127 therefore unaware of the iLembe EMF. Of the respondents, only 17% were aware of the iLembe EMF and 79% were not. Word of mouth was indicated as the most effective method of creating awareness, followed by advertisements in the newspapers. Various aspects can be attributed to the shortcomings of the public participation process of the iLembe EMF. It is imperative to note that the iLembe EMF was a regional assessment and therefore did not drill down to ward level and hence was heavily reliant on officials and councillors. This was thereby impacted on factors such as staff turnover, limited effort to attend meetings (both project steering and public meetings). The study findings correlate with the findings of the studies conducted by Thambu (2012: 76) and Mtolo (2010: 133) which also found staff turnover and lack of attendance at meetings to hinder the process. Literature echoes concerns of capacity-related implementation problems. A myriad of studies explore the problems of implementing participation. In policy processes from both national and provincial government it was found that there was a lack of support and resources for implementation . Furthermore, literature states that that the democratic government often lacked clarity on the operationalisation of consultation, or left the role of public participation in the hands of consultants, as is the case with the iLembe EMF.
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Deconstruction of academic or political language and translate this to the community.
This may not be possible for a professional to undertake, and a social specialist with the correct body language is needed
Recommendation 3: Transparency and information sharing
The advertisement of documents for comments, prior to adoption, will allow the general public to participate in the process and provide comments prior to adoption
Educational awareness programmes should be initiated, particularly at schools
Recommendation 4: Rectifying the absence of key personnel at meetings
Ensure that all identified role players understand the importance of public engagements and their roles clearly specified
This is should be identified as part of a job description and should not be a negotiable matter and form part of their performance review
Official attendance might be improved by holding meetings during weekday office hours
Recommendation 5: Rectifying Poor attendance at public meetings
Utilizing different platforms for participation e.g. the IDP Representation Forum or Ward Committees
Newspaper articles should be published, as well as radio announcements be made and loud speakers used
Use IDP structures and other structures (such as the Presidential Izimbizo Programme, the ward committee system, the CDW initiative, and the Thusong service centres ) to avoid stakeholder fatigue but ensure participation
Recommendation 6: A strategic approach
A community strategy needs to be developed over and above the IDP process, because the IDP is seen as the only platform. The community strategy needs to develop on a regular basis
A social facilitator must be utilised
A strategy needs to be developed to ensure a better level of feed back
A radical recommendation is offered here, as extracted from the Australian example. In Australia, the current and most important land and resource management initiative is the
129 Natural Heritage Trust (NHT). It can best be characterized as an example of community- based environmental management with a borrowed design from the Land care soil conservation movement of the 1980s and early 1990s. The essence of the community-based model of land management is (1) government decentralization, (2) devolution to local communities of responsibility for natural resources, and (3) community participation (Lane, 2003: 367). This is sometimes expressed as “co-management,” and is the appropriate sharing of responsibilities for natural resource management between national and local governments, civic organizations, and local communities. Most NHT programs involve a process of providing financial grants to community groups that are thereby enabled to respond effectively to land management problems that they have defined. A system such as this, could potentially work well in the context of Ndwedwe, where the indigenous knowledge is rife, and there exists a close relationship between people and their environment. Notwithstanding, that the implementation of this must still guard against possible challenges, such as those which currently arise in South Africa’s democratic system. The problems of this bottom-up approach must be managed and mitigated if implemented.
6.3.1 Recommendations for further study
The research is based on the extant literature covering public participation, planning and environmental planning, but additional work needs to be done to strengthen the foundations of this study. Nonetheless, the field has advanced enough that the findings can be offered with some reasonable confidence in their soundness.
The data collected, did not depict a gender bias as a near equal number of males and females were surveyed, hence it is a recommendation put forward, that within the stakeholder and planning theories, the role of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups are explored.
The problems with public participation suggests the need to revisit the institutions and processes of participation to ensure functionality, articulation with effective representation, and the capacity to deal with deficits in delivery and the general outcomes of governance.
While this research explains the mechanisms for public consultation employed in the EMF, it would be interesting to determine the exact cause for decreased effectiveness in the methods of public participation with a focus placed on how and why there is a disjuncture between South Africa’s sound legislation and what takes place in practice.
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