Strengthening Community Participation in the Integrated Development Planning Process for Effective Public Service Delivery in the Rural Limpopo Province

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the participation of local communities in the integrated development planning process with the hope of enhancing the provision of public services in the Limpopo Province. Legislations on developmental local government in South Africa provide provisions for local communities to participate in the integrated development planning process within their municipalities to ensure that the provision of public services is effective. Municipalities are constitutionally required to develop five year integrated development plans (IDPs) for strategic, inclusive and responsive governance of the municipality which allows effective participation of local communities in the development planning. Thus, it is a requirement for and the responsibility of municipalities to ensure that local communities participate adequately and effectively in the integrated development planning process. The paper argues that despite the provisions for local communities to participate in the development planning processes, communities are still, in most cases, over-looked and shut out of the development planning processes. As such, the application of community participation as an approach to effective and sustainable delivery of public services needs reinforcement. The paper concludes that lack of participation by local communities remains pervasive in rural settings such as those in the Limpopo Province. This is attested to by the prevailing poor socio-economic conditions as well as the violent public service delivery protests in rural areas. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n25p225