Coetzee, TaniaCwaile, Mmoloki Saviour2024-02-162024-02-162023http://hdl.handle.net/11660/12437Dissertation (MGT (Governance and Political Transformation))--University of the Free State, 2023The study set out to investigate whether the influence of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) had diminished in the new government framework of democratic South Africa, and if so, what the attributing factors were. This study used a qualitative research approach. The aim of the study was to identify and examine the possible impediments to the effective and positive contribution of CSOs in the new government framework in democratic South Africa. The study investigated whether the role of CSOs had diminished in the new governance framework in democratic South Africa, and how CSOs could be made more effective in the face of all the challenges that undermined their presence and space. This study collected, collated, and analysed the data on the selected CSOs. The research enabled an explanation and description of the identified and the excluded tools and/or mechanisms through which the influence of CSOs could be or was exercised in the context of the new governance framework of democratic South Africa. The findings demonstrated that there was a multiplicity of factors that had contributed to the diminished influence of CSOs. CSOs have however found alternative means, including the use of the courts or litigation, to ensure that their views find expression and that they are able to exercise some form of influence. Based on the findings, recommendations were made, which if considered and implemented, could help to redress and/or mitigate the diminishing influence of CSOs in the post-apartheid era, in the new democratic framework of South Africa.encivil society organizationscivil societyparticipatory democracydemocracygovernanceparticipationinfluenceDissertationUniversity of the Free State