Document: SALGA LED Round Table Discussion

Within the context of a variety of organisations conducting a range of activities in the field of Local Economic Development (LED), the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) decided to take the initiative and convene a national Round Table discussion on LED. With the support of GTZ, SALGA appointed Dominic Mitchell of Real Consulting to assist with the design, preparation and documentation of the Round Table Discussion. The event, held on Friday 13 November 2009 in Johannesburg, was aimed at donors, parastatals and strategic stakeholders working in the field of LED. It is the challenges present in the field of LED that saw a need to bring together key stakeholders, these challenges include:

• Multiplicity of stakeholders
•  The multiplicity of programmes and projects
•  A lack of co-ordination or understanding around LED activities
• Duplication and missed opportunities for shared learning and information dissemination.

The lack of information sharing on LED related activities in municipalities and provinces has resulted in a considerable overlap in resource allocation and areas of impact. While it is recognised that there is no “one size fits all” approach to LED, especially between rural and urban municipalities, a need was identified for constructive dialogue amongst the key stakeholders who lead, manage, fund or continue to support LED initiatives across the country. In order to ensure co-operation and a more coordinated approach to LED the LED Round Table Discussion was considered an important starting point for constructive dialogue amongst key stakeholders in the field of LED.
 

The objectives of the SALGA hosted LED Round Table discussions were:
 

• Information sharing on project activity (both successes and failures);
• Information exchange on the existing partnership activities in the field of LED;
• Identification of sectoral and geographical focus areas of various stakeholders;
• The identification of approaches to ensure improved sharing useful LED knowledge;
• Approaches to lead to improved co-ordination