(UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, 2016) Molema, Lebogang
Public participation is the cornerstone of democracy in South Africa, and it is at the
local government that most of the community engagement is undertaken. However
with this being said there are a number of signs that indicate that South African people
are unsatisfied with how the state engages with them. This paper looked at public
participation from the official’s perspective, as it attempted to understand some of the
challenges they face, the complexities of undertaking community as well how they
navigate these challenges and complexities. The research study was conducted on
officials of the Development Facilitation Unit at the Johannesburg Development
Agency. Two dimensions of community engagement were presented. Firstly community
engagement meetings and how they were conducted, and secondly what officials do
with the information that is received from communities, this is what the research refers to
as ‘the behind the scene work’.