The Nuts and Bolts of Public Participation and Good Governance in South Africa: A Critical Review

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to unpack and indicate the interrelatedness of public participation and good governance, the paper argues that sufficient, fair and effective public participation promotes good governance within the Local Government. Public participation is a process by which an organization consults with affected individuals, organizations, and government entities before taking a decision. Public participation is considered as a two-way communication and cooperative problem-solving process whose goal is to achieve better and more acceptable decisions. Good governance begins with the political will to govern well. This paper is conceptual in nature, and it relies heavily on the secondary data, and/ or the existing literature to address answers to the inherent argument. From the literature, authors derived at various findings such as: poor communication channels, ethical practises, inadequate budget, lack of prioritisation of the public’s needs to make proper decisions inter alia, as contributing factors making impossible for good governance. Therefore, this paper recommends that further research should be conducted in all the municipalities within South Africa, to detect problems of public participation for the enhancement good governance as well as echoing that the municipalities should acknowledge and prioritise the needs of the community and convert them into services.