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2002. By Charles Adams, Michael Bell, Trevor Brown
In a 1998 speech before the United Nations, South African President Thabo Mbeki argued “ [T]he very sustenance of democracy across the globe requires that in every democratic country, the ordinary people should feel that they actually do enjoy the right to determine their destiny.” The challenge, therefore, is to empower citizens at the grass roots level so that they do, in fact, determine their own destiny. One intervention that we believe accomplishes this is what we refer to as Community Partnership Grant Programs (CPG). CPG programs provide small grants to citizens to help cover the costs of citizen-initiated neighborhood projects. Their central element is that small groups of citizens are the prime movers in initiating proposals, organizing work plans, competing for grants, and then carrying out projects that improve daily life within their communities. These programs are designed to foster cooperation and proactive relationships among citizens and between citizens and their local governments in matters of service delivery and improvements in neighborhood and community well being. Another central element of CPG programs is that citizens and other stakeholders in the community govern them. Typically, CPG programs form a board composed of representatives from funding sources, the municipal authority, and the community. This board establishes the by-laws and procedures through which the program operates, as well as plays a prominent role in determining which citizen initiated proposals are funded. In this way, citizens have a direct stake in the program and are therefore more likely to respect the grant decisions. The critical role of citizen participation in community problem solving and service delivery is well recognized in both the theory and practice of local self-government. In the field of public administration, for example, there is a well-developed literature on “co-production” and citizenship. In the field of public finance, the work of Noble laureate Ronald Coase establishes a critical framework in support of direct citizen participation in addressing a variety of local public good issues. Another Nobel laureate, Anartya Sen argues that with adequate social opportunities, individuals can effectively shape their own destiny and help each other thereby promoting freedom, effective government institutions, and a strong local economy. More recently, research on what Denhart and Denhart call the New Public Service points up the case for government policies that “encourage citizens to demonstrate their concern for the larger community…and their willingness to assume personal responsibility for what happens in their neighborhoods and communities.”1 And the growth of citizen led neighborhood small grant programs in the U.S. indicates the important role that such mechanisms can play in well-ordered local self-government fiscal structures. The Coalition for Effective Local Democracy is actively engaged in promoting the idea of the CPG program in emerging democracies. To date, we are involved in two such initiatives – in South Africa and in Tanzania. In an effort to overcome the legacy of apartheid, South Africans realized that citizens must become integrally involved in community governance. Based on the desire of South Africans to strengthen the role of citizens in local governance, the Coalition for Effective Local Democracy, in collaboration with the ongoing work of the School of Public Administration and Policy at Ohio State University, and with funding support from the U.S. Department of State, has been working with key stakeholders in six local communities in South Africa to develop CPG programs. We developed resource manuals and tool kits based on four U.S. CPG programs: Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; Phoenix, Arizona; and Seattle, Washington. We used these materials to work with the six communities to explore the usefulness of a CPG program in promoting local government reform. The six communities include the Eastern Cape cities of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality (formerly Port Elizabeth and the surrounding areas) and King William’s Town; the North West Province cities of Mafikeng and Vryburg; and two rural villages in the Eastern Cape, Gwali and Kolomana. The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality has fully embraced the CPG idea. In addition, the PE Technikon and its Institute for Sustainable Governance and Development has joined the project to provide administrative and managerial support as well as taking the lead in creating short training courses to support full and fair participation by all citizens in the CPG program. The U.S. Embassy in Pretoria provided additional support for the implementation of this initiative. In addition, there are very positive developments toward establishing a CPG program in the Village of Gwali. Under the leadership of the local Gwali chief, the village is now in the process of creating a Section 21 (not for profit) company to oversee the governance and management of the Gwali CPG program. The King Sandile Development Trust has indicated its willingness to contribute office space and equipment in support of the program’s management and to work with the village to generate funding in support of the Gwali CPG program. Plans call for an initial community project whereby citizens will be provided with wheelbarrows and stone for purposes of improving the roadways within the village. Finally, there have been significant positive developments around the CPG initiative in Vryburg. Specifically, the community was approached by a group of young people about volunteering some community service. At first, the Vryburg council was unclear about how best to respond. But after exposure to how the CPG concept can be used to provide the financial and organizational infrastructure to support such citizen driven initiatives, action was taken by the council to support the youth by donating overalls to those who participated in a street cleaning project. Initial participation consisted of 10 young people and reportedly grew to include 48 youth volunteers. It was also reported that a new youth-led volunteer initiative involving the patching of potholes was underway and that the Vryburg Council was discussing the formation of a skills training program as a way to organize the Vryburg CPG program. The outcomes of these efforts are still largely a work in progress and the impacts are likely to manifest themselves in interesting and unexpected ways. The Coalition’s contribution, in partnership with Ohio State University, has been to bring the idea of a CPG Program to local communities in South Africa. The idea has been embraced by the citizens at the grass roots level and, in those communities moving ahead, has been an important catalyst to reenergize the community. With an eye toward continued progress in developing and implementing the CPG concept as a way to support citizen participation in local self-government in South Africa, there are a number of next steps that include:
In Tanzania, the approach has been somewhat different. A number of key stakeholders at the local level have embraced the idea of the CPG program. They recognize that citizens in many villages in Tanzania are already taking initiatives to improve their communities as places to live, work, and raise a family. In this environment, these key stakeholders have proposed initiating two CPG pilot projects in the villages of Dodoma and Tanga. The Coalition in partnership with the Great Lakes Consortium is raising seed funding that will be used to make grants for individual projects in the CPG framework. 1 Denhart R, Denhart J, 2000. The new public service:
serving rather than steering. Public Administration Review 60 (6):
549-59
coalition, locl government, south africa, schools, democracy |
- 06/16/2005
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