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Contextual factors can be understood to be those that can be easily remedied but
would not qualitatively deepen participation, although they contribute to the discouragement
of people from attending IDP meetings. 33 These challenges are about the times in which
meetings take place, the transportation of people to the me etings, and the language that is
used in these meetings. This challenge arises because of the amalgamation of previously
segregated municipalities, and also the long-term effect of other apartheid socio-economic
and spatial policies. Other impediments to participation in IDP meetings relate to powers and
functions. Some people do not participate because the public does not seem to have impact
on the final plan. The municipality has the right to decide what to take and what to leave from
what the public members have raised after it has canvassed their opinions. 34
Participation in IDP processes is also affected by class. Those who are affluent do not
see the IDP as relevant to them, and thus do not attend meetings. They might find other ways
of participating, such as contacting political representatives and municipal officials directly.
This is ‘participation on the back of privilege’. 35 Race also affects participation in IDP meetings
as many white people do not participate because they distrust the state and processes like
those of the IDP (ibidem). There is also the disjuncture of expectations between the municipal
establishment and the public. Councillors and municipal officials expect strategic discussion
on the IDP, but the public raise service delivery issues. South African public democracy is not
understood to be an abstract liberal concept, but is viewed as meaning freedom, and therefore
there are expectations that it must be about concretely improving socio-economic conditions.
Residents require a lot from the post-apartheid state, and thus it remains at the core of
representations and expectations especially for lower income residents. There are rising mass
protests that show a disappointment of these expectations, but not a ‘disregard, ignorance or
avoidance of the State’. 36 Low income citizens find that both local democracy and clientelism
serve them in accessing the state.
Conclusion
The post-apartheid South African legislation’s commitment to participatory governance is
noble, but literature reveals serious implementation challenges. The available literature on the
two democratic innovations that this paper examined notes that these are experiencing serious
challenges that are not divorced from the historical and socio-economical context of that
country. The literature covered in this paper reveals that both ward committees and the IDP
Everatt, “Participation…for what”.
Everatt, “Participation…for what”.
35 Everatt, “Participation…for what”, 243.
36 Benit-Gbaffou, “Accessing the State”, 446.
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