The Annual #Integritasza Conference and Workshops on:
Co-created Community-based Partnership Local Governance and Service Delivery in South Africa: Analysis, Action, and Activism
Venue: Andrew Murray Centre for Spirituality: Wellington, South Africa
Date: Wednesday 30 November 2022 to Friday 2 December 2022
The context and challenges of, in many, but not all cases, failing South African local governance, conjures up several proverbial “wicked” problems as challenges for South African citizens.
These problems, include bad and failing local governance, deteriorating service delivery, ineffective to non-existent, toxic political and public leadership, corruption, maladministration, unprofessionalism and a consistent increase in poverty, inequality, and unemployment. Evidence, in official reports, abounds for this sad situation exacerbated by lacking integrity, empathy, and compassion, and reciprocity to citizens for their financial and civic contributions. Reports of the Auditor General, the Public Protector, the Zondo Commission, and the Human Rights Commission document the decline in South African local government and service delivery.
The outcomes of descending governance and declining service delivery disasters resulting in crumbling infrastructure, and sub-standard service delivery are there for all to see. The consequences are experienced in deep darkness when power failures occur, thirst and hygiene disasters when water dissipates. Raw sewage floods the streets, potholes replace roads. Poverty, inequality, and unemployment worsen.
These dismal downward trends have necessitated citizen’s initiatives in many municipalities to find socially innovative solutions for devolved governance and decentralised service delivery. Ironically, this growing trend towards do-it-yourself community based local governance, counters the centralising ideological bias of central government aimed at controlling top-down governance.
Concerned and constructive citizens, who are already overburdened and paying municipal taxes and fees, have embarked on alternative socially innovative local governance initiatives. Case examples of such partnership governance between civil society, private sector and professional associations abound in cities and towns across the beloved country where citizens have set up alternative community-based service delivery initiatives to deliver alternatives to failing local governance.
The Big Idea given this looming bad governance disaster, is to initiate a set of knowledge-based courageous conversations at our conference and workshop titled:
Co-created Community-based Partnership Local Governance and Service Delivery in South Africa: Analysis, Action, and Activism.
The conference will attempt to secure answers and solutions to these vexing questions and beyond.
Media Coverage and Enquiries: Prof Erwin Schwella: Conference Initiator: 083 627 2377