Developing and implementing an effective framework for cooperative governance and Local Economic Development (LED) in South African local government
Date
2022-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Megatrend University
Abstract
The lack of a comprehensive institutional framework to promote joint participation
in the development of local economies has hampered grassroots development efforts in
South African communities. The majority of the South African local government authorities
struggle to fulfil their developmental mandate. Notably, there’re certain collaborative governance
factors that tend to enhance the effectiveness and control of localised development.
These factors are not captured in the integrated conceptual model that articulately depicts
the relationships between these variables and their impacts on the perceived outcome of LED.
This negatively impacts the municipality’s ability to manage localised development well in
collaboration with relevant stakeholders. A complete understanding of the relationships and
dynamics of these variables is required to make recommendations for improving management
and response to socio-economic concerns within the community through improved LED
governance. Data were collected in six municipalities in the Western Cape, South Africa,
to address these challenges. A qualitative study design paradigm based on interpretive philosophy
was employed. The instruments used to collect the data were document reviews,
interviews, and focus group discussions. The study analyses and evaluates the design and
implementation of collaborative governance policies and initiatives in selected local governments
in the Western Cape, South Africa. A normative, collaborative governance framework
was developed in the study. This captures not only the enhancing and limiting factors of LED
but also the relationship between these factors that can hinder the success of the collaboration
between local governments and other key stakeholders. This integrated framework/model
can inform future design, implementation, and evaluation of LED co-governance in small
towns and future policies for improving co-governance and LED in small towns.
Description
CITATION: Kamara, R.D. 2022. Developing and implementing an effective framework for cooperative governance and Local Economic Development (LED) in South African local government. Megatrend revija Megatrend Review 19 (1):235-266, doi:10.5937/MegRev2201235D.
The original publication is available at: https://megatrendreview.megatrend.edu.rs/index.php/en/
This paper is a part of the author’s PhD dissertation.
The original publication is available at: https://megatrendreview.megatrend.edu.rs/index.php/en/
This paper is a part of the author’s PhD dissertation.
Keywords
Cooperative governance, Policy and legal framework, Institutional arrangements, Intergovernmental relations, LED -- Local Economic Development
Citation
Kamara, R.D. 2022. Developing and implementing an effective framework for cooperative governance and Local Economic Development (LED) in South African local government. Megatrend revija Megatrend Review 19 (1):235-266 doi:0.5937/MegRev2201235D