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In 2003, following a Parliamentary announcement by President Thabo Mbeki, a new cadre of public servants – community development workers (CDWs) – was introduced in South Africa to serve as agents of change within local government municipalities charged with the responsibility for social and economic development. This paper examines the context of this initiative, the role of CDW, the progress of the Community Development Workers Programme (CDWP), and the challenges faced by this emerging occupational group. It begins with a discussion of community development theory and highlights the difficulties for CDWs as state employees whose goal is to foster support for and participation in government-initiated programmes. It argues that community development practice can be a far cry from its sometimes hortatory theory. Given the institutional confusion within which they operate and the harsh practice realities in South Africa, success seems most unlikely. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses community development in South Africa. South Africa, which is the most industrialized country in Africa, is often referred to as a first-world country in a third-world continent. In a country in which former apartheid rule served to "under-develop" the majority of South Africa's population while the minority portion held on to power and control through social, political and economic inequalities, the task for the new government was to "reconstruct develop". Poverty is an issue of great concern for all of South Africa. A major characteristic of urban poverty is the emergence of sprawling informal settlements comprising illegal squatters. Social and economic development was needed in South Africa. Many people live in communities with little or no infrastructure and in social conditions which perpetuate the country's problems of violence, poverty, ill health, illiteracy and a plethora of related issues faced by South Africans and the government. Community development is a method that is very attractive because it promotes empowerment and holds the people to be the key factor in their development. The concept of community development requires contributions at each level of development projects. Community development as a capacity-building process is used to help areas become self- sustaining. It involves contributions from a variety of directions.