Local government in the new South Africa
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-162X(199608)16:3<233::AID-PAD878>3.0.CO;2-E |
| Published date | 01 August 1996 |
| Date | 01 August 1996 |
| Author | CHRISTOPHER PYCROFT |
PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT, VOL.
16, 233-245 (1996)
Local government in
the
new
South
Africa
CHRISTOPHER PYCROFT
LIPAM, University
of
Liverpool
SUMMARY
On
1
November
1995
the final piece in South Africa’s democratic jigsaw was slotted into place
when elections were held to create 686 new local authorities throughout the country. The new
councils are confronted with a daunting task, as they have been championed by the national
Government of National Unity (GNU) as the main delivery mechanism for social and
economic redistribution as well as the vehicle for the achievement of the aims and objectives of
the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). This article argues that the
legislative framework developed for local government has an urban bias that has operated to
the detriment of a manageable solution to the problems of rural local government in South
Africa. The article examines the new structures of local democracy and argues that the need to
secure local representation may have been achieved at the expense of functional efficiency. The
lack of human and financial resources in some of the less developed councils makes service
delivery problematic. If service delivery is not improved it could undermine the new local
democracy as peoples’ expectations remain unfulfilled. The article also examines the efforts to
accommodate the political and economic demands of South Africa’s traditional societies and
the commercial farmers. The article argues that the efforts to incorporate these powerful
elements into the new dispensation have largely failed, creating a potential for future
disruption. The article concludes that the creation of a constitutional framework for local
government must be seen as the first step in the development of autonomous local
government, and that the main task now facing
all
three tiers
of
South Africa’s government is
the development
of
sufficient financial and human resources to ensure improvements in the
standards of living of poor South Africans.
INTRODUCTION
For many South Africans, particularly the very poor, and those living in rural
areas, the new Government of National Unity (GNU) and new democratic national
and provincial structures remain distant and remote, both geographically and in
terms of the impact on their lives. The GNU accepts that the direct impact that it
can have upon the lives of millions of poor South Africans is limited. The GNU’S
real impact will be more indirect, by creating the structures and organizations that
will facilitate sustainable economic growth, and by introducing mechanisms for
the redistribution of income. Local government is an integral component of the
government’s flagship Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), the all-
encompassing vision that seeks to re-orientate all aspects of South Africa’s civil
society (Esterhuyse, 1994a, pp.
1-3,
1994b, pp.
1-3;
Padayachee, 1994, pp. 585-597;
Fitzgerald
et
af.,
1995; Pycroft, 1996, pp. 109-122). Local government will be relied
Dr Pycroft is at
the
Liverpool Institute
of
Public Administration and Management (LIPAM), University
of
Liverpool,
2
Abercromby Square, Liverpool
L69 3BX
CCC
0271-2075/96/030233-13
0
1996 by John Wiley
&
Sons, Ltd.
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