Abstract:
The aim of this study is to investigate and assess the effectiveness of Greater
Tzaneen Municipality in implementing LED strategies in rural communities.
Although the concept of Local Economic Development has been studied and
widely debated in South Africa, the present study intends to determine the extent
to which the implementation of LED strategy by Greater Tzaneen Municipality
contributes towards improving the livelihood of communities for sustainable local
economic development. In other words, the study purports to develop a more
holistic understanding of the dynamics of local economic development efforts.
This is a mixed method study in which elements of qualitative and quantitative
approaches to collect, analyze, validate and interpret data were used.
Quantitative design was used to profile respondents and do some statistical
analysis of the population. The quantitative design used was in the form of a
semi-structured survey questionnaire to acquire statistical data. Since the study
is heterogeneous, stratified random sampling was used for the quantitative
design whereby ward councillors, ward committees, project leaders and
community stakeholders (n= 60) participated. For the qualitative aspect of the
study face-to-face interviews schedule was used in order to construct the reality
from the interviewees‟ world and to gain more in-depth dynamics and
complexities by virtue of being the more natural form of interaction with
respondents. Key municipal officials directly involved in LED and those who have
more knowledge and information concerning LED implementation were identified
by means of purposive sampling technique (n=10).
The findings revealed that even though Greater Tzaneen Municipality on average
is on the implementation side, there are some factors that hinder it from
achieving the 100% LED strategy implementation. Even though policies are in
place, it appears like LED strategies have produced very few success stories for
various reasons country wide which among others includes lack of capacity
within municipalities, financial constraints and poor and incorrect implementation.
The other challenge is that communities regard LED as employment creation by
municipalities and should not be viewed only as creating economic benefits, but
as playing a vital role in poverty alleviation and therefore should have a strong
social focus. As per the constitutional mandate Section 152 (1), (2) and Section 153 LED
should be an integral part in the planning activities of municipalities across
departments and not be afterthought. The process should clearly reflect
participation by all wards and their respective communities, local economic
growth, poverty alleviation and job creation as well as prioritizing human
development initiatives.
