For example, the credibility of local government has been heightened, resulting in improved revenue collection, effective privatisation of service delivery, and resurgence of the spirit of volunteerism and communal support which used to characterise African culture. Furthermore, bridges of confidence and trust are firmly emerging, attitudinal barriers that have traditionally strained relations between Councils and communities are gradually disappearing, and in some cases, pooling resources has reduced donor dependency. In addition, there is increasing recognition of the comparative advantages and skills that each actor can bring to the relationship. While our cases show that poverty continues to be a serious problem, there is optimism that with the resurgence of democratic processes, the wider participation of beneficiaries will provide some of the answers to the problems of development. However, the process of developing joint action as a strategy for development remains fragile and promoters of the concept need to invest more resources to ensure its full integration in municipal management and development.
Joint action is vulnerable to many barriers.
All the case studies cite clashes of organisation culture and interests, capacity constraints, infighting among civic groups, political interference, and mistrust as some of the factors influencing the proper functioning of civic groups. A remedy is to establish clear mechanisms that can systematically unravel these weaknesses. Going beyond this report, the work involved in producing the case studies and the book itself have provided a unique opportunity for the three organising institutions to put into practice the principle of partnership. The European Centre for Development Policy Management, the Municipal Development Programme, and Towns and Development joined forces to maximise synergies in their missions and mandates as well as sharing of resources and approaches in capacity building initiatives and development assistance. The process of preparing this publication has brought to the fore our own differences and complementarities and has demonstrated that, together, a lot more can be achieved for the benefit of the local government and development cooperation fraternities.