The role of local government in promoting a sense of belonging as an aspect of social cohesion: A document analysis

Abstract

Local government in South Africa is expected to contribute towards efforts to realise the constitutional vision of building national unity, diversity, belonging, social justice and a cohesive society. Municipalities as spheres of government closest to communities are expected to contribute towards this constitutional vision by facilitating among other things a sense of belonging as an aspect of social cohesion. However, there is insufficient evidence of what and how municipalities should facilitate a sense of belonging as an aspect of social cohesion. Accordingly, this paper explores various government documents to determine what is envisaged for municipalities to facilitate a sense of belonging as an aspect of social cohesion. The study utilised a qualitative document analysis method to explore what government highlights as the role of a municipality pursuing social cohesion through the facilitation of a sense of belonging. The analysis indicates that most government documents do not provide explicit and coherent approaches and objectives to be pursued by municipalities to facilitate social cohesion and a sense of belonging. Thus, the article found that documents make reference to social cohesion, but these references are not comprehensive enough.