Abstract
Despite policy commitments and legislated mechanisms, the system of participatory democracy
in post-1994 South Africa is largely considered to have failed. In order to understand how
underlying ideas can help to explain weaknesses in practice, this article examines how
participatory democracy is understood by the ruling African National Congress (ANC). It shows
that the multiple intellectual traditions shaping the participatory model have led to a set of policy
initiatives that are not without internal tension. In part, the technocratic creep associated with
improving public sector performance has stymied participatory efforts by placing efficiency and
delivery over democracy and empowerment. Alongside this, however, the ANC’s own
conception of ‘democracy’ remains interwoven with its mass movement history – linking the role
of popular participation to the extension of its own hegemony. The intent of policy to deepen
democracy through structures of participatory governance is thus undermined by a teleological
framing of participation as an intra-movement activity.