PUPOL network conferences

The global PUPOL network, co-founded by Professor Lasthuizen, holds an international conference each year.

The 4th International Public and Political Leadership (PUPOL) conference was hosted by the Brian Picot Chair in Ethical Leadership on 11 and 12 April 2019.

Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Wellington School of Business and Government, Professor Ian Williamson, welcomed delegates at the conference venue, Te Herenga Waka Marae. His welcome was shared on Facebook.

The conference theme was Collaborative Leadership for a Sustainable Future. Delegates attending the conference came from more than 10 countries.

Best paper award

The best paper certificate was presented to PhD student Elmé Vivier from Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership (ALCRL), University of Pretoria, South Africa for the paper Tracing community leadership practices in the on-going maintenance of services in five informal settlements in Cape Town. The paper was co-authored with Diana Sanchez-Betancourt, Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa.

Abstract

Although South African municipalities are expected to involve citizens and communities in local urban governance, the role of community leaders, especially in informal settlement contexts, has not been a major focus of analysis (Bénit-Gbaffou and Katsaura 2014). Furthermore, maintenance of infrastructure and services are also not frequently included in studies of local governance. Yet it is often the primary way in which citizens experience and interact with local government.

In this paper, we use qualitative data collected through a participatory initiative that brought together city officials and community leaders of five informal settlements to examine how leaders address challenges with ongoing service provision, specifically electricity and water. What do they do, and what shapes their practices as leaders in relation to service maintenance? And in what ways do they interact with government service providers?

Through a social constructionist lens, the focus is less on the qualities of individual leaders, and more on how they are situated in particular contexts and governance systems.

The case shows how community leaders report service problems, meet technicians to address specific problems, try to address and prevent vandalism in their areas, and also defend (and make) illegal connections. It is through these four leader practices, we argue, that local leaders use the city’s reporting and maintenance processes to both legitimise and enact their leadership roles.

It is also through such informal practices emerging between leaders and residents, and between leaders and officials, that local urban governance is constituted. The paper concludes by exploring the implications for ensuring sustainable outcomes.