The effectiveness of integrated development plans in the Free State

English: The Integrated Development Plans developed by local municipalities are the tool that should be used to ensure the sustainable development of both urban and rural areas through combating service-delivery backlogs and also high levels of unemployment and poverty. Yet, the IDPs developed by municipalities (the study focuses on three local municipalities in the Free State) often fall short of achieving this objective as a result of various obstacles, three of which were subjected to scrutiny during this research. Firstly, the use of development indicators aims to ensure the measurability of development initiatives, thereby also ensuring the accountability of decision makers in local government (Paper One). Development indicators guide municipalities in the allocation of scarce resources to those areas where they are most needed and, therefore form an essential part of an IDP. This paper explores the use of these indicators in the IDPs of the three local municipalities in order to demonstrate the critical absence of adequate development indicators in the IDPs. The implications for development planning and local governance are also discussed. Secondly, community participation in development planning will be discussed on the basis of the theory of community participation at both the international and the national level (Paper Two). The focus of the discussions is on levels of participation, as well as approaches to and methods of participation. The factors affecting community participation and the preconditions for effective community participation are also considered. The process of community participation in integrated development planning in the three local municipalities is evaluated, with a particular focus on the dangers of the tendency to engage in community participation in the IDP process for the sole purpose of compliance with legislation rather than for community empowerment. Thirdly, local economic development within the three municipalities is examined (Paper Three). The research focuses on the strategic approaches to Local Economic Development, in accordance with international and national guidelines, suggesting that in most cases, LED is limited to a number of small capital projects, and that it is neither regarded as an integral part of all projects, nor directed at addressing the real structural problems associated with small towns. These LED projects are identified haphazardly with no strategic approach or guidelines, and this leads to their being both unsustainable and dependent on continuous funding. In conclusion, the thesis presents principal findings and recommendations to alleviate the challenges presented with regard to the use of development indicators, community participation and local economic development at the local government level.