Professionalisation of community development in South Africa: Process, issues and achievements

Abstract

PROFESSIONALISATION OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA: PROCESS, ISSUES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
C.S. HART (1)
(Lecturer: University of the Western Cape)

ABSTRACT
The need for constructive and effective community development in South Africa is recognised as a cornerstone of national development. The debate on implementation – together with the first steps taken structuring community development in South Africa – is informed by the global debate on community development amongst socially aware democracies. These participating countries, such as South Africa and Ireland, are at various stages of understanding, analysing and utilising the literature, with its definitions of professions, professionalisation and professionalism, as well as relating to how best to characterise and implement community development as a fully fledged profession with its own quality assured standards and code of ethics. The combined individual and participatory nature of community development in practice is a factor requiring careful attention. In South Africa the first steps have been taken in the accreditation process for creating this new professional legal framework, and an organising body, for establishing both the practice of community development and community development practitioners as professionals – into an independent community development professional council. Much has been achieved so far; the route to full success is wide open.

KEY WORDS: professionalisation, professionalism, professionalisation process, professionalisation criteria, community development

Full text

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© Unisa Press Africanus 42 (2) 2012
ISSN: 0304-615X pp 55-66
Professionalisation of community
development in South Africa:
Process, issues and achievements
C.S. Hart
ABSTRACT
The need for constructive and effective community development in South Africa is
recognised as a cornerstone of national development. The debate on implementation –
together with the rst steps taken structuring community development in South Africa
– is informed by the global debate on community development among socially aware
democracies. These participating countries, such as South Africa and Ireland, are at
various stages of understanding, analysing and utilising the literature, with its denitions
of professions, professionalisation and professionalism, as well as relating to how best
to characterise and implement community development as a fully edged profession
with its own quality assured standards and code of ethics. The combined individual and
participatory nature of community development in practice is a factor requiring careful
attention. In South Africa the rst steps have been taken in the accreditation process for
creating this new professional legal framework, and an organising body, for establishing
both the practice of community development and community development practitioners
as professionals – into an independent community development professional council.
Much has been achieved so far; the route to full success is wide open.
KEYWORDS: professionalisation, professionalism, professionalisation process,
professionalisation criteria, community development
1. INTRODUCTION
The global move towards the professionalisation of community development has gained
momentum over the past twenty-ve years. This is due to democratic governments seeking
partnership governance to maximise social-economic development with their progressive social
development policies (Geoghegan & Powell 2006, 845). In South Africa and other partnership
(participatory) governance countries, such as Ireland, discourses on empowerment are taken up
in the development of national policies. This now indicates the transformed role of the state
– from a ‘needs satisfying’ state to that of a ‘facilitating state’, that is, based on partnerships
between the state and communities, with empowerment and participation strategies towards
achieving sustainable community well-being (Meade 2011, 1, 11). This highlights the role of
1

C.S. Hart
56
partnership governance states in shaping and mediating policy for community development and
the professionalisation thereof (Miller & Ahmad 1997 269, 275 ; Meade 2011, 3–4).
Community development is highlighted as a unique form of practice, with its intrinsic orientation
towards democratic and participatory outcomes of collective change, inclusion and equality.
However, it is this very unique form of practice that contributes to the existing global debate
regarding community development professionalisation; this impacts strongly on the process
towards its professionalisation (Meade 2011, 1). The debate is faced by a theoretical dichotomy,
as ‘professional standards’ are much needed on the one hand but, on the other hand, this will link
with ‘expert knowledge’ and social closure while community development is founded on the
principles of equality and social inclusion.
South Africa aims to follow an accreditation process of community development professionalism
that would be licensed by government and/or its proxies. This article looks at concepts relevant
to professionalisation, its debate, the process and criteria required for professionalisation and
how these shape the process followed in South Africa as well as the issues affecting community
development professionalisation.
2. CONCEPTUAL CLARITY: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT,
PROFESSION, AND RELATED CONCEPTS
Embarking on a process of community development professionalisation necessitates clarication
of the concepts of ‘profession’, ‘professionalisation’, ‘professionalism’ and professional
socialisation, in order to contribute towards conceptualising and clarifying the community
development professionalisation process (some form of framework) and, perhaps, even
intelligibility in so far as the community development debate goes (Grifn, Green & Medhurst
2005, 5).
2.1. Community Development
Community development is a broad term applied to a variety of disciplines in society, with
origins that can be traced back to the 18th century. From its inception, community development
has aimed at a better life for all. In 1963 the United Nations dened community development as:
the process by which the efforts of the people themselves are united with those of government
authorities to improve the economic, social and cultural conditions of communities, to integrate
these communities into the life of the nation and to enable them to contribute fully to the
national progress. This complex of processes is, therefore made up of two essential elements: the
participation of the people themselves in an effort to improve their living, with as much reliance
as possible on their own initiative; and the provision of technical and other services in ways which
encourage initiative, self help and mutual help and make those more effective. It is expressed in
programmes designed to achieve a wide variety of specic improvements (United Nations Report
1963, 4).

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The UN denition established the different skills and abilities needed by those who work in the
community development sector, as well as the capacities which they need to apply in assisting
and empowering communities to take initiative in acquiring a better life for themselves in a more
effective and sustainable manner (Hart 2009, 63–64). However, this denition has a public sector
focus and does not include the participation and involvement of non-governmental organisations
(NGOs), non-prot organisations (NPOs) and communities themselves.
The denition by Meade (2011, 3) on the other hand includes community and individual
participation by dening community development as ‘a participatory process that can empower
socially excluded individuals and communities’. The reinforcement of participation and dialogue
deepens understanding, builds relationships and creates opportunities (social capital). In dealing
with social challenges people learn, through social networks of support and knowledge, to
survive and exercise agency and resilience.
In terms of human development the White Paper on Population Policy in South Africa makes
it clear that sustainable human development is only possible if a balance can be achieved
between population, relief from poverty and the environment (Hart 2009, 65). The community
development approach by the South African government has the following strengths and
potential outputs as it: a) is focused on human development; b) is institutionalised at all levels
of government; c) is linked to a full-time and paid employee, the community development
practitioner, who facilitates and coordinates the process of community development; d) has the
potential to decentralise decision making to the community; e) reinforces both the feeling of
involvement and the possibility of dialogue; f) ensures an indigenous knowledge base of how to
deal with social challenges; and g) promotes the values and principles enshrined in authoritative
international and national policy documents – namely the United Nations Declaration on Social
Development, Human Rights conventions and declarations, the Millennium Development Goals
and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Hart 2009, 64).
2.2. Professions
Professions were rst analysed comprehensively by Carr-Saunders and Wilson in 1933; the
results are still regarded as a standard history of professions (Meintjes & Niemann-Struweg 2009,
3). Dening ‘profession’ has been a part of frequent debate involving complicated semantics,
resulting in twenty-one different denitions of ‘profession’ and twenty-three different criteria
by which to judge whether professionalisation has occurred (CBE Policy Position Paper n.d., 1).
Professions have mostly been interpreted as belonging to a distinct and ‘privileged’ occupation
– and, as such, a focus of study by sociologists for several decades. Evetts (1999, 119) indicates
that this focus is due to disagreement over the distinctions between different professions and not
to the interpretation thereof. From 1950 to 1960, sociologists attempted to list sets of attributes
by which to indicate commonality and distinctiveness between core professional occupations;
during the 1970s this was viewed as an unhelpful diversion.
Since the 1990s professions have been dened as occupations which are linked with knowledge-
based higher education and training – currently known as self-regulated occupations in terms of
licensing and work practice. This gives professions their dual character of both service provision
Professionalisation of community development in South Africa

C.S. Hart
58
and knowledge for economic gain (Evetts 1999, 119–120). It is the ‘professional knowledge
linked with economic gains’ motive on which the community development professionalisation
debate is founded – a debate which is due to community development outcomes being rather
contradictory with regard to the ‘elite’ and individualistic self-gain denitions for professions.
Abbott (cited in the CBE Policy Position Paper n.d., 2) dened an occupation as having the
following characteristics:
… possession of specialised knowledge and skills partially or fully acquired by intellectual training
… that others do not possess; creation, organisation and transmission of this knowledge by the
profession; provision of services calling for a high degree of integrity …; acceptance by society
of the value of the knowledge possessed and the belief that it can solve problems in society …
Professions have evolved differently, mainly due to the various historical, political, economic,
geographical, demographical and cultural variances existing in different countries. Some
professions have evolved more or less independently while others became statutory bodies by
law. Controlling institutions in the process of professionalisation have been generally perceived
to be associations, states and universities (Evetts 1999, 121 ; Meintjes & Nieman-Struweg 2009,
3). The variations continue to inuence an occupation even after its professionalisation.
2.3. Professionalisation
Professionalisation is dened in the CBE Policy Position Paper (n.d., 6) as ‘the means by which
an occupation alters its socio-professional situation and becomes a profession by acquiring
professional attributes’. Evetts (1999, 120) denes it as ‘the series of diverse and variable, social
and historical, processes of development, of how work sometimes becomes an occupation …
and how some occupations achieve various forms of occupational control of work’. The latter
denition proves that several processes of professionalisation exist – and that there is no one
‘blue-print’ to follow during the professionalisation of an occupation.
The literature on professionalisation is of value in so far as the lessons learned from several
different documented processes over the last few decades are concerned. Professionalisation
is also about gaining status while searching for power, money and control over the practice of
work, thus indicating the designation and accreditation of a ‘distinctive’ occupation (Fitzsimons
2010, 53; Evetts 1999, 120; Meade 2011, 2). Leung (2011, 3) denes professionalisation as ‘not
a simply collective action by a cohesive group, but a complex social process’.
Professionalisation is linked to a need for raising standards of practice by means of a standardised,
cohesive and effective movement – thereby indicating a reason for the professionalisation of
community development in South Africa (Fitzsimons 2010, 54). Grifn, Green & Medhurst
(2005, 5) provide the most appropriate denition of professionalisation relevant to community
development in South Africa, by stating that professionalisation means ‘the way in which people
are a) acculturated both formally and informally into an academic discipline …; b) recognised
and legitimated as professionals in a given discipline; and c) shape their professional lives to
accommodate themselves to the working context in which they operate’.

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These authors go further in linking the quoted denition relevancy to the professionalisation
of occupations with a multi-disciplinarity and/or inter-disciplinarity character (as is the case
with community development). They dene multi-disciplinarity as the ‘parallel existence
of discrete bodies of knowledge in proximity to each other’ and inter-disciplinarity as the
‘integration of discrete bodies of knowledge with each other to create new knowledge synthesis
… methodologies and concepts’ (Grifn, Green & Medhurst 2005, 6). This all contributes to
the informed conceptualisation of the prospective character which the community development
professionalisation process is taking in South Africa – as well as the issues affecting
professionalism in community development.
2.4. Professionalism
Professionalism is regarded as the most difcult of all the stated concepts to dene and explain.
Merriam-Webster (sited in Hammer 2000, 455) denes professionalism as a “…set of attitudes
and behaviours believed to be appropriate to a particular occupation…”. Evetts (1999, 122)
denes it as the
… aspects of the occupational control of work which are in the best interests of …clients, as well
as in the advice-giving, lobbying and… oppositional aspects of the professions’ relations with
states, legislative bodies, and regional and local administrative agencies …
The stated denitions relate to behavioural terms. However, the origins of professionalism in the
1950s and 1960s were based on characteristics (attitudinal attributes) involving a belief to serve
the public, a sense of calling to the ‘eld’, autonomy to make professional decisions and a belief
in self-regulation. Structural attributes include a specialised body of knowledge, professional
associations, social prestige, a code of ethics and a unique socialisation of student members
(Hammer 2000, 456). Freidson (cited in Evetts 1999, 122, 25) states that professionalism is a
desirable way of providing complex services to the public but it does not necessarily provide
assurance of quality (Evetts 1999, 123-125). The monitoring of performance standards or
outcomes becomes difcult in sectors such as community development, where it mostly involves
the ‘facilitation of advice’, which appears as abstract – and thus not so clear-cut a denition in,
for example, the medical sectors providing treatments which is perceived as concrete assistance.
The education sector, including universities, has been used to assist with the development and
teaching of exit level outcomes, which could contribute to the criteria for licensing requirements
of practitioners. This implies that licensing and accreditation arrangements need to be formulated
and legislated during the early stages of an emerging occupation or profession (Evetts 1999, 125).
Initial training of professionals cannot provide all the skills, knowledge and attributes needed
in a professional career, which highlights the need for continued professional development
(CPD) and life-long learning; this can only be developed, organised and enforced (as part of the
registration requirements) by the professional entities to which professionals subscribe (Evetts
1999, 126).
Clarity about professionalism is further achieved by acknowledging the dual character of
professions, namely: a) the provision of a service; and b) the use of knowledge and power for
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60
economic gain and control. Professionalism implies trust which the client must place in the
professional who, in turn, should have quality (expert) knowledge relating to a code of ethics;
this, at times, also involves client condentiality. Thus, professionalism represents distinct values
and moral obligations which are developed during professional socialisation, when the aspirant
professional starts with formal education and training.
2.5. Professional socialisation: the education process
Professional socialisation is broadly dened by Weidman, Twale & Stein (2001, 4) as ‘the
process by which persons acquire the knowledge, skills and disposition that makes them more or
less effective members of society’. Higher education is where individuals rst start the process
of professional socialisation, which implies that education shapes professional socialisation
(Grifn, Green & Medhurst 2005, 34; Page 2005, 105).
Professional socialisation comprises attitudinal and behavioural development which, in turn,
shapes one’s beliefs. Thus, professional attitude could be dened as ‘a predisposition, feeling,
emotion or thought that upholds the ideals of a profession’ (Hammer 2000, 456). Professional
behaviour could be dened as behavioural ‘professionalism’ – as discussed previously. The
educational process of professional socialisation has both theoretical and practical components,
aimed at creating a well-rounded professional experience deriving from both parts of
professional socialisation during the formal education and training phase. Individuals are trained
in professional behaviour attitudes and values that will guide their own behaviours and dene
their professional group identity (Page 2005, 105).
Training of a professional group is structured around theoretical knowledge, methods and
technology. The intensity level of the training is directly related to the status level of the profession.
The status level of a profession, more often than not, determines the professional rewards
achievable by a member of that profession. A second important dimension for professional
socialisation is the demand for assurance that, through formal education, the young professional
has received proper training in order to provide quality expertise to the client-public. The third
important dimension that is important for professional socialisation, especially with regard to a
‘new’ profession, such as community development in South Africa, is state legislation, policy
and the jurisdiction with which to regulate this profession; licensing to guarantee professional
standards and control measures, that ensure professional service to the public by ‘experts’ in
the eld, are also essential (Page 2005, 105–107; Bartle n.d., 1). These dimensions, together
with clarication of the main concepts, issues and challenges faced by community development
professionalisation, collectively contribute to the suggested process of community development
professionalisation in the remaining part of this article.
3. THE PROCESS AND CRITERIA FOR PROFESSIONALISATION
The process of professionalisation is dened in the CBE Policy Position Paper (n.d., 10) as
‘[a] … desire to unify and consolidate a qualied occupation; and thereafter to obtain legal
recognition, which usually leads to professional title and the protection of work within the
profession’s jurisdiction’. The process ultimately aims to legitimise and professionalise practice

61
by expanding the body of knowledge, improving the ethical standards and reputation and
rening the certication processes. Thus, professionalisation assists with building a reputation
for authority, credibility and efciency (Meintjes and Niemann-Struweg 2009, 1).
This process of transformation from an occupation into a profession happens through two primary
routes: 1) the traditional route, relating to prestige, title and high pay, often relating to earlier
professions – such as the medical and architectural professions; and 2) the non-traditional route,
linked to the development of formal qualication, the emergence of a regulatory body, some
degree of monopoly rights, and the building of trust over an extended period of time (CBE Policy
Position Paper n.d., 10). Globally the non-traditional route typically consists of the following
steps: a) development of a full-time occupation by means of a formal/legislated qualication
frameworks; b) establishment of provider (training entity) relationships; c) establishment
of a professional association – formalised with its own constitution and acting as a ‘body of
knowledge’; d) development of policy/legislation for establishment of a professional board and
council; e) development and adoption of a formal code of ethics; f) political campaigning for
continued public support (e.g. for a predominant stakeholder towards professionalisation); and
g) protection of the occupation/profession by law (CBE Policy Position Paper n.d., 11, 47).
Meintjes and Niemann-Struweg (2009, 4) list the following criteria that need to be met by a
professional entity: 1) continuous public awareness campaigns to keep people well-informed;
2) application of standardised procedures for registration of members; 3) adherence to the set
benchmarks for quality and standards, even in the global arena; 4) ensuring international relations
between ‘sister’ entities; 5) encouraging provision of and participation in continued professional
development programmes; 6) drafting and enforcing a comprehensive code of ethical standards
and procedures; 7) provision of accredited members with a range of benets; and 8) overseeing
the development and provision of accredited professional qualications.
These criteria are well captured in the draft South African Qualications Authority (SAQA)
policy and criteria for recognising a professional body and registering a professional designation.
This policy interrelates with the National Qualications Framework Act of 2008. This draft
policy and criteria document indicates, in Clause 28, the following requirements to become
recognised as a professional body: a) an entity must be legally constituted with adequate human
and nancial resources to undertake its functions; b) protect the public interest and associated
risks with regard to the services provided by its members; c) ‘develop, award, monitor and
revoke its professional designations in terms of its own rules, legislation and/or international
conventions’; d) submit a list of members to SAQA; e) set the criteria to promote and monitor
the CPD of its members, in order to meet professional designation requirements; and f) publish a
code of conduct and ensure a mechanism for investigating members who have contravened their
code of conduct (SAQA 2011, 3).
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4. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONALISATION IN SOUTH
AFRICA
4.1. Implementing professionalisation
The process of community development professionalisation in South Africa is taking place
via the earlier mentioned non-traditional route as it aims to achieve the development and
implementation of a new formal qualication, and the emergence of a new regulatory body.
Haski-Leventhal (2009, 3) states that the purpose of a profession is to bring together skills and
knowledge, as well as to ensure high standards and ethical behaviour; these have to be based on
a body of knowledge, professional standards and ethical guidelines.
The steps in the South African non-traditional route are linked with the following principles that
benchmark a profession: a) accredited professional qualications; b) professional autonomy and
authority relating to professional culture, honour, integrity and autonomy from other professions;
c) skills and knowledge that are unique, of quality, consisting of theory and practice; d) a code of
ethics for ethical practice; e) a statutory body for licensing, conduct regulation, quality control
and CPD; f) be sanctioned by the community; and g) research into expansion and renement of
knowledge, skills, values and evaluative practice (Smith 2011, 10).
Thus, the South African process of community development professionalisation would require:
a) community development professional validation by a ‘specialised’ body of knowledge, in
partnership with the SAQA, for the legislated community development qualication frameworks,
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and Further Education and Training (FET) providers; and
b) a state-recognised entity which is central to the development of an ideology and approved
characteristics for the basis of membership and level of autonomy directly related to the
community development Organising Framework for Occupations (OFO) – and to a Standards
of Quality document, which follows a pluralist approach to commit community development
to solidarity, empowerment, social justice, equality, networking and community participation
with and at all levels of society. This document should therefore ensure continuous interlinking
between agreed standards and approved qualications, so as to ultimately achieve standardised
knowledge, skills and qualities among the professionals in community development (Fitzsimons
2010, 58–59).
4.2. Progress in South Africa
So far the community development professionalisation process in South Africa has succeeded in
ensuring the standardised skills and knowledge required by community development practitioners
by means of the development and legislation of the SAQA-accredited community development
qualications frameworks at the different National Qualications Framework (NQF) levels
4, 5 and 8. The rst stakeholder consultation was aimed at familiarisation with these new
qualication frameworks regarding accreditation and registration via the Department of Higher
Education and Training (DHET), the Council on Higher Education (CHE), QCTO and/or the
relevant sector education and training authorities (SETAs). The outcome of the rst stakeholder
consultation was the establishment of a Community Development Professionalization Steering

63
Committee (CDPSC) with the overall purpose of ensuring the professionalisation of community
development in South Africa via the non-traditional route.
The CDPSC provides supporting, coordinated, accelerated and expanded evidence-based action
and response to the professionalisation of community development. Specic objectives of the
CDPSC are to: a) promote coordination and harmonisation of policy guidance and stakeholder
involvement for professionalisation; b) advocate, promote, support, monitor and evaluate
both internally and externally the accelerated implementation of community development
qualications; c) assess, support and promote the development and sharing of technical
requirements for community development qualications delivery; and d) support and broaden
networking and collaboration.
These objectives translate into the following action plan: 1) align terminology and nomenclature
into an OFO; 2) ensure collaboration, buy-in and partnerships of all relevant role-players and
stakeholders; 3) establish a professional body – starting with an association and then progressing
towards a professional board and, ultimately, a legislated professional council; and 4) dene a
community development migration path from past and current qualications. The latter involves
the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) as set out in the SAQA framework.
A national recognition of prior learning (RPL) pilot project was developed by the CDPSC with
the purpose of integrating the learning so far acquired by persons currently working in the eld
of community development; their knowledge and skills come from various elds due to the
absence of a single community development career pathing/mainstreaming prior to the newly
developed qualication frameworks. The outcome of the pilot project would be a model to
validate and measure the impact of the community development career path standardisation and
professionalisation.
4.3. Public awareness
The CDPSC has also started with raising public awareness about community development
professionalisation. This was via a successful national summit meeting held during October
2011 aimed at achieving a resolution to establish an independent community development
association for South Africa. At the summit this resolution was agreed upon and the CDPSC
immediately started planning a community development professionalisation conference for
the second half of 2012. The conference was preceded by several provincial stakeholder buy-
in workshops for the purpose of partnership developments between public, private and NGO
sectors, HEIs and FETs, as well as the regulatory entities such as SAQA, Quality Council for
Trades and Occupations (QCTO), the relevant Skills Education Training Authorities (SETAs)
and the Council for Higher Education (CHE). A newsletter has also been launched, both for the
purpose of creating public awareness and towards the start of capacity building. Announcing
relevant documents, procedures and processes to be followed towards the professionalisation
of community development are to be included in the newsletter, so as to ultimately establish an
independent community development professional council for South Africa.
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5. ISSUES AFFECTING COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
PROFESSIONALISATION
Issues affecting the process of community development professionalisation are closely related
to the global community development professionalisation debate. There is the belief that
communities can only be assisted if they themselves have agreed (linked with ownership) to,
and contribute by means of participation with, the community development process. This belief
leads to a conundrum about partnerships (participatory) approaches for sustainable community
well-being versus the general characteristics of self-regulation and control over execution of
tasks by professionals (Meade 2011, 1, 11).
Crucial to the debate is also the extent of inclusion regarding the different ‘qualication levels’
of community development workers as there are those with no formal qualications, volunteers,
with or without formal qualications as well as those with tertiary and even postgraduate
qualications. Thus, globally, the challenge lies in whether it is possible to professionalise
community development in such a manner that it would not discriminate and exclude people
based on their ‘qualication level’ or whether they are formally employed or not (Geoghegan &
Powell 2006, 851).
The Federation for Community Development Learning (FCDL) lists the following issues and
challenges which contribute to the current debate on community development professionalisation:
a) not being widely understood even though some countries have community development
occupational standards, b) lacking a ‘professional’ prole within its practice and thus not being
recognised for its contribution to initiatives and policies of government, c) not been seen as a
stand-alone practice/occupation due to the widespread misconception that ‘anyone can do it’,
d) complex skills and knowledge requirements are not being recognised as important for its
practice, e) being exposed to mainstreaming of its terminology resulting in poor practice that goes
on but being referred to as community development even though it is not based on its values and
processes, f) being marginalised as an occupation so that its practitioners do not get recognition
or terms and conditions of work which other professionals in the humanity professions obtain;
and g) practitioners struggling to gain access to good quality training and CPD opportunities
(FCDL Annual Conference 2010, 1–2).
Over and above this conundrum, the changing nature of the human services and social professions
towards collaborative/integrative working is inuencing motivation for the professionalisation
of community development as it links with another current professionalisation debate – namely
that of ‘inter-professional working’. This is due to integrative working being linked to service
provision and assistance to communities being delivered by groups of professionals working
together. Inter-professional working demands an emphasis on partnerships which, in turn, requires
a focus on the common and conicting values of, and between, each profession (Barnard 2008,
5). This leads to major challenges for such ‘new’ disciplines, like community development, that
are still aspiring towards professional status.
Further challenges experienced during a professionalisation process relate to that of people’s
responses to professional associations. Research has shown that most professionals (as much
as 90 per cent) do not become members of their professional bodies. This low membership

65
can sometimes also be due to some professional bodies losing status and/or credibility in the
eyes of the public in terms of service excellence (Meintjes & Niemann-Struweg 2009, 3–4).
Kruckeberg (cited in Meintjes & Niemann-Struweg 2009, 5) lists the following three challenges
to a successful professionalisation process: 1) a general lack of agreement as to the fundamental
purpose, scope, functions and responsibilities of the ‘new’/aspiring profession; 2) the aspiring
profession not being highly regarded as an area of scientic study; and 3) low recognition within
the employment industry about the eld of practice.
6. CONCLUSION
South Africa is clear as to the need to provide a better service for its communities, especially
those most marginalised and socially excluded. This has led to the move towards community
development professionalisation in South Africa, with the purpose of ensuring good quality and
appropriate community development practices that are based on a code of ethics. However, this
requires professionals to ‘prove their worth with reference to costs, benets and outcomes, and
must demonstrate their willingness to be subjected to audits and review’ (Meade 2011, 14).
Although there is no one ‘blue-print’ to follow for the professionalisation of an occupation,
a process can be mapped out that is derived from literature reviews. These literature reviews
provide conceptual clarity regarding relevant concepts for professionalisation, the processes
followed thus far during professionalisation of other occupations and the different criteria
required for such a process. The literature also assists with the identication of issues which
could affect the professionalisation of community development.
The rst step taken in the process towards professionalisation of community development in
South Africa has ensured consideration of exit level outcomes development and legislation by
means of the education sector, with the start of the new qualication frameworks roll-out by the
education sector. The second step to be taken forms part of ultimately achieving the registration
of a professional council. This will start with the upcoming establishment of the Community
Development Association, which will then be followed by the registration of an independent
professional board and council for community development in South Africa. The global
community development professionalisation conundrum must be taken into account during the
community development professionalisation process in South Africa, as it affects the process of
designing a community development professionalisation model for South Africa. This model
must be one that is inclusive, empowering, and one which places communities at its centre for
the ‘building of sustainable, equitable and vibrant communities’.
NOTE
1 C.S. HART is a Lecturer at the University of the Western Cape
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