Nature of Participatory Democracy Practices in Madibeng Municipality

This book provides a determination of the nature of participatory democracy practices in Madibeng municipality. Two research questions were formulated (1) what is the nature of participatory democracy in Madibeng municipality? (2) To what extent does the implementation of participatory democracy mechanisms influence municipal policy decisions? hypothesis was formulated for the second question; The implementation of participatory democracy mechanisms in Madibeng is limited to compliance with existing laws and regulations. General finding thereof is that participatory democracy practice in Madibeng municipality is characterised by the implementation of five mechanisms; IDP, Ward committee structures, Mayoral imbizos, Policy public hearings and Petitioning system. further revelation was that communities prefer IDP and ward committee structures than the other three mechanisms reflected in the report. However, the effectiveness of the two preferred mechanisms remains unclear. This book confirms the notion that participatory democracy in South Africa's local municipalities tends to be ineffective and not yield positive results.