Reviewing local economic development (LED) projects: the case of Mogale city local municipality (MCLM)
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Date
2018-02
Authors
Machete, Ngaka Joseph
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
Local Economic Development (LED) literature has shown that a focus on local economic
development at a local government level is one of the best ways to address the triple
challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment. The responsibility of coordinating
LED initiatives in order to address these challenges is, in accord with the Constitution of
the Republic of South Africa (1996), the responsibility of municipalities.
This study highlights the changes that LED projects had on the communities in Mogale
City Local Municipality (MCLM), West Rand District Municipality (WRDM), in the Gauteng
Province. According to the qualitative approach, a questionnaire was used to collect data
from respondents. Research findings mostly confirm what other researchers have already
stated, such as the role-played by the educational level of beneficiaries in the successes
of LED projects. A key finding of this research is that not all project beneficiaries had high
school educational qualifications: only one person, the manager of the Food gardening
project, had a grade 10 qualification. Another significant finding reveals that both projects
did not keep accounting records and did not use the services of an independent auditor
to audit their projects.
The main aim of the study was to review the LED projects of MCLM in order to establish
whether they were being implemented in an effective and efficient manner.
Most members in these projects were women, with only one man in the Food Security
Project assisting with the hard-core labour (digging of trenches) and two men in the
Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) project. The EPWP project had been in
place for one year, but was on the verge of collapse because members were not being
paid a stipend, in contrast to their Food Security counterparts. The researcher as a lack
of patience and perseverance interpreted members’ lack of commitment to the EPWP
project. Members of the Food Security project, in contrast, stuck to their project despite
the fact that it was not yielding results. They did not see the project as a get-rich-quick
scheme and worked tirelessly, in the hope that in time the municipality would pay them
stipends of market value.
MCLM’s LED strategy is a good example of what national policy envisages, since it was
drafted in consultation with the community as a key stakeholder and focuses on real
community issues.
The study draws upon academic journals and literature that examine the origin of LED
projects’ implementation at local municipal level worldwide and provides a historical
perspective on LED projects and initiatives internationally. The study also provides a
South African LED perspective of the pre and post-apartheid era.
The researcher suggests that further in-depth research be conducted on factors that lead
to LED projects collapsing instead of sustaining themselves, as well as LED projects’
capacity to create employment and be financially and economically viable.
Description
Keywords
Local Economic Development (LED) projects, Municipal government, Municipal services, Local government, Dissertation (M.Dev.Stud. (Development Studies))--University of the Free State, 2018