An Evaluation of the Public-Private Partnership in the Lekgalameetse Nature Reserve in South Africa

Abstract

In recent years Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in protected areas are becoming more popular as ways to generate income and alleviate poverty. This article examines the partnership in terms of design, implementation and sustainability of a Public Private Partnership (PPPs) project meant to develop the local community in a nature reserve. This study is qualitative and quantitative in nature, and used face to face interviews and a questionnaire to collect data. A thematic approach was used to analyse the interview transcripts while the questionnaire was subjected to appropriate statistical methods. The article argues that although the partnership was based on a mutual agreement, the benefits to the community were much less than expected. The limited success of the project is largely attributable to the unequal power relations in the partnership, coupled with capacity limitations in terms of governance and management of resources. The article concludes that a rethinking of the design of PPPs in the context of nature reserves is necessary by emphasizing the importance of the integration into PPPs, of strategies which empower communities to participate as equal partners and which also enhances their governance and management skills for co-management of nature reserves. The major contribution of this article is a model of public private partnership which espouses the following principles: symmetric power relations; learning and re-learning; inclusion; community capacity enhancing; exercise of community power; collective participation and control; collective benefits and community self management.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p855