Journal Article

Systemic and Institutional Local Economic Development (LED) Challenges: The Case of JB Marks Local Municipality

Mumba, Natasha B., van der Waldt, Gerrit

2023

Overview

The national strategic framework for local economic development (LED) emerged in the post-1994 era to address complex development challenges in South Africa. In this regard, municipal councils have a constitutional developmental mandate and statutory obligations to design and implement LED strategies in their areas of jurisdiction. However, the successful implementation of these strategies is constrained by both broader systemic challenges and specific municipal constraints. Especially resource-constrained local municipalities, such as the JB Marks Local Municipality (JBMLM), struggle to effectively implement their LED strategies. This, in turn, hampers the achievement of national development targets in terms of poverty alleviation, job creation, small business development, and economic growth. The objective of the study is to investigate the nature and scope of systemic and institutional challenges associated with the design and implementation of LED strategies. Following a qualitative case study design, data collection and source triangulation were used to investigate the nature and scope of these challenges. Data collection was carried out through semi-structured interviews with officials purportedly sampled. The results of this investigation showed that there are issues with the current LED strategy implementation, mainly due to poor coordination, misalignment, and limited cooperation and participation of key stakeholders. Identification and analysis of LED-related challenges will allow local municipalities to design appropriate mitigation responses to systemic challenges and address institutional issues that hamper the successful implementation of LED strategies.

• Publisher: Adonis & Abbey Publishers,Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd
• Subject: Case studies / Challenges / Cities / Community / Cooperation / Coordination / Councils / Data collection / Design / Economic development / Economic growth / Failure analysis / Implementation / institutional challenges / Integrated approach / JB Marks local municipality / Job creation / Jurisdiction / Local economic development / Local government / local municipalities / Low income groups / Mitigation / Municipalities / National development / Politics / Poverty / Quality of life / Small business / social development / Strategic planning / Strategies / systemic challenges / Triangulation / Unemployment