Page 22 - DPSA_SDR Vol 12 No.2 2019

CDWP CASE STUDIES

Community development

workers showcase their work

Compiled by Rhulani Manganye, Community Development and Citizens Relations, Department of Public Service
and Administration (DPSA)

Introduced in 2003, the Community The case studies contained in draining work, which often goes
Development Workers Programme Grassroots Innovation simultaneously unnoticed. This documentation of the
(CDWP) is a formidable network of reflect the tenacity and the commitment CDWs’ work is therefore also seen as
para-public servants, whose numbers of CDWs in undertaking what is a fitting tribute to selfless service under
roughly coincide with those of the 4 admittedly physically and emotionally difficult circumstances.
000 municipal wards countrywide.
Their spread and the scope of the work
means that community development
workers (CDWs) are uniquely positioned Restoring dignity to the Dwakaza family
to reach the most vulnerable individuals
within communities in ways that official orphans
government channels cannot.

Several interlinked objectives underpin Basic information
the day-to-day work of CDWs. These Name of the CDW Ms Zameka Rhani
range from unblocking and bridging
access to service delivery between Province Eastern Cape
individuals, families and communities, Municipality Nyandeni Local Municipality
to supporting participatory democracy.
However, over the years the traditional Ward Ward 7 (Mareweni Village)
“fire-fighting” work has incorporated Contact no. 0724308981
the need for sustainable approaches Case study title Restoring dignity to the Dwakaza family orphans
to problem-solving. CDWs now
play a systemic and integral role in
communities, from facilitating local Profile and demographics
economic development to coordinating An average household has an estimated
service delivery war rooms and forging The Nyandeni Local Municipality has two four to six people and almost 34%
community-based development partner- main towns, Libode and Ngqeleni, and of households are formal dwellings
ships. is largely rural/traditional in character. (StatsSA). This means that the remainder
The population, according to Census are mud and shack dwellings. Almost
The 2018 edition of Grassroots 2011, is 290 390 people (StatsSA). 58% of Nyandeni households are
Innovation, published annually, provides The municipality, approximately 30km female-headed households.
a record of just a few interventions south of Mthatha and 50km north of
that CDWs have undertaken in the Port St Johns, has an economy largely Service delivery
course of their work. Written in a case dependent on agriculture. Ward 7 of the
study format, the publication is a Nyandeni Local Municipality comprises intervention and outcome
display of stories of compassion and the Mareweni and part of Mpindweni
overcoming hopelessness. There is villages. Ms Zameka Rhani is a CDW responsible
the story of how a young man battling for ward 7, Mareweni Village. During her
with drug addiction was nursed and Nyandeni’s community members daily routine of community profiling, she
encouraged to attain a law degree from largely rely on agricultural subsistence encountered a single-roomed house
the prestigious Stellenbosch University farming for a sustainable livelihood. made of mud that had been destroyed
in the Western Cape. Yet another case The unemployment rate is estimated at by heavy rain. In that house lived nine
study demonstrates how CDWs literally 44,8%. The triple challenges of poverty, orphans who were left vulnerable and
helped build a bridge between the once unemployment and underdevelopment homeless. None of the orphans had
isolated village of Ga-Mankele in the characterises this part of the Eastern a birth certificate and were therefore
Greater Tubatse local municipality and Cape (formerly Transkei). There are ineligible for any form of social security
access to basic services. grant. Adding to the vulnerability of the
an estimated 61 647 households in
Nyandeni, of which 36 502 are classified household, Bhekithemba Dwakaza,
who at 16 was the eldest of these nine
as agricultural.
20 SERVICE DELIVERY REVIEW | Volume 12 No.2 of 2019