THE ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE OF LOCAL GOVERNANCE ON PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Abstract

The 21st century in the South African local government is characterized by widespread service delivery protests. Various intellectuals have associated the issue of service delivery protests with corrupt municipal administrators, lack of human capital in municipal administration and lack of awareness about the local governance principles. Currently the South African academic community lacks the research literature examining the link between the knowledge of local governance and public participation. Despite various legal legislations regarding the public participation in local sphere of government the large percentage of public members is increasingly becoming distant in terms of participating on municipal affairs. This study examines the link between the knowledge of local governance and level of public participation of the ward 62 of EThekwini municipality. The aim of the study is to determine whether the knowledge of local governance has influence on public participation. Investigating the link between these two variables assisted in terms of identifying the possibly causes of slow rate of public participation on municipal affairs.