A comparison of three public projects that included community participation to determine the total value add

Abstract

Some of the most pressing and challenging problems facing South Africa are unemployment, poverty, urban redress, infrastructural decay, undereducation, and the transformation of the landscape left by apartheid. In an effort to address these problems, the successive democratic governments embarked on a number of initiatives that were aimed at providing relief through building and construction projects, which require the participation by, and employment of local community members. To facilitate the desired redress, various programmes were launched and a number of projects undertaken. Some of these projects were flagship projects that were lauded by the architectural profession and attracted wide publicity. The socio-economic benefits to the community and local area, the extent of skills transfer to the community participants, and the long-term benefits they brought to the community participants are less obvious. This article revisits three such projects as case studies, with the aim of determining the extent to which they helped address the aforementioned problems and the extent ofthe benefits they brought to their physical and social contexts. This is done through a literature review supported by semi-structured interviews of relevant role players and an observational visit to each, in order to make recommendations suggesting how future projects could be configured to maximise the long-term benefit they could bring to their physical and social environments while addressing the national challenges. It is recommended that infrastructural development programmes such as the Extended Public Works Programme must prioritise the socio-economic upliftment and sustainable empowerment of people and configure projects with this as their main aim.

Van die dringendste en uitdagendste probleme wat Suid-Afrika in die gesig staar, is werkloosheid, armoede, ruimtelike herskikking, infrastrukturele verval, lae algemene geletterdheids- en opvoedkundige vlakke, en die herskikking van die landskap wat apartheid nagelaat het. In ʼn poging om hierdie probleme aan te pak, het opeenvolgende demokratiese regerings programme vir nfrastruktuurskepping deur middel van arbeidsintensiewe projekte van stapel gestuur. Van hierdie projekte het prominensie verkry, ontwerppryse van verskeie argiteksinstitute ontvang en aansienlike mediadekking gekry. Die sosio-ekonomiese voordele wat die projekte vir hul omgewings ingehou het, die omvang van opleiding wat gemeenskapsbetrokkenes ontvang het, en watter langtermyn voordele dit vir hulle ingehou het, is minder duidelik. Hierdie artikel neem ʼn terugblik op drie sulke projekte as gevallestudies met die doel om vas te stel tot welke mate hulle daarin geslaag het om die bogenoemde probleme aan te spreek en die bydrae wat hulle tot die opheffing van hul fisiese en sosiale omgewings gebring het, te ondersoek. Die doelwit is om op grond van ’n literatuurstudie, opgevolg deur semigestruktureerde onderhoude met toepaslike rolspelers en visuele observasies tydens besoeke aan die projekte en analise, aanbevelings te maak aangaande die strukturering van toekomstige projekte, ten einde die voordele wat hulle mag inhou te optimaliseer in die stryd teen die genoemde probleme. Daar word aanbeveel dat programme vir infrastrukturele ontwikkeling, soos die ‘Extended Public Works Programme’, in hul keuse en strukturering van projekte die sosio-ekonomiese opheffing van mense en die skep van volhoubare werksgeleenthede moet prioritiseer.