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Community Development Journal Advance Access published online on March 17, 2009
Community Development Journal, doi:10.1093/cdj/bsp007
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© Oxford University Press and Community Development Journal. 2009 All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Caught in the vortex: can local government community development workers succeed in South Africa?

Mel Gray and Betty Mubangizi

Address for correspondence: Mel Gray, email: mel.gray{at}newcastle.edu.au

In 2003, following a Parliamentary announcement by President Thabo Mbeki, a new cadre of public servants – community development workers (CDWs) – was introduced in South Africa to serve as agents of change within local government municipalities charged with the responsibility for social and economic development. This paper examines the context of this initiative, the role of CDW, the progress of the Community Development Workers Programme (CDWP), and the challenges faced by this emerging occupational group. It begins with a discussion of community development theory and highlights the difficulties for CDWs as state employees whose goal is to foster support for and participation in government-initiated programmes. It argues that community development practice can be a far cry from its sometimes hortatory theory. Given the institutional confusion within which they operate and the harsh practice realities in South Africa, success seems most unlikely.


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