Ngo Legitimacy in Supporting Informal Settlements Communities: Representation, Participation and Accountability Explored Through a South African Case Study
Year: 2012
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This thesis studies the legitimacy of NGOs in supporting communities living in informal \nsettlements in South Africa. The key objective is to explore how development NGOs derive \nlegitimacy by using representation, participation and accountability. This is a difficult feat \nconsidering the challenges these NGOs face working in informal settlements where tenure issues \nare often not easily resolved. \nThe thesis discusses two approaches to legitimacy, the prescriptive/normative approach and the \ndescriptive approach, applying both in a single case study of the South African development \nNGO Planact and its activities at Zandspruit Private Property, an informal settlement in \nJohannesburg. \nThe case study explores normative legitimacy through representation, because development or \nadvocacy NGOs derive legitimacy through what Pitkin in her seminal work in 1967 refers to as \nsubstantive representation of communities needs and interests. The case study discusses \ndescriptive legitimacy through the perceptions of stakeholders, namely government, the \ncommunity and Planact itself. \nThe thesis found that representation, participation and accountability counted little in establishing \nthe NGO s legitimacy. Because of unresolved tenure, Planact s legitimacy was not constructed \nthrough representation, participation and accountability. However, Zandspruit community, local \ngovernment and Planact itself still perceived Planact to be legitimate. The thesis concludes that \nthe prescriptive/normative framework of NGO legitimacy is limited in the context of unresolved \ntenure and marginalisation. Zandspruit community being marginalised and desperate for \nassistance, the community had no power to demand greater accountability from Planact. The \nperformance of Planact in Zandspruit was hampered by the lack of tenure security. The thesis \nrecommends that to improve the performance of development NGOs in relation to service \ndelivery, governments need to limit delays in securing tenure. This, however, is a complex \nchallenge in its own right and needs further research
Author: Georgina Peter Ole Saibul
Language: English
Subfield: Urban Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2144443623