Trust and transformation in the water sector in South Africa

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dc.contributor.advisorSimons, Maryen_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorGran, Thorvalden_ZA
dc.contributor.authorGoldin, Jaquien_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-08-28T09:13:03Z
dc.date.available2014-08-28T09:13:03Z
dc.date.issued2005en_ZA
dc.description.abstractWater policy under the 1956 Water Act actively discouraged participation and water was managed centrally. The principles enshrined in the National Water Act (no 36 of 1998), designed in line with international sustainable development goals that actively encourage participation of a wide range of stakeholders operating closest to the resources that are being used, require a shift from governing through direct controls to governance where the state interacts with a wide range of interest groups. Although policy seemingly embraces a new water management paradigm, the old is being resurrected with all the contradictions and contortions that precipitated the shift in focus from the old to the new in the first place. There is on the one hand an undeveloped notion of what participation should entail, but there is also a culture in the domain of water that negotiates meanings around technical rather than social discourses. It is the absence of knowledge, the unequal power relationship between water users and the inhibition of agency that makes participation so difficult and keeps those who have knowledge, in - and those who do not have knowledge, out, with the unintended consequence of strengthening bonds between those who have had, in the past, privileged access to water. Those who suffer water deprivation have not been able to use their franchise to improve their access to water and their access to decision-making bodies in the water sector. Repeated failures to achieve reform are costly in terms of finance, and they are costly because they affect the production of trust and make it difficult to retain the 'spirit of the law.' The changing role of the state and the influence that state policy and intervention has in developing or hindering the production of trust and the perpetuation or production of shame is pivotal. Trust is a valuable but volatile resource and the broader set of analytic tools have provided a scafIold using the following set of analytic themes: style of government, way in which bureaucrats accept or resist change, ability of non-state and state actors to develop synergistic relationships, equalising of power, meaningful transfer of knowledge and creation of an agency-enhancing and agency-enabling environment. Trust is a product of a set of 'ideal' conditions, public officials being trustworthy, trading credit slips between water users, having a sense of agency and being able to trust. The ideals of trust present trust as a product of democratic processes and in these ideal conditions trust, as an experience, is reproduced and smoothes relationships. The study expands on the theme of trust by introducing the idea of shame as an inhibitor of trust and examines conditions that activate shame based feelings.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationGoldin, J. (2005). <i>Trust and transformation in the water sector in South Africa</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6690en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationGoldin, Jaqui. <i>"Trust and transformation in the water sector in South Africa."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6690en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationGoldin, J. 2005. Trust and transformation in the water sector in South Africa. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Goldin, Jaqui AB - Water policy under the 1956 Water Act actively discouraged participation and water was managed centrally. The principles enshrined in the National Water Act (no 36 of 1998), designed in line with international sustainable development goals that actively encourage participation of a wide range of stakeholders operating closest to the resources that are being used, require a shift from governing through direct controls to governance where the state interacts with a wide range of interest groups. Although policy seemingly embraces a new water management paradigm, the old is being resurrected with all the contradictions and contortions that precipitated the shift in focus from the old to the new in the first place. There is on the one hand an undeveloped notion of what participation should entail, but there is also a culture in the domain of water that negotiates meanings around technical rather than social discourses. It is the absence of knowledge, the unequal power relationship between water users and the inhibition of agency that makes participation so difficult and keeps those who have knowledge, in - and those who do not have knowledge, out, with the unintended consequence of strengthening bonds between those who have had, in the past, privileged access to water. Those who suffer water deprivation have not been able to use their franchise to improve their access to water and their access to decision-making bodies in the water sector. Repeated failures to achieve reform are costly in terms of finance, and they are costly because they affect the production of trust and make it difficult to retain the 'spirit of the law.' The changing role of the state and the influence that state policy and intervention has in developing or hindering the production of trust and the perpetuation or production of shame is pivotal. Trust is a valuable but volatile resource and the broader set of analytic tools have provided a scafIold using the following set of analytic themes: style of government, way in which bureaucrats accept or resist change, ability of non-state and state actors to develop synergistic relationships, equalising of power, meaningful transfer of knowledge and creation of an agency-enhancing and agency-enabling environment. Trust is a product of a set of 'ideal' conditions, public officials being trustworthy, trading credit slips between water users, having a sense of agency and being able to trust. The ideals of trust present trust as a product of democratic processes and in these ideal conditions trust, as an experience, is reproduced and smoothes relationships. The study expands on the theme of trust by introducing the idea of shame as an inhibitor of trust and examines conditions that activate shame based feelings. DA - 2005 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2005 T1 - Trust and transformation in the water sector in South Africa TI - Trust and transformation in the water sector in South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6690 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/6690
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationGoldin J. Trust and transformation in the water sector in South Africa. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2005 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6690en_ZA
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Political Studiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherPolitical Studiesen_ZA
dc.titleTrust and transformation in the water sector in South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeThesis
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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