Research in Focus with Ephrem Tadesse (May 2007)

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In May 2007, we examined the 2006 paper 'The People Shall Govern: A Research Report on Public Participation in the Policy Processes' by Ephrem Tadesse, who at the time of the publication was a Peacebuilding Specialist at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR). The interview examines two examples of citizen participation in policy-making, in Khayelitsha and the Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum (ZSF), and discusses the paper’s recommendations for future policy.

Ephrem Tadesse

 

GSDRC:

The paper examines South Africa’s post-apartheid policy-making processes and the extent to which ordinary citizens can understand and participate in them. Can you tell me a bit more about how and why you undertook this research and provide a brief outline of your paper?

 

Ephrem:

The research focuses on the relationship between public participation and policy processes and violent conflict in South Africa at the time that the research was conducted. It also examines three factors: the potential of participatory governance, the limits of representative  democracy and the potential for violent conflict in South Africa. Whilst post apartheid South Africa managed to put into place a constitutional democracy, aspects of this democracy are very weak and have not been able to fully guarantee the involvement of people in policy making.  This lack of involvement is very much linked into dissatisfaction that is felt by many particularly as expectations were so high and were not met which in turn contributed to the violent action across South Africa. In conducting the research we looked at the nature of the South African state, the contexts in the apartheid and post-apartheid period, the types and models of public participation which exist and the extent of civil society and citizen involvement in policy making and implementation processes. We also wanted to examine the global context and how global processes affect the local participation.

 

GSDRC:

The paper concentres on two case studies.  The first examines housing provision in Khayelitsha and the inadequacies in addressing people’s concerns. What particularly struck me as a key issue is the lack of engagement by the local officials in consultation and listening processes. Could you tell us a bit more about this case study? At the time you wrote the paper it seemed like the issues were resolved – is this still the case?

 

Ephrem:

Khayelitsha is a mainly black township in Cape Town, where close to 500,000 people reside. The townships were initially set up in apartheid times to provide the labour needs for the white population in the cities.  With the coming of the democratic government there were huge expectations from the people for greater interaction with the local councils and for more services to be fulfilled. Khayelitsha is one of the bigger townships with a number of areas including Section A, Section B, Section C and Mandela Park. In the 1980s to alleviate issues of overcrowding and people were moved to Mandela Park where they were given bank loans and private construction companies built houses. However the houses, within a matter of months, began to deteriorate; the walls cracked and roofs leaked. Neither the banks, local authorities nor the construction companies would claim culpability or even engage in discussions.  So although they had been moved into accommodation which they were paying for with high levels of interest, the housing was unsuitable.  On the one hand therefore, there was some alleviation from overcrowding in other areas of the township but it created a host of other issues surrounding substandard housing and shouldering costs.  There is on going work at present to resolve these issues. Other areas of Khayelitsha, Section A, B and C, comprise mainly of overcrowded shacks, overcrowding which is exacerbated by the migration to this area from the Eastern Cape and other provinces. People migrate in search of jobs as well as an expectation that the government will provide subsidies to build houses. However the reality is that people live in crammed shacks which become easily flooded, have limited access to sanitation and when there is fire it is extremely difficult for the firemen to go in.   What exacerbates the people’s feelings of frustrations is that many times when local councillors from that area are elected, the councillor will actually move out of the township to neighbouring suburbs with better facilities and only come and visit at the time of the next election. As a result people often go onto the street to demonstrate in order to be heard. 

 

GSDRC:

The other case study discusses the Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum along with other civil society organisations who are attempting to influence Southern African policy towards Zimbabwe. In attempting to raise awareness the civil society organisations seemed very successful in harnessing the media through press conferences. You point out that ‘it is difficult to argue a direct causal relationship between the activities of the Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum (ZSF) and other civil society actors, and any subsequent shifts in government policy’, but could you talk us through the activities and the outcomes?

 

Ephrem:

The Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum is a network of South African civil and labour organisations that have in an interest in Zimbabwe. It consists of about 25 organisations and has a number of objectives. One objective is to coordinate the activities of the organisations that have different activities relating to their own niche so that there is information sharing and coordinating. Another associated activity is first hand information sharing: if an organisation or a civil society activist travels through Zimbabwe it is an ideal opportunity to collect and then disseminate information about what is happening on the ground. The forum also has the objective of creating public awareness in South Africa of events unfolding in Zimbabwe and of what the South African government should be doing.  In addition to public awareness they also organised and supported press releases and conferences as well as public demonstrations towards the Zimbabwean embassy, the government of South Africa and in the border areas between Zimbabwe and South Africa which provides part of the public action side to their work. In that vein press releases are also important when there are significant issues in Zimbabwe. For instance the paper mentions that there was an eviction of people in Harare: Operation Clean up and the subsequent press release made by the forum. Additionally some of the forum members produced a documentary which was used to publicise the events and create awareness. There were also demonstrations at the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe. Efforts were also made to contact high level government officials and to communicate to them what civil society organisations and the forum think what the South African government should be doing with regard to this issue. A particularly influential member of the forum is the South African Council of Churches which has a very good relationship with government and particularly with the presidency. The forum used that relationship to its advantage to communicate its message. When we examine what the forum is able to do though, it’s more in terms of awareness creation and lobbying. Foreign policy is considered the domain of the state and the presidency and bringing in a culture where civil society organisations and citizens can also participate actively is a difficult task. It is very difficult to argue the remit of the forum with regards to the activities of the South African government. Some member organisations suggest though that once the forum and other civil society organisations start to create awareness there would be a shift on the part of the government policy. However this is very difficult to prove.

 

GSDRC:

The paper concludes by recommending a number of approaches and strategies for improving the ability for citizens to participate in domestic policy-making. Could you run through these approaches and tell us to how they have been generally received and to what extent do you believe they will be implemented into future policy.

 

Ephrem:

The recommendations were formulated in response to the challenges identified in the research work. One of the major challenges -- or one major point of frustration, particularly in the Khayelitsha case -- was that people felt unlistened to and there wasn’t an adequate mechanism to express issues.  But before I run through the recommendations I should probably say that once we had formulated those recommendations we had the opportunity to review the paper in a consultation process with a number of civil society organisations, representatives of the presidency, local government officials and community members. The response was, on the whole, positive and comments made by these groups were incorporated into the final paper. Because of this consultation, the paper was owned not only by the authors but by the people who are directly involved in the content of the research and its outcome. With regard to the individual recommendations we tried to see what policies and frameworks already exist in South Africa in relation to participatory governance and public participation. In particular we looked at the Batho Pele (which directly translates to ‘people first’). In this paper the government had identified about 8 major principles. One of these principles is public consultation and participation with regards to public service delivery.  At policy level and in terms of contents it does come with its own limitations but it does provide a broader framework. One major challenge with regard to that principle is application. One recommendation is the need to build the capacity of community based groups to participate effectively in policy processes. In South Africa they organise imbizos which are public discussions sessions. However the level of participation is affected not only by the organisation of the discussions but also by people’s access to resources. For example if an imbizo is organised five kilometres from where people are living, they would require public transport and time off in order to attend. Therefore one recommendation would be to build local organisations in terms of their competence and their resources. In 2003 the community development workers programme was set up in South Africa. A community development worker bridges the gaps between ordinary people and local government. They advise citizens of services available and help them apply. There were challenges associated with this programme when it was launched as a pilot scheme. Primarily they were centred around the fact that it was not properly formalised, and that local officials were not properly informed or educated about the programme in detail and therefore became fearful about their jobs. Therefore our recommendation for the existing and future development workers programme would be formalising it and informing public officials about the service and what it exactly provides. This would alleviate any fears about job security.