South Africa enshrines itself as a democratic developing country that adheres to the
principles of good governance and acknowledges the role that civil society participation
in state affairs can have. The purpose of this study was to establish the role and
effectiveness of NEDLAC’s social dialogue process through evaluating the contribution
of civil society participation in the Development Chamber; and to understand the
relationship between NEDLAC’s social dialogue model and the World Bank ideology on
civil society participation in policy making.
The study highlights that NEDLAC remains one of the key vehicles for social dialogue in
South Africa and there have been positive contributions by civil society participation in
the NEDLAC process. It takes its premise from the ILO model of social dialogue, whilst
it also adapts from the World Bank ideology of civil society participation by including
civil society in the process, through the Development Chamber.
However, the effectiveness of civil society participation in policy making through
NEDLAC is at risk due to the impact of the changing socioeconomic environment. In
many ways this study highlights contradictions in South Africa’s social dialogue process.
The Development Chamber is not being optimally used for its intended purposes as
representativity and accountability of the community organisations are a concern; whilst
there is an increasingly active civil society, demonstrated by civil unrest, which is not
part of this social dialogue process.