Open Accessmoderating and mediating role of local government in the community engagement strategy of a renewable energy company in South Africa
Author(s) -
Bryan Robinson,
Siân Stephens
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of energy in southern africa
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.24
H-Index - 20
eISSN - 2413-3051
pISSN - 1021-447X
DOI - 10.17159/2413-3051/2021/v32i3a9403
Subject(s) - local government , community engagement , government (linguistics) , business , renewable energy , local community , service delivery framework , service (business) , public relations , political science , marketing , public administration , engineering , philosophy , linguistics , law , electrical engineering
Adopting a qualitative case study approach of a renewable energy company in South Africa, the research investigated community engagement within the tripartite relationship of a wind farm, the communities, and the local government. It was found that local government played a moderating role in the community engagement efforts of the wind farm which had to comply with certain engagement protocols determined by local government. Local government also played a mediating role in corporate community engagement, as the wind farm developed their engagement strategy in alignment with local government’s policies and acted as a ‘dot-connector’ between local government and communities. The wind farm played a reciprocal mediating role on local government’s own engagement with their communities in the face of local government’s inefficiencies and complemented service delivery outcomes. The wind farm’s engagement strategy thus enabled local development which was appreciated by communities and local government.