Background And Context

South Africa is generally regarded as one of the biggest and strongest economies in the African continent. However, inequalities that cut across the race, gender, class and geographic location remain very much a part of the fabric of the society. Many people in urban areas still lack basic needs, such as shelter and clean water and rural poverty still remains largely unattended. This action research focuses on agriculture and rural livelihoods in Jozini municipal area and seeks to establish the extent to which communication and public participation are integrated in development. Human development requires a minimum level of community participation in planning stages, decisions about the nature of development, as well as how to prioritise projects and shape the policy regime, so that communities develop not simply as consumers of policies but also with sustainable development outcomes in mind.

Participants in various research groups in Jozini reiterated the importance of communication in the development process. The definitions of poverty and development they offered indicate that they consider their lack of capacity to articulate their own situation and be understood by officials and those with power over resources, who are mostly outsiders. They are frustrated by the lack of access to communication about resources and the roles and duties of office bearers. The perception that officials in positions of power and authority spend most of their time pursuing personal comfort at the expense of service delivery often results from the lack of information about resources and duties. Some community members say that although development projects are implemented, often this is done without consultation of the community and this they find unacceptable. One of the fundamental characteristics of poverty is the fact that it marginalises communities leaving them vulnerable and lacking the capacity to hold officials accountable.