HOW SHOULD LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BE MANAGED AND DEVELOPED THROUGH UNIVERSITY BASED PROGRAMMES: AN EVALUATION MODEL PROPOSED

South Africa, in the post 1994 era, has concentrated on building projects and training for the implementation of Local Economic Development (LED). The KwaZulu-Natal Government Department and a local university signed a Service-Level agreement wherein both parties are committed to the development and delivery of a systematic professional and institutionalized capacity building competency in LED, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The aim of this research was to evaluate the development and delivery of a systematic professional and institutionalized capacity building competency in LED. The research question that underpinned this research is: Has the LED Training and Capacity Development Plan/Programme enhanced the capacity, growth and delivery of LED in the province? A pragmatic, mixed methods, multi-case approach was used. Convenient, purposive sampling methods were employed to select participants for the evaluation research, the individuals involved in the six initiatives of the programme: project management staff, current and degreed/diplomate students (LED practitioners), the lecturers facilitating/coordinating the modules, the municipal management staff and members of NGOs, the community that the LED practitioners interacted with and the journal editor. A log frame matrix was developed to be used as an evaluation tool for evaluating the six programmes. The matrix development and structure is presented and discussed.