8. Lodge Governance

The Deed of Trust of the Balete ba Lekgophung Development Trust states:

A formal statement to the Master of the Supreme Court identifies beneficiaries as follows:

With a dependency ratio of 1:6 wage earners to dependents per household, the 50 jobs generated by the lodge and related developments are likely to bring direct improvements to livelihoods of some 250 to 300 people of Lekgophung. For most of the remainder of the group's 2,300 persons, living in some 600 households, any direct cash benefit will depend on the trust's allocations of net income.

In executing the above functions, cultural norms, humanitarian and egalitarian normative considerations and possible tensions between these and private interests of trustees may come to the fore. This presents a key governance challenge. Perceived preferential channelling of resources is likely to jeopardise the project's sustainability.

The governance performance of the Trust is largely a factor of local social capital. In addition to the formal legal structure, local social and organisational culture, and leadership and gender dynamics are key factors. The Balete ethnic group has been relatively successful in maintaining traditional cultural norms and values. In addition, democratic culture has evolved through the village development structures in recent years, in particular in the Reconstruction and Development Forum. In everyday practice, these traditional norms and leadership dynamics are likely to exert more influence than legal documents.

The traditional leader of the Balete ba Lekgophung has the status of 'founder trustee'. The strongly patriarchal Balete culture and the fact that only three of the twenty one trustees are women is likely to test the performance of the Trust in regard to gender equity.

Support under the Madikwe Initiative has included extensive discussion of legal options and their implications in community workshops, training for trustees, and support in establishing the trust. Key support providers during the MI have included Mafisa, the Centre for Community Law and Development (CCLD), the Community Development Officer of the Local Government, and more recently the NWPTB Community Development Officer. General practice under the MI of the principles of participation, consultation and transparency has strengthened the culture of democracy and accountability.