Abstract In South Africa, government relies significantly on NGOs in the delivery of social services (Patel, L. 2012. “Developmental Social Policy, Social Welfare Services and the Non‐Profit Sector in South Africa.” Social Policy & Administration 46 (6): 603–18). The services NGOs provide in areas such as early childhood development, education, health care, skills development, food security, elder care, and other arenas form part of South Africa’s framework for achieving its long-term development goals. Also aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this government-NGO shared vision for development highlights the importance of NGOs in the development ecosystem. At the policy level, government explicitly refers to NGOs as stakeholders and development partners. However, at the level of practice, questions remain about NGOs’ participation in planning for the development to which they so significantly contribute, and the extent of NGOs’ role in increasing participation in democratic processes. In an effort to better understand whether NGOs adequately participate in development planning processes in South Africa, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 73 participants, including NGO leaders and relevant key informants from national, provincial and municipal levels of government. The interview data were supplemented with content analysis of government documents. In spite of the fact that NGOs’ involvement in development planning is explained by the state as a good governance principle ensuring meaningful participation of stakeholders (Republic of South Africa: Department of Social Development 2017, United Nations Development Programme 2011), the research findings suggest that NGOs’ participation in the development planning process is deficient. This deficiency stems from institutional and policy issues including the lack of a framework for participation, government’s perception of NGOs and neglect of the NGO sector, and political issues such as partisan political activity in spaces of participation and engagement. The democratic potential of NGO participation is also hindered by organizational issues relating to the amorphous nature of the NGO sector, apathy of NGOs and a fragmented NGO sector.

中文翻译：

---

非营利组织参与南非社会和发展政策规划的挑战

摘要 在南非，政府在提供社会服务方面非常依赖非政府组织（Patel, L. 2012. “Developmental Social Policy, Social Welfare Services and the Non-Profit Sector in South Africa.” Social Policy & Administration 46 (6) : 603-18)。在幼儿发展、教育、医疗保健、技能发展、粮食安全、老年人护理和其他领域的服务非政府组织构成了南非实现其长期发展目标框架的一部分。这个政府-非政府组织共同的发展愿景也与联合国可持续发展目标 (SDG) 保持一致，突出了非政府组织在发展生态系统中的重要性。在政策层面，政府明确将非政府组织称为利益相关者和发展伙伴。但是，在实践层面，关于非政府组织参与规划发展的问题，以及非政府组织在增加参与民主进程方面的作用程度，这些问题仍然存在。为了了解非政府组织是否充分参与南非的发展规划过程，对 73 名参与者进行了半结构化访谈，其中包括非政府组织领导人以及来自国家、省和市级政府的相关关键信息。访谈数据辅以政府文件的内容分析。尽管非政府组织参与发展规划被国家解释为确保利益相关者有意义参与的良好治理原则（南非共和国：社会发展部 2017，联合国开发计划署 2011），研究结果表明非政府组织在发展规划过程中的参与不足。这一缺陷源于体制和政策问题，包括缺乏参与框架、政府对非政府组织的看法和对非政府组织部门的忽视，以及参与和参与空间中的党派政治活动等政治问题。非政府组织参与的民主潜力也受到与非政府组织部门的无定形性质、非政府组织的冷漠和非政府组织部门分散相关的组织问题的阻碍。政府对非政府组织的看法和对非政府组织部门的忽视，以及参与和参与空间中的党派政治活动等政治问题。非政府组织参与的民主潜力也受到与非政府组织部门的无定形性质、非政府组织的冷漠和非政府组织部门分散相关的组织问题的阻碍。政府对非政府组织的看法和对非政府组织部门的忽视，以及参与和参与空间中的党派政治活动等政治问题。非政府组织参与的民主潜力也受到与非政府组织部门的无定形性质、非政府组织的冷漠和非政府组织部门分散相关的组织问题的阻碍。