Citizen participation as a contributor to sustainable democracy in South Africa

Abstract

Academe has argued that democracy cannot be effective on its own, but is reliant on the government and citizens to sustain it. For the South African democracy to be sustained, the roles of the government and the citizens need to be integrated to ensure accountability, transparency, effectiveness and good quality provision of public services to the citizens. The aim of this study is to establish what students view as the role of the government, and of citizens, in strengthening South African democracy. To this effect, information was collected by means of a survey targeting students enrolled for modules in Public Administration and Management at a South African university. It emerged that the respondents deemed it important to educate themselves about democracy as well as the monitoring of politicians' behaviour. The findings further indicated that the respondents considered issues such as education, health, public order and safety, and job creation to a lesser extent, to be key roles of government. The article concludes by contemplating the importance of educating citizens in strengthening the South African democracy with special reference to the South African Medium Term Strategic Framework, and its 12 outcomes. Points for practitioners This article evaluates current South African democracy with reference to the different roles of both government and citizens, respectively. The study revealed the perceptions of students enrolled for modules in Public Administration and Management at a South African university regarding the role of government and citizens in the creation of a sustainable democracy. Furthermore, background information is given on the South African growth path towards democracy and equality.