Putting community participation into development work: The difficult case of Winterveld

Abstract

Community development in impoverished homeland communities like Winterveld is an important priority in this era of transition. Yet, it is rarely effective and self‐sustaining. Government, parastatals, NGOs and international development agencies have all tried to initiate their own versions of community development, but most have failed to get the full participation of the community as an equal and active partner. A community development project should not be seen as an end in itself, but as a means of promoting the development of local communities into key agents with control over their own lives. Before embarking on community capacity‐building exercises, development agencies will have to take more time and effort to understand, respect, and root their work in the experiences and expectations of community members.

Notes

Lecturer, Department of Education, University of the Witwatersrand.

This article relies mostly on the experiences and outcome of a research project commissioned by the Winterveld Education Coordinating Committee (WECC) from the Wits Education Consultants. The author was one of the three Wits consultants and benefited from the comments of her colleague, Brahm Fleisch. She alone is responsible for the views expressed in this paper