Academic literature on the topic 'Social participation – South Africa – Northern Province'

Background: In addition to increasing access to fresh and affordable produce, home gardening enhances food security. This notwithstanding, there is no evidence of studies that have investigated factors correlated with home gardening in Gauteng Province (GP), South Africa. The present study investigated home gardening across the GP. Methods: Retrospective data of residents of GP (n = 30002) collected by the Gauteng City Region Observatory were used. A binary logistic regression was employed to determine factors correlated with home gardening. Results: Overall participation in home gardening was low (12.37%). If a respondent was a resident of the poorest areas, resided in a house received under the Rural Development Programme, had a borehole/well as the main source of water, belonged to a social club, received a social grant, was >65 years, and rated his/her health as poor, then they were more likely to participate in home gardening. Factors that were negatively correlated with home gardening included if the respondent rented from private individuals and if the respondent’s health status prevented him/her from doing daily work. Conclusion: The low participation levels in home gardening observed suggest the failure of the current policies geared at fostering home gardening in the province. Policy makers and relevant authorities should target identified groups to improve participation in home gardening.

Mass participation events are promoted in South Africa as a positive public health initiative. Parkrun has grown to be one of the most popular. The present study identifies the motives of residents in the Western Cape Province to join parkrun and how their involvement influences future physical activity levels. Participants (N = 1787) completed a survey consisting of demographic history, parkrun participation history, motivations for participation, and physical activity-related behaviour changes associated with parkrun participation. The majority of participants were female (n = 952) and over 50 years of age (median = 50; IQR = 38–59). Along with health-related benefits, the provision of a safe and organised event was reported as a key motive to participate. The social connectedness developed by parkrun encouraged continued participation and promoted uptake of more physical activity. Close to half the participants reported increases in physical activity levels after joining parkrun, which demonstrates the benefit obtained from participation in structured mass participation events. With the large diversity in socioeconomic status in South Africa related to physical activity levels, parkrun provides a protected and engaging environment that provides opportunity for increased physical activity and potentially reducing the burden on the healthcare system.

The aim of this study was to compile a culture specific taxonomy of human values in Northern Sotho. Two raters extracted a comprehensive list of value descriptive nouns from two Northern Sotho dictionaries. The list comprised a total of 210 terms. Four hundred individuals, 256 men and 144 women, from the Limpopo Province of the Republic of South Africa, participated. Their mean age was 24.6 years (SD = 7.9). The participants rated these concepts on an 11-point-scale with regard to their subjective importance as guiding motives in life. The principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation yielded five factors which explained 42.3% of total variance: (I) Religiosity and Support, (II) Solidarity (ukuzwdana, ubunye or ubudlelwane), (III) Conformity and Benevolence, (IV) Leadership and Achievement, and (V) Human Enhancement. With respect to cross-cultural comparisons the outcome of the study shows that in Northern Sotho, religious themes and social commitment play a more important role than in German, and that religious issues correlate with social concerns. The other dimensions share some aspects with the German factors but mainly reflect the religious and collective values of traditional African culture.

This article explores the efficiency in the administration of social grants for adult persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The focus, in particular, is on explaining why, despite a gatekeeping element, adult PWDs presenting with the same medical condition, with mild or no verifiable impairment, keep returning and are allowed through the system, only to be rejected again, citing the same reasons as before. Administrative gatekeeping, as illustrated in the 2011 Social Grants Disability Management Model, does not extend beyond (i) verifying the correctness of supporting documents and (ii) checking documented proof of medical history to ascertain that applicants of social grants for adult PWDs are not booked for medical assessments within three months of their last assessment. This points to a weakness in the system, as the screening officials cannot turn away applicants of social grants for adult PWDs for any other reason once the documents are verified as correct. Here, we report the findings from responses to structured telephone interviews and structured face-to-face interviews with applicants of social grants for adult PWDs who are residents of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. We conclude that socio-economic circumstances, rather than impairment, are the main drivers for adult PWDs to keep on applying for social grants for adult PWDs and we offer some strategies for addressing this predicament to contribute to a sustainable and an efficient, effective, and economical administration process.

Social media has been attributed as beneficial by aiding fast and reliable communication which cuts across time and geographical boundaries. In South Africa, reports indicate that most people have access to social media. Such attributes can be harnessed by municipalities to educate about water conservation, especially considering the drought and water crisis that was experienced in Eastern Cape, South Africa. This paper focused on local municipalities in Amathole District in the Eastern Cape Province, which was declared a high risk zone due to the drought that prevailed in 2016 till 2017. The Government to Citizen Model (G2C) was used as a theoretical framework which supports participation. Purposive sampling was used, with water messages being prioritised. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse content on the local municipalities’ social media platforms. The researchers found that local municipalities in Amathole District, excluding the district municipality, were not using social media platforms for participatory water conservation education.

BackgroundSouth Africa is a semiarid country where 5 million people, mainly in rural areas, lack access to water. Despite legislative and policy commitments to the right to water, cooperative governance and public participation, many authorities lack the means to engage with and respond to community needs. The objectives were to develop local knowledge on health priorities in a rural province as part of a programme developing community evidence for policy and planning.MethodsWe engaged 24 participants across three villages in the Agincourt Health and Socio-Demographic Surveillance System and codesigned the study. This paper reports on lack of clean, safe water, which was nominated in one village (n=8 participants) and in which women of reproductive age were nominated as a group whose voices are excluded from attention to the issue. On this basis, additional participants were recruited (n=8). We then held a series of consensus-building workshops to develop accounts of the problem and actions to address it using Photovoice to document lived realities. Thematic analysis of narrative and visual data was performed.ResultsRepeated and prolonged periods when piped water is unavailable were reported, as was unreliable infrastructure, inadequate service delivery, empty reservoirs and poor supply exacerbated by droughts. Interconnected social, behavioural and health impacts were documented combined with lack of understanding, cooperation and trust between communities and authorities. There was unanimity among participants for taps in houses as an overarching goal and strategies to build an evidence base for planning and advocacy were developed.ConclusionIn this setting, there is willingness among community stakeholders to improve water security and there are existing community assemblies to support this. Health and Socio-Demographic Surveillance Systems provide important opportunities to routinely connect communities to resource management and service delivery. Developing learning platforms with government and non-government organisations may offer a means to enable more effective public participation in decentralised water governance.

The objective of the study was to assess the current sustainability of small-scale sheep farming systems in the Hantam Karoo, Northern Cape Province (South Africa). The influence of economic, social, and environmental variables (indicators) in promoting the development of sustainable sheep farming was taken into account. Thirty-two small-scale sheep farmers were interviewed using questionnaires which consisted of structured and unstructured questions. The results showed that the sheep farming system was mostly not economically viable due to low sheep numbers, but partially sustainable in the social context. Small flocks result in low income and profitability which is not sustainable. Market access was not a limitation because farmers had good trade relations. Farming benefitted farmers’ families and the community and farmers had access to basic resources. Secure tenure was a major challenge to small-scale farmers. With regard to environmental variables, grazing conditions were poor. In 2017, stocking density was within the norm, which means that frequent droughts and continuous grazing methods rather than sheep stocking rates were probably responsible for poor grazing conditions. Extension advisors could teach the practice of rotational grazing and it might be a good idea to promote gender equality in order to alleviate poverty and increase food security.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the effects of socio-economic factors of land redistribution for agricultural development project beneficiaries on savings in the North West Province, South Africa. Design/methodology/approach A binary logistic regression model was employed to determine the effects of socio-economic factors of project beneficiaries on their savings. Findings The results show that the average number of trainings attended by the beneficiaries, the proportion of youth per project and the average net farm income of the project positively and significantly influence the level of savings by the beneficiaries. About 62 percent of the beneficiaries did not have savings; thus, only 38 percent of beneficiaries had savings. Of the 38 percent who had savings, the majority (77 percent) had an annual net farm income of less than R1,000. Only 2 percent of the projects had an annual net farm income of more than R10,000. Research limitations/implications The findings of this study are valuable to policymakers dealing with the issue of land reform and could shed some light on how land redistribution can achieve its intended purposes. These findings should be granted serious consideration when formulating policies aimed at improving savings within collective groups. Practical implications The findings of this study have revealed the importance of training and participation of youth in influencing savings. As well, the findings imply that an organization or household with a health income have a higher propensity of saving. Social implications The research findings point out to the importance of saving. With savings, a household is in a better position to deal with situations that arises in case of emergency. Originality/value This paper is among the few studies to analyze the determinants of savings at a group or project level. Most studies are done at household or individual level.

Social capital is a concept discussed in recent years in many debates, particularly in the development context. The objective of the study is to investigate empirically whether social capital as part of networks could promote political participation of interest groups in the policy formulation process. This thesis includes a theoretical perspective which is based on an assessment and selection of theoretical material as well as fieldwork.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study describes and analyses the water governance and developmental water services education and training needs of councillors in water services authorities (WSAs) in the Northern Cape Province in order to enable them to fulfil their responsibilities as required by the legislative framework in the new dispensation in South Africa. The new South African Constitution ushered in a new legislative framework, which recognises that developmental water supply, sanitation facilities as basic services are local government matters, and that they are in the functional area of concurrent national and provincial legislative competence. The Water Services Act No. 108 of 1997 and a number of Acts of Parliament thereafter, which are a spine for a local government developmental agenda (LGDA) in South Africa, give effect to this determination. Collectively, these Acts and policies have set the LGDA or modernisation of local government for change and marked a departure from the selection, recruitment and deployment of councillors without minimum engineering and technical skills in water and infrastructure planning and development portfolios. This invariably imposes new leadership responsibilities upon a range of hydropolitical councillors in WSAs, and creates the need for a redefined model of representation on the part of councillors from ―resemblance to public capability, accountability, responsibility and responsiveness‖ (Sartori 1968: 465). With the current calibre and breed of councillors in water portfolios and infrastructure planning and development, it appears that the country is facing a leadership crisis that can strike at the very roots of the democratic values of the LGDA system. Without effective, innovative, creative and committed leadership, all anti-poverty strategies may just plug in superficial solutions rather than tackle the root of the problem, namely governance crises in WSAs. Accordingly, 'good enough governance' or radical restructuring of the recruitment, selection and deployment policy in the current water crisis in the Northern Cape should act as a "decontaminator or antiseptic in a germ-infested area" (Cloete 2006:6-19). To extend the analogy further in terms of good enough water governance, the selection, recruitment and deployment of appropriately qualified representatives in bulk water infrastructure planning and development may lead to long-term hydropolitical adaptive capacity to respond proactively to water scarcity in the Northern Cape whereby a discernible set of water governance values and principles will benefit all citizens. Using mixed methods, the researcher found that comparative literature evidence clearly underscores the importance of effective leadership by competent and skilled councillors in water portfolios. It is also significant that academic and independent studies have ignored the oversight role of councillors in water governance. The debates only focus on officials who do not have executive powers under the new LGDA and its administration system. Yet, the current water crisis, extreme weather conditions, climate changes, and protests against poor service delivery provide an opportunity to rethink water governance. The dissertation argues that councillors in water portfolios should have minimum engineering and technical qualifications and that they need to be empowered to be adaptive and apply modern technology solutions. Any reform effort is doomed if this aspect is not addressed sufficiently well in the water sector, as it has been established in this dissertation that there is a clear link between effective leadership and excellent water governance and management. The study is not intended to be prescriptive nor can it claim to be exhaustive, as the researcher continually discovered. In many instances, it may introduce water governance complexities under a LGDA administration and political management system that are unwarranted – and misplaced idealism is always a problem. Thus, for water services to remain a viable "instrument of humanity" especially at a municipal level, it is concluded that more effective competency-based water councillor education and training (CBWCE&T) programmes are required to equip current and future councillors with the water governance skills and intellectual competencies to address the complex challenges they face. The essence of the CBWCE&T is that developmental water services need to engage in a broader governance agenda integrated with other basic services and mutually reinforcing areas of social adaptive capacity to water scarcity under the LGDA. Researchers in the water sector have neglected the hydropolitical role of councillors in determining water governance and the use of water for socioeconomic and developmental outcomes now subsumed under various poverty eradication policies. The unique contribution of this dissertation is that it focuses on this critical role of councillors and the skills they need to execute water governance institutional oversight role. The researcher makes recommendations for enriching the hydropolitical sociology of local government studies, to match the skills requirements, given the complexity of the LGDA and the numerous challenges for councillors in WSAs in the Northern Cape.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie beskryf en ontleed die waterregerings- en ontwikkelingswaterdienste onderwys- en opleidingsbehoeftes van raadslede betrokke by waterdienste owerhede (WSAs) in die Noord-Kaap provinsie wat hulle in staat sal stel om hulle verantwoordelikhede na te kom soos vereis deur die wetlike raamwerk van die nuwe bedeling in Suid-Afrika. Die nuwe Suid-Afrikaanse Grondwet het 'n wetlike raamwerk ingelei wat ontwikkelingswatervoorsiening en sanitasie geriewe, synde basiese dienste, erken as plaaslike owerheidsaangeleenthede; dit funksioneer ook terselfdertyd ingevolge 'n soortgelyke wetlike bevoegdheid op nasionale en provinsiale vlak. Die Wet op Waterdiensteverskaffing, Nr 108 van 1997, asook verskeie daaropvolgende wette deur die Parlement vorm die ruggraat van die plaaslike owerheidsontwikkelingsagenda (LGDA), of te wel, die modernisasie van plaaslike owerheid, in Suid-Afrika. Hierdie wette en beleide het gesamentlik die LGDA bepaal en die afskeid toenemend gekenmerk van 'n seleksie, rekrutering, en aanwending van raadslede wat sonder minimum ingenieurs- en tegniese vaardighede in water- en infrastruktuurbeplanning en -ontwikkeling hul portefeuljes beoefen. Hierdie verwikkelings plaas sonder uitsondering nuwe leierskapsverantwoordelikhede op 'n spektrum van hidropolitieke raadslede in WSAs. Dit skep ook die behoefte aan 'n hergedefinieerde model vir verteenwoordiging deur raadslede wat volgens Sartori (1968: 465) verander van "ooreenkoms na openbare vermoë, aanspreeklikheid en reagerend". Die huidige stoffasie en soort raadslede wat water protefeuljes beklee en die infrastruktuurbeplanning en ontwikkeling laat die gedagte ontstaan dat die land 'n leierskapskrisis tegemoet gaan wat die demokratiese waardes onderliggend tot die LGDA stelsel kan ondergrawe. Sonder doeltreffende, vernuwende, skeppende en toegewyde leierskap mag die teen-armoede strategieë kunsmatige oplossings bied eerder as om die wortel van die probleem aan te durf, naamllik die regeringskrisisse in WSAs. Gevolglik moet 'goeie regering' wat neerkom op radikale herstukturering van die beleid van rekrutering, seleksie, en aanwending in die huidige waterkrisis in die Noord-Kaap geaktiveer word om te dien as 'n "ontsmetter of antiseptiese middel in 'n kiem-besmette gebied" (Cloete 2006: 6-19). Om die analogie van 'goeie waterregering; verder te neem, kan gesê word dat die seleksie, rekrutering en aanwending van toepaslik gekwalifiseerde verteenwoordigers in massa waterinfrastruktuur- beplanning en -ontwikkeling mag lei tot 'n langtermyn hidropolitieke aanpassingsvermoë om proaktief te reageer op waterskaarsheid in die Noord-Kaap waardeur 'n onderskeidende stel waterregering waardes en beginsels alle burgers sal bevoordeel. Met die gebruik van gemengde metodes het die navorser bevind dat getuienis afkomstig van vergelykende literatuuroorsigte duidelik die belangrikheid van doeltreffende leierskap deur bevoegde en vaardige raadslede in water portefeuljes onderstreep. Dit is ook betekenisvol dat akademiese en onafhanklike studies die oorsigrol van raadslede in waterregering geïgnoreer het. Die debat konsentreer slegs op amptenare wat nie uitvoerende magte binne die LGDA en die administrasie het nie. Tog is dit duidelik dat die huidige waterkrisis, uiterste weerstoestande, klimaatsverandering, en proteste teen swak dienslewering geleentheid bied tot 'n herbedink van waterregering. Die proefskrif voer aan dat raadslede oor minimum ingenieurs- en tegniese kwalifikasies moet beskik en dat hulle bemagtig word om aanpassend te wees en moderne tegnologiese oplossings kan toepas. Enige hervorming sal tot mislukking gedoem wees indien hierdie aspekte nie voldoende in die water sektor aangespreek word nie. Dit is vasgestel in die proefskrif dat daar 'n duidelike skakel is tussen doeltreffende leierskap en uitmuntende waterregering en –bestuur. Soos voortdurend ontdek is in die verloop van die navorsing, is die studie nie voorskriftelik, en ook nie uitputtend nie. In vele opsigte bied die studie kompleksiteite aan in waterregering binne 'n LGDA administrasie en politieke bestuurstelsel wat verregaande is; en misplaaste idealisme is altyd 'n probleem. Daarom, vir waterdienste om 'n lewensvatbare 'instrument van menslikheid' te bly veral op die munisipale vlak, is die gevolgtrekking dat meer doeltreffende, bevoegdheidsgebaseerde waterraadslid onderwys en opleiding programme (CBWCE&T) vereis word. Hierdie programme het die oogmerk om huidige en toekomstige raadslede toe te rus met waterregeringsvaardighede en intellektuele bevoegdhede om die komplekse uitdagings wat hulle in die gesig staar, die hoof te bied. Die essensie van die CBWCE&T program behels dat, volgens die LGDA, ontwikkelingswaterdienste sal koppel met die breër regeringsagenda wat ander basiese dienste integreer met die uitdaging van waterskaarsheid deur sosiale aanpassingsvermoëns wat onderlinge ondersteuning vir die verskillende dienste aanbied. Navorsers in water sektor het die hidropolitieke rol van raadslede verwaarloos deur nóg aandag te gee aan hoe raadslede inhoud aan waterregering gee, nóg die gebruik van water vir sosio-ekonomiese en ontwikkelingsdoeleindes soos dit tans ingesluit in verskeie armoede-uitwissingsbeleide, te beklemtoon. Die besondere bydrae van die proefskrif is die beklemtoning van hierdie kritieke rol van raadslede en van die vaardighede wat hulle benodig om 'n institusionele oorsigrol in waterregering te vervul. Die navorser maak aanbevelings vir die verryking van die hidropolitieke sosiologie van plaaslike regeringstudie, om die vaardigheidsvereistes te ontmoet in die lig van die LGDA kompleksiteite en die talle uitdagings in WSAs in die Noord-Kaap.

A healthy democracy is generally seen as one in which citizens participate regularly in formal political activities. Citizens’ participation in governance has come to be accepted as an expression of their rights and the manifestation of citizen agency. Access to information remains a crucial component of the right to participate. Transparency, as a normative and constitutional value, represents a means, not an end. The means is the mechanism of access to information. Within the South African context, there is evidence of an increase in participation of a variety of interest groups by means of different processes, as well as through the establishment of numerous consultative bodies and mechanisms for popular participation at all levels of the political structure (Houston, 2001:1). However, accountability to citizens can best be gauged by assessing citizens’ opportunities to influence legislation between elections. Ultimately, the effectiveness and sustainability of mechanisms aim at improving citizens’ participation in policy formulation in order to become effective when they are “institutionalized” and when the state’s own “internal” mechanisms are rendered more transparent and open to civic engagement. Furthermore, the success depends on some form of effective interaction between the state and civic society. In the case of South Africa, whilst the political context and culture for participation exist in the form of the constitutional provisions and several pieces of legislation, a discrepancy exist whereby many South Africans are excluded or devalued by the vast differences in wealth. Citizen’s votes may count equally, but they are still not able to participate on an equal basis between elections. Participatory mechanisms established to ensure citizen’s participation, access to information and monitoring inside and outside the legislature, remain ineffective. These unequal opportunities mean that the poorer and less organised segments of society are prejudiced in terms of influencing legislation and policy. Their lack of full and meaningful participation means legislative outcomes are less representative of, and responsive to, the interests of the poorer segments of society (Habib, Shultz – Herzenberg, 2005: 144). The focus of this study is limited to the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The aim is to, firstly, assess the extent to which citizens can control those who make collective decisions about public affairs. Secondly, it assess the extent to which citizens participate in the existing participatory mechanisms, and thirdly, the study explores the possibilities of the synergy between the state and civil society in promoting effective participation by its citizens. The study, therefore : 1. Assess the theoretical and policy framework for citizen’s participation in South Africa; and 2. Evaluate the level of participation and effectiveness of participatory mechanisms inside and outside the KwaZulu - Natal Legislature. The study introduces the theoretical and conceptual framework of citizen participation through a literature review; followed by an empirical study of citizen participation in the legislative process in the kwaZulu Natal legislature. The study makes the following findings: 1. The literature review concurs that South Africa has one of the most progressive and liberal constitutions in the world. This is coupled with a sound policy framework demonstrating genuine political will for citizens’ participation in policy formulation. 2. Within the political context and culture for citizen participation, the main question of how much control citizens have over the actions of their government remains. Another issue is whether existing mechanisms in the legislature are effective in engendering citizen’s participation and quality input in public policy – making processes. 3. The study showed that ultimately the effectiveness and sustainability of citizen participation mechanisms is improved when they are “institutionalised” and when the state’s own internal mechanisms of accountability are rendered more transparent and open to civic engagement. The study also highlighted the need for synergy between the state and civil society. This includes, among other things, participatory budgeting, public expenditure tracking, monitoring of public service delivery, investigative journalism and citizens’ advisory boards. The study, therefore, makes two recommendations: 1. A comparative Citizens Education and Outreach Programme be developed and spearheaded by both the legislature and civil society in kwaZulu-Natal; and 2. A further study needs to be undertaken to investigate the possible structural nature of the synergy (relationship) between the state and civil society in the province.

This paper describes a participatory action research project involving a group of the aged from the Makgoba community. The focus of this study was the establishment ofa service centre by the rural aged. In the course of this project, the researcher discovered how the rural aged were empowered through the participatory action research process. This process enabled the aged to accomplish their goals, and so to grow and develop. In particular, they improved their lives, and enhanced their self esteem and dignity.
Social Work
M.A. (Social Science : Mental Health)

The report is about participatory action research with caregivers at the 'Tsoga 0 ltirele" centre for the mentally disabled. It was a process where the caregivers were involved in a series of action, plan and reflection in researching their situation. The facilitation process assisted the caregivers to look at their problems at the centre and improve service delivery in caring for the mentally disabled children. Several meetings were held where action, plan and reflection took place. Caregivers decided on their own when to meet and discuss issues that concerned them. They planned what needed to be dealt with and took collective action to address these needs. The facilitation process enabled caregivers to research their own problems, embrace errors experienced and recognise progress. People Centred Approach, Community Development and Participatory Action Research complemented one another in capacitating caregivers. Through it they learned to improve their own programmes and to run their meetings, improve marketing skills and fundraising.
Social Work
M.A. (Social Science (Mental Health))

A study was conducted to explore the impact on change which a process of participatory research has on capacity building for the general assistants within the Northern Province in terms of the mission statement of the Office on the Status of Women between July 1997 and September 1998. The mission of the office is as follows: " ... to establish mechanisms and procedures that will move the province towards gender equality, thereby empowering women to have equal access to opportunities and resources which will enhance their quality of life". The target group for Office on the Status of Women is women within the government service irrespective of race and socio-political status. These general assistants were said to be the "left behind" group when issues affecting women like National and International Women's Days are celebrated. Themes of concern were identified and addressed.
Social Work
M.A. (Social Science (Mental Health))

M.A.
The aim of this study was to explore and describe participation in community development projects and the factors that affect participation. Projects experience problems with regard to participation which in turn has an impact on the success and sustainability of these projects. Projects in the far North region, Northern Province were targeted as the population and 30 respondents were interviewed from 3 sampled projects. Purposive sampling, which is a non-probability sampling method, was utilised to select sample. Interview schedule was utilised to collect data from respondents to measure 3 elements, i.e. demographic data, project formulation and role performance, and project management with specific reference to participation. The researcher discovered that participation in development projects is influenced by the level of involvement by project members in decision making and project management and their involvement in project roles and responsibilities. Availability of financial resources and the project's ability to meet abstract and material needs of members also influence participation in projects.

In exercising their power and authority, School Management Teams (SMTs) should engage in transformative leadership which commences with interrogations regarding social justice, democracy and social responsibility. According to Freire’s philosophy of education it is further expected of SMT members to support and shape the belief that autonomy is a condition arising from the responsible engagement with decision-making; that we are ‘unfinished’ in our development as human beings; and that we are responsible for the development of a critical consciousness as a necessary condition of freedom and the creation of democratic and equitable learning spaces. In a transformative leadership context, authority must inform all critical practices of pedagogical intervention and goal setting should support in-service teacher’s autonomy, self-worth and develop their potential and the level of intrinsic motivation to flourish in inclusive school settings. This paper reports on a qualitative pilot study conducted with SMT members and teachers in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa to gain their insights regarding their roles as leaders in devising mechanisms to invest in radical democratic principles and the promotion of inclusive school practices. The key findings indicate that the SMT’s role require that they interrogate their frame of reference and transform their thinking in terms of social justice in multicultural school settings and create opportunities for in-service teachers to develop professionally and use digital technology creatively to enhance teaching and learning. As a force for transformation, we conclude that transformative leadership may be a catalyst to engage school leaders and teachers in individual and combined processes of awareness of inclusive practices and action.