CHALLENGES TO BUILDING AUTHENTIC PARTNERSHIPS IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS: LESSONS FROM BHAMBAYI, KWAZULU- NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA.

Transcription

1 CHALLENGES TO BUILDING AUTHENTIC PARTNERSHIPS IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS: LESSONS FROM BHAMBAYI, KWAZULU- NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA. Dr T Raniga, Dr B Simpson and Mr N Mthembu University of KwaZulu- Natal Durban

2 INTRODUCTION In contemporary SA, partnerships between government, NGOs, the private sector and CBOs have been identified as a means to strengthen communities and the sustainability of social services

3 Introduction South Africa since 1994 has prioritized poverty alleviation and developmental social welfare services in legislation (White Paper 1997) Partnerships between NGOs, CBOs and government has always been recognized key drivers of developmental social welfare services

4 Continued However often the unequal power relations that exist within and between the various partners in welfare leads to much fragmentation, duplication and lack of co-ordination of services. Building authentic partnerships between the various stakeholders is a process essential for optimal delivery of services

5 The concept partnership Definitions: where partners learn how to trust each other, gain mutual respect and share responsibility for bringing change (Ashworth, 2000:256) coalition of interests drawn from one or more sector in order to prepare and oversee an agreed strategy for the regeneration of a defined area (UN Habitat, 2003)

6 The concept partnership, cont Authentic partnerships focus on the nature of the relationship rather than the identity of the partners and the tasks (Fowler, 1998) Link with notion of participation importance of participation for sustainability, security, peace, social justice, democracy (Abbott, 1996)

7 Benefits of partnerships Resource synergy added value from pooling resources Political synergy new insights from pooling ideas Transformation building consensus and reducing conflict Democracy opens possibilities for citizen participation and social inclusion

8 Research context: Bhambayi Like other informal settlements Bhambayi is characterized by poor access to infrastructure High levels of poverty, unemployment and HIV Political tension in the Inanda region Conflict between personalities in different organisations

9 Background to the study In 2007 as a response to the problems, community members and a team of academics embarked on study to investigate the effects of poverty and HIV and AIDS on households Phase 1: Quantitative audit of 351 households Phase 2: Qualitative experiences of grandmothers and teenage mothers

10 Phase 3 of the study Aims: To determine the nature and extent of services To investigate the challenges of providing services To explore suggestions for improvement of service delivery in Bhambayi

11 The research study, cont Using qualitative, anti-oppressive methodology the researchers were guided by the following criteria for selection of 9 key informants: They were service providers for more than 2 years in the community They were aware of the social problems They were willing to exchange ideas and share their experiences of working in the community individually and in a group They were willing to commit to action strategies to improved service delivery

12 Data collection Nurse from DoH, tour guide employed by a private trust, principal of the primary school, educator from the secondary school, principal of the creche, community development worker with Dept of Local government and traditional affairs, social worker from child welfare, councilor, BRDF exco member, Limitations: One other organisation who was contacted did not consent to participate for bureaucratic reasons

13 Results: Types of problems General agreement on types of problems requiring intervention: Unemployment (and associated lack of food security); HIV/AIDS and TB; behaviour problems amongst the youth (including criminal activities); teenage pregnancy; alcohol and drug abuse; family violence and child sexual abuse; lack of identity documents.

14 Results: Types of services Wide range of services offered: Material aid (including school uniforms, food parcels, meals) Advice re land and housing issues Intervention when there are problems Awareness programmes Referral to Home Affairs for IDs; DSD for grants; specialised organisations (eg Mental Health)

15 Results: Positive aspects Accessibility of some services (eg creche, schools in the area) Services provided on long- term basis Increased the social capital in the community

16 Results: Intraorganisational challenges Many org do not have the knowledge and skills to intervene in complex cases. For example, the creche tried to deal with case of suspected child abuse but parents took child out of school, now the creche keeps quiet so as not to interfere in family matters

17 Results: Motivation In context of poverty many volunteers become involved in the hope of getting employment (care vs cash). Disillusionment sets in when they only get R500 per month and high turnover of staff results. No access to resources lack of funding

18 Results: Internal org challenges Income generating project such as bead work (HIV/AIDS) project and a sewing (creche) project have not been successful. People are impatient and say it takes too long before they get any profit. Raising funds in economic downturn was problematic

19 Results: Lack of resources Lack of infra structure some org have no telephone lines and people have to use their personal cell phones High workloads prevent frequent visits and services to residents

20 Results: Leadership struggles and role conflicts Leadership struggles within organisations role of politics still integral to life in this community ( people from other political parties try to blacken your name ) Invisibility of some leaders don t attend community meetings, Lack of accountability

21 Results: Image of organisations One org clearly did not have the trust of the community due to past poor relationships associated with ownership of the land - Only one person per week came for assistance and there was poor attendance at workshops despite them being free Since 2007, no one has come to ask about our programmes (but our org gives the best service to the community!)

22 Results: Duplication of services Duplication of services Schools, clinic, creche and child welfare all provide food parcels. One school wants to expand food programme claiming that many learners do not want to access food at the HIV/AIDS project because of the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS

23 Results: Poor relationships between organisations This has lead to competition for scarce resources, and lack of co-ordination between organisations (the clinic programme did not invite the school to its meeting about the programme) Poor communication between service providers Negative comments made about service delivery between organisations

24 Implications for social work practice Role of external change agent Set up co-ordinating forum Mediate conflict Provide education and training Motivate local residents to get actively involved in building social capital in their community Important channel of communication between service providers and the community

25 CONCLUSION This study has revealed that partnerships between service providers in Bhambayi cannot be considered authentic. Complex challenges at the intra and inter-organisational levels remain. Obstacles included: scarce resources, complex bureacratic procedures and political influences.

26 Conclusion Authentic partnerships must be characterized by mutual trust, open communication and collaboration between service providers The policy context in SA encourages the development of such partnerships but the question remains whether social workers will rise to this challenge?