An assessment of community consultation and participation: a case study of the Umhlontlo Local Municipality

South African municipalities have often been labelled as failing in the provision of services to local communities. These allegations include poor governance, mal administration, corruption and poor delivery of services to where they are needed most. Certain municipalities, however, are unable to deliver sufficient services to the communities of their geographic areas due to mal administration, political interference and corruption. This study is about the analysis of Community Participation and Consultation in Local Government, using the Umhlontlo Local Municipality as a case study. The focus of the study was on the participation of communities in the decision making processes of their local municipalities. The issue of community participation in decision making has been receiving attention in South Africa, from both government and civil society sectors. Only 50% of the areas are receiving running water, enjoying electricity and living in RDP houses. Government in many parts of the world has begun to take a fresh look at the need for public participation in the decision making process. The main problem that will be addressed in this study, is the extent to which communities can be involved in the decision making process in the Umhlontlo Local Municipality. To address this research problem and to achieve the aim of this study, an in-depth review of the literature on decision making was conducted. The empirical research was done by distributing self-administered questionnaires to the participants in Umhlontlo Local Municipality. The research findings will reveal that there is poor community consultation. This report presents the findings of a study conducted to identify the strategies and consultation structures used in the participation of communities in the decision making processes. Measures of effectiveness of these strategies are also indicated in the report. A key indicator of the need for this study was triggered by the non-attendance of the communities in the IDP (Define IDP – Integrated Development Plan) road shows and also by the complaints of a serious lack in service delivery. It was also noted that there was little understanding of the IDP concept & documentation. The results of this study also show that the communities do not fully participate in the development planning processes. The researcher hopes that this study will sensitize the communities to participate in the affairs of their development so as to accelerate progress in communities, which will further improve the quality of their lives