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Decentralisation in South African local government : a critical evaluation
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Siddle, Andrew McCalman |
| Copyright Year | 2011 |
| Abstract | Decentralisation in South African Local Government: A Critical Evaluation The South African local government model is considered to be decentralised in character, incorporating various constitutional, policy and statutory instruments to enable local government to achieve its constitutionally mandated developmental objectives. Yet local government is widely viewed as being in a state of crisis. Many municipalities are seen as dysfunctional and incapable of performing their duties. The hypothesis underlying this study is that the effective application of the principles of decentralisation, to the extent that they have been incorporated in the constitutional, policy and regulatory framework of local government in South Africa, is endangered by a lack of commitment to the concept of decentralisation by central government and by the failure by municipalities to implement at local level those rules, systems, mechanisms, powers and functions which are intended to reflect the principles of decentralisation; and that the achievement of the constitutional objectives of local government is thereby in turn endangered. The thesis seeks to ascertain the extent to which the principles of decentralisation are incorporated in the regulatory framework of local government in South Africa, and to which the principles of decentralisation are applied in practice. Accordingly, various “dimensions of decentralisation” are examined within the context of the local government framework, the objective being to determine the extent to which that framework incorporates these dimensions. In addition, the actual practice among municipalities regarding certain of these dimensions is examined. For the latter purpose, information was obtained from a sample of 37 municipalities across the country, by means of interviews and discussions with officials, the examination of documents, and the examination of publicly available data. U ni ve rs ity o f C ap e To w n iii The study finds that the dimensions referred to above are reflected in the local government framework. It also finds that central government has shown tendencies to encroach, by statutory and regulatory means, on the autonomy of local government and thereby compromise the decentralised character of the local government framework. It also finds that there is a widespread failure on the part of local government to give effect to the critical dimensions of decentralisation by failing to observe specific requirements contained in the applicable framework. Andrew McCalman Siddle |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://open.uct.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11427/10838/thesis_com_2011_sidldle_a_phd.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
