT = R160 000.00 VRYBURG RECOMivtENDED I. BUXTON - COMMUNITY BRlCKMAKlNG PROJECT R50000.00 ? TSWELELOPELE SERVICE CENTRE FOR THE AGED RI10 000.00 3. SEDUETSE FENCE MAKING RI8S 000.00 TOTAL AMOUNT = R345 000.00 SCHWEIZER RENEKE RECOMMENDED I. lTSHUPENG COMMUN1TY PROJECT R52 200.00 TOTAL ANIOUNT = R52 200.00 l\tlAFIKENG RECOMMENDED 1. MAKGOBISTAD FLOOR POLISH R30000.00 7 JAAP TOYS R29 700.00 3. LETSOMANE FAR..i\1ING PROJECT R120 000.00 4. REFILWE THUTO SEWING PROJECT RI7 200.00 ). MO-RA-DI SEWING PROJECT R30000.00 6. TLAPENG PIGGERY RSO 000.00 7. TSHOLOFELO HAIR STUDIO R12 500.00 8. KOPANONG MIGA GARDEN Rli 000.00 9. KATLEGO JUICE MAKING PROJECT R63 800.00 10. KOPANO POULTRY PROJECT RIOO 000.00 II. MIGA WIRE KJ.'iITII:N"G PROJECT R20 000.00 12. SEOPOSENGWE BRICK MANUFACTURE RI70 000.00 13. ITHUSENG SEHUBA PROJECT RSO 000.00 14. KOPANO CHICKEN FARM RSO 000.00 15. TIRISANO PRINTING PROJECT R85 000.00 16. MASAKHANE CAR WASH R75 000.00 17. BADIRMv1MOGO (RAMATLABAMA) R55 000.00 18. TSHOLETSANG FENCING R20 000.00 19. BOSELE BUSINESS CONSULTANTS R80 000.00 20. BOKAMOSO LADIES FORillvl RIOO 000.00 21. PHUTOLOGANG PIG FARMING R79 500.00 22. BOIPELO CON1MUNITY PROJECT R15 000.00 23. MOHATLE Al'\fD ASSOCIATES DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANCY R63569.00 24. TLHABOLOGANG DEVELOP~fENTFLAGSHIP PROGRAM R90 000.00 TOTAL AMOUNT = R1 417269.00 KLERKSDORP RECOMIVIENDED I. CHRlS HANI CON1MUNITY PROJECT R50 000.00 ') KOPANANG:R40 000.00 3. BOTSWADI PARENTAL RJ 200.00 4. TSWELOPELE RE -CYCLING R50 000.00 5. KOPANANG PROJECT ( UNE.MPLOYNfENT WOMEN'S FORUM) R36 000.00 TOTAL AMOUNT = R179 200.00 VENTERSDORP RECOMJ."VlENDED I. THUSAl'fANG WOMEN ORGANISATION RJO 000.00 ., TSHWARAGANAl'fG BUSY HANDS R30 000.00 TOTAL Al)10UNT = R60 000.00 POTCHEFSTROOM RECOMMENDED 1. IKEMISETSENG R80000.00 2. POTCHEFSTROOM NEW BEGINNING CENTRE R27 600.00 3. TfrtJSANANG WO:MEN'S ORGANISATION R60 000.00 4. JOB CREATION "REAIPHIDISA" SEWING R48300.00 5. RECYCLED TUMBLERS. R60000.00 TOTAL AMOUNT = R275 900.00 RVSTENBURG RECOMMENDED 1. KOPANANG DAY CARE CENTRE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES RI09 000.00 ., TSHWARAGANANG DEVELOPfvIENT FORUM (CHANENG) R43500.00 3. TSHWARAGANANG DEVELOPrvIENT FORUM (BOROLELO) R435 000.00 TOTAL AMOUNT = R587 500.00 MOGWASE RECOMMENDED 1. REKOPANE VEGETABLE GARDEN (MADIKWE FLAGSHIP) R50 000.00 ., RORISANG POULTRY PROJECT R151 895.00 3. BAROMIWA CHICKEN FARMING R164 000.00 4. lTEKENG POULTRY PROJECT R21 500.00 5. REBOGILE UPHOLESTRY PROJECT R44780.00 6. REBOGILE EATING HOUSE R56200.00 7. REBOGILE BRICKMAKING PROJECTR40 700.00 8. AMOGELANG DEVELOPlYIENT PROJECT R50 000.00 9. MOREMOGOLO R137 000.00 10. REBOGILE WOODCRAIT AND JOINERY R55000.00 11. SUCCESS CP RllO 000.00 12. REBOGILE FOOD GARDEN R59 000.00 13. BASADI-IKAGENG POULTRY FARMING R70000.00 14. NCHAFALANG LUNCHEON CLUB R25 000.00 is. REKOPANE DEVELOPlVIENT PROGRAM (MADIKWE FLAGSHIP) R54 000.00 16. KRAALHOEK FENCING PROJECT RlOO 000.00 TOTAL AMOUNT =Rl 189 075.00 ODlREGION BRITS RECOMMENDED I. LETLHABILE COMMUNITY PROJECT R13000.00 TOTAL AMOUNT = R23 000.00 ODl DISTRICT RECOMMENDED I. A RE TSOGENGRE ITIRELE WOMEN'S ORGANISATION R32 501.00 2. MADill I BUSY BEES RI80 000.00 3. REAIKAGA COMMUNITY PROJECT R143 980.00 4. IPELEGENG COIvIMUNITY PROJECT R70200.00 5. TSOGANG LE ITIRELE COM!vIUNITY PROJECT R63526.00 6. GOOD HOPE COMMUNITY ORGANISATION R30 000.00 7. SIRELETSA TLHAGO AGRICULTURAL PROJECT R36280.00 8. MBUDUMA BRICK MAKING R231 93LaO 9. REAMOGETSWE PROJECT R71 000.00 10. DIMPHO MORENENG R89 115.00 11. BOSELE TRUST / SIRELETSA TLHAGO PEOPLE'S EMPOWERIVIENT PROGRAM R40 000.00 TOTAL ANIOUNT = R779 795.00 MORETELE RECOMiVIENDED I. BAKGARATLHI SELF HELP R150 000.00 2. NGGBI VEGETABLE GARDEN Al\iD POULTRY R90 000.00 3. lTEKENGSEWING AND BAKING CLUB R60 000.00 4. RIXILE ENVIRONMENTCENTRE R132 000.00 TOTAL AlVlOUNT = R432 000.00 . PROVINCIAL RECOMMENDED I. THE PGPULATION TRA~1NG AND RESEARCH CENTRE, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH WEST R750 000.00 .-.- I ~----~-::: - ~_... _. . ~. - .":~''':::::.., ,. . -, ' ...... '-. ..,- - --- .. .. . <-:. -:~~ Co.....,.,...~ ~rct"..." . ." ... .."".:' .(.Q..~~"" ~ q~, '" -. ~. r"! • 5 4 3 Z I . I ~. ..:: 0 .,. -::... i ~. \ t Fi~. t -",I ._---_. ---.--- . ..;.\~ "to ,,-,.jtI' ; I .S .. J I I • 5 " J HOOF: MAHHe 1'1\.4 M~Ett., Or YEo~LE w~o f\ec... ,s.7e-t. AS ~ THE S~e !eR.IOl> ~'sa~