The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in South Africa with Specific Reference to Rural Development

Abstract

The study aims to examine the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) because there is no discussion of poverty, equality, or development today that will be complete without considering the role of NGOs. NGOs are visible, respected, and entrenched in part of many societies. The successes of the NGOs in providing health care, education, economic opportunities, and human rights advocacy to millions of people, shows diversity in terms of their organizational form, structure, and culture. The decentralization of governments and scaling back of social spending advocated by international financial institutions and large aid-donor organizations throughout the last decades have created considerable space for NGOs and made them key figures in a wide range of social sectors. The findings of the study are that NGOs range from service-oriented, community-based initiatives operating around only one project to advocacy NGOs, intermediary NGOs to developmental NGOs. The key finding is the identification of ten successful NGOs, which play a significant role in developing communities in South Africa. The study found out the structures, significance, challenges, and benefits of NGOs in developing countries. The researcher has used the conceptual approach and relied heavily on secondary sources to get the relevant literature to achieve the overall goal of the study.