Citizen participation in developmental local government: statutory obligations

Abstract

Democratic and developmental local government in South Africa depends on good relations between them and the citizens they serve. There are several statutory and regulatory initiatives to establish a framework for promoting good governance, but is seems as if developmental local government is hampered by practical constraints to fully adhere to both the spirit and word of this framework. Citizen participation is seen as broader than previous more limited efforts on community participation in linking citizens? participation more structurally to local governments through institutional linkages and it urges a partnership to foster local democracy. The purpose of this article is to identify and describe the various statutory obligations that developmental local government has to adhere to, to be truly participative and democratic in nature.