Social responsibility agenda to promote community development: a case study of the Riverlea Community

Abstract

With increased attention being given to the concept of corporate social responsibility by researchers and academics alike, it has become apparent that the focus had been on the business world. Less attention has been given to the social responsibility of governments. Within the South African context, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) provides an overall framework for the application of social responsibility, among others, by local governments. The aim of the mini-dissertation was to explore and describe using a qualitative descriptive multi-site case study, how the social responsibility agenda is applied to promote community development in the town of Riverlea in Johannesburg (South Africa). Particular reference is made to the extent of deprivation and how this is dealt with in the social responsibility agenda of the City of Johannesburg (CoJ). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with scientifically selected respondents. The key findings that follow from the empirical investigation revealed widespread poverty, driven by unemployment amongst employable adults, and young adults who turn to drugs, alcohol and gangsterism. The division of the geographical area of Riverlea by a physical barrier (railway lines), exacerbates the isolation between community members living on opposite sides of the lines. In the understanding of the concept “social responsibility", the CoJ and its institutions admitted that they have a direct role to play in social responsibility, but that their understanding of the concept was lacking and, as a result, is not contributing appropriately to community development programmes. Also, the departments of the CoJ did highlight a lack of resources and dependency on third parties such as municipal-owned entities (MOEs), which constrain the effective implementation of community development programmes when their roles were reflected in the criteria of the interview questions. Although qualitative case study findings are not generalised, the researcher is of the opinion that through the rich and thorough contextualised descriptions of the research, other researchers will be able to transfer the findings to their living contexts or could replicate the study should they desire to do so.