Community Empowerment Facility Profile

BACKGROUND

The Wildcoast Empowerment and Monitoring Project (WEMP) is a community empowerment initiative that has been initiated and will be implemented by TRALSO a land rights and development organization based in Transkei , Eastern Cape-South Africa. The WEMP has been established to help the rural communities of the Wildcoast develop their capacities, strategies as well as skills for the both sustainable utilization and equitable distribution of their land and other natural resources along the Wildcoast of Transkei.

The first issue is the lack of and/or weakness of viable institutions to champion and take custody of communal land rights. Government policy on land tenure is confusing to say the least and there has been a proliferation of simultaneous directions towards traditional forms and elected institutions. Secondly the Wild Coast is home to some of the deepest pockets of poverty in the country, within the Eastern Cape province, which itself is among the 3 poorest provinces in South Africa. Of the 6.3 million population in the Eastern Cape Province , Transkei accounts for approximately 4.5 million with a population density of around 135 persons per square kilometre.

The government launched in 1996 the Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative (WCSDI) as a maneuver to attract investment in the area. There is however a tussle regarding an industrial strategy for the Wild Coast . The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has championed since 1994 ecotourism as the flagship initiative towards the economic development of the area. Whilst this is rather laudable, it has tended to be antagonistic or at least parallel to the Department of Land Affairs' drive to restore land rights to past victims of removals and ensuring security of land tenure.

On the other hand the Departments of Trade and Industry (DTI), Minerals and Energy Affairs and to some extent Public Works have associated themselves with overtures towards mineral exploration and extraction and the proposed construction of a Wild Coast N2 Toll Road. A consortium of all the major construction companies has put up an unsolicited bid with the apparent support of the National Roads Agency.

People living in the rural communities along the Wildcoast seem to be neglected despite the so many development initiatives that have been planned for the area in the past five years. In policy documents, communities in the Wildcoast are regarded as central to development and community-based sustainable development but the lack of local people's participation in the many government led development processes undermines their potential to contribute to the development of the localities.

Moreover the currently government led land reform programme has failed to address to critical issues regarding the land rights of the rural poor of the communities along the Wildcoast. Whilst government boasts to have settled more than 60% of the total claims lodged in 1996, most rural claims in Transkei have not yet been settled and their include those from communities along the Wildcoast. The recent passed Communal Land Rights Act (CLRA) is expected to exacerbate the problem when it comes to the development of the Wildcoast which is constituted by 100% communal and tribal land.

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INTERVENTION

The primary purpose of the project is to enhance the institutional capacity and governance of local community structures to ensure co-ordinated and effective local communities' participation and involvement in the local economic development processes of the Wildcoast that aim at poverty alleviation, local economic development, and building sustainable and well informed communities.

Main objectives of the project:

• To support, build and strengthen the capacity of democratic communal P roperty institutions (CPAs, Land Claims Forums, Land Claim Lobby Groups) as an alternative and viable model of community land administration and management.

• To promote conflict resolution within and between communities, and with the respective local government structures with respect to accessing and management of both land and other natural resources.

• To enhance the capacity and effective participation of the local communities of the Wildcoast to ensure they play an active role in the management of land and other resources.

• To support and facilitate the sharing of experiences and ideas among the rural people on common strategies that build sustainable and effective community based organisations in communal systems of land tenure.

Project Activities to be implemented:

• TRALSO will first conduct follow-up briefing sessions to secure the buy-in and alliance of stakeholders with influence in rural development issues e.g. councilors and chiefs (traditional leaders)

• TRALSO will conduct a snap survey to develop a clearer picture of the participants, their issues and interests in mining and the N2 Toll Road debate. This will help lay the foundation for TRALSO's entry into the debate and help identify relevant allies as the project progresses.

• TRALSO will conduct a social audit of existing Land Trusts and Committees in the targeted communities. Since the inception of the Wildcoast Spatial Development Initiative (WSDI) many institutions particularly the EU programme has facilitated the establishment of many Land Trusts, Committees and Co-operatives in the Wildcoast area. But these structures have remained dysfunctional due to lack of management capacity, skills information, and clear direction. It will therefore be necessary for TRALSO to avert duplication of institutions, attendant conflicts and wastage of resources by conducting an assessment of what is there and what needs to be established or strengthened.

• Using information from the above, TRALSO will conduct a skills audit and produce a training plan for the leadership of identified community structures dealing in land reform and development. TRALSO would then develop and implement a training strategy during the project period linked to the availability of resources and project timeframe. Most of this work will fit into what TRALSO is currently doing.

• TRALSO will also assess the comparative resilience and the issues handled by these structures and the level of their integration backwards and forwards between community and the external world.

• TRALSO will coordinate the development of manuals (on specific issues and needs) by contracting a service provider or utilizing internal resources from other sister programmes and/or organisations such as AFRA, SCLC and FSRDA.

• TRALSO will document through the production of brochures, DVDs, etc the implementation process and strategies with the aim of sharing experiences and information with other ILC/CEF partners

• In between the training workshops for the targeted groups of individuals and communities, TRALSO and the Steering Committee would unroll a road show to present the findings of the situational assessment and gather the views of communities.

• TRALSO will facilitate exchange among the members of the various Land Trusts, CPAs, and any other lobby group to share ideas and experiences on common issues affecting them.

• TRALSO will facilitate the inclusion and consultation of fisher folk (local line fishermen, mussel harvesters, youth organizations and cultural groups) in decision making processes.

• TRALSO will facilitate the establishment and strengthening of both new and existing administrative facilities in Hluleka, Mkambathi, Dwesa-Cwebe and Hloweni.

• TRALSO will facilitate the establishment of at least two Wildcoast Land Claim Forums, Lobby and Advocacy groups

• TRALSO will facilitate the establishment of a Project Steering Committee (PSC) (comprising TRALSO, members of the local communities from various Land Trusts), representatives from relevant government departments, local municipalities, ward councilors and any other stakeholders with vested interest in the Wildcoast activities. The main role of the PSC will be to ensure the integration of WEMP activities in all government led processes in the area and also to assist in planning and monitoring of the project activities.

• TRALSO facilitates scholarships/learnerships for local youth. Facilitation of such an activity will enable broader acquisition of skills that would contribute to effective co-management of the nature reserves.

• Lobbying the various sector departments, municipalities and conservation agencies. Firstly it will be necessary to try and score some small, incremental gains and compromises against the mining and toll road construction. Secondly, the lobbying will be necessary to maintain contact between the community institutions and the external stakeholders so that the former remain on the center stage and gain some hegemony in rural politics.

• TRALSO will facilitate the exchange and flow of information and experiences among local communities, land and research institutions (PLAAS, AFRA, FSRDA, SCLC and other civil society organisations) through South-South exchange visits, brochures and information dissemination seminars.

• TRALSO will facilitate continuous monitoring and evaluation of activities with the aim of gathering information for the purpose of sharing of experiences and lessons learnt as well as for project reporting and possible replication purposes.

Expected Outcomes:

• Establishment of at least two (2) Land Claiming Forums (LCFs) and two (2) Community Lobby groups

• Effective functioning of community organization, lobby and advocacy groups and other legal entities such as Land Trusts or Communal Property Associations that have been inactive.

• At least two (2) land titles for two of the land claiming communities thereby facilitating the establishment of two (2) Land Trusts.

• Increased attention and prioritization of the needs of the Wildcoast communities by both government and external stakeholders.

• Enhanced institutional capacity and governance that ensures co-ordinated and effective local community participation and involvement in the development processes along the Wildcoast.

• Well informed rural communities who understand their land rights fully and how to defend them.

• A situational analysis report on the main contested issues that need to be addressed.

• A stakeholders analysis and database of key individuals and organizations working in the area

• A Steering Committee that will be constituted by representatives from the Land Claims Forum, Land Trusts, Local Government, Civil Society, Government departments, and other stakeholders, to deal with a wide range project implementation processes.

Indicators

• Existence of strong community structures to champion the issues of the landless in the Wildcoast.

• Training manuals and peer evaluations at institutional and individual level would be used to map the progress and value of the training programme

• An active database of all stakeholders working in the Wildcoast.

• Increased participation of local communities in meetings and decision making processes

• Existence of the Land Claim Forums in the target communities that tackle grassroots issues related to land and other natural resources

• Ability by all the community members to liaise with local government structures and drive land issues processes on their own.

• Increased role of women in various debate forums and community structures

• Efficient management and functioning of Land Trusts

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WHO WILL BENEFIT?

The project covers an area of approximately two hundred and fifty kilometers (250km) of coastline, two (2) district municipalities, seven (7) local municipalities, twenty (20) wall to wall municipal wards, four (4) regional authorities, about thirty (30) tribal authorities and their respective administrative areas totaling to about 12 000 households.

The project will initially benefit rural coastal communities that are situated adjacent to the Indian ocean with a combined population of about 150 000 people. TRALSO has targeted these communities as they have a number of common land related challenges and are all situated in the area that is termed Wild Coast, and they also had lodged their claims in terms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act 22of 1994 with the Regional Land Claims Commission (RLCC) which is TRALSO's strategic government partner in resolving land related issues.

Other respective recognised land structures as Communal Property Associations (CPAs) will also benefit through various capacity building workshops. Two of these communities have already have their land back in terms of section 42(d) of the South African constitution but are grossly lacking skills and experience required to competently hold and manage the transferred land. These will direct benefit from the workshops that will be conducted to develop their skills and experience in managing these structures.

Fishermen along the Wildcoast will also benefit through their inclusion in decision making processes as they are potential stakeholders.

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OUTCOMES