Abstract
The paper reports on an impact assessment of the Siyadlala (community mass participation
programme) offered in the different Gauteng clusters. Underpinned by a management systems
approach, the strategy and delivery model was traced through case study analyses of one hub per
cluster (including Westbury, Ratanda, Tembisa, Onverwacht and Munsieville). This entailed the
profiling the hubs, strategic partnership and ‘uptake’ by staff and participant to provide evidence
for strategic decision-making. A Participatory Action Research framework informed a multimethod
approach, with questionnaires completed by 20 staff members, 79 secondary and 63
primary school participants. Nineteen managers were interviewed and 88 research participants
from the different service constituencies (e.g. stakeholders, staff and participants) took part in
focus group sessions. The events-driven model, stakeholder collaboration and youth development
foci (for poverty-alleviation) delivered relatively high levels of participation (11 200) according
to the size and locality (rural versus urban). School holiday programmes mostly afforded
secondary school children access to safe spaces and various social (including life skill) benefits,
while primary school children experienced improved social relationships and recognition. For
contract workers, the lack of access to quality resources, the centralised governing system,
implementation-focused training and ad hoc stakeholder participation limited their changes for
meaningful upward social mobility and career opportunities associated with poverty alleviation.