Increasingly, the government has attempted to justify this policy by linking it to international theories and precedents regarding regional development and the use of growth poles. Use the link below to share a fulltext version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Decentralisation can be viewed as an extension of delegation. Industrial decentralisation id has been a central component of south africas regional strategy for over twenty years. July 2005 understanding fiscal decentralisation in south. Features of fiscal decentralisation in south africa fiscal decentralisation refers to the percentage of total government expenditure executed by subnational governments, considering the size and character of transfers, or the level of tax autonomy of subnational governments, or both. In order tocomplete its transition towards a constitutional democracy, south africa decided to renew its local governance system after apartheid. South africa represents this given that more than twenty years after the advent of democratic elections, the national government continues to confront historical systems of spatial manipulation that generated inequities in healthcare access. South africa both exemplies these processes, as well as providing some interesting counterexamples. Increasingly, the government has attempted to justify this policy by linking it to international theories and precedents regarding regional development and. Property taxation in south africa1 the population of south africa is 44 million.
This working paper is an output of the renewable energy and decentralization read project, a research project epl0024691, 202015 funded by the uk engineering and physical sciences research council epsrc, the uk department of international. Comparative assessment of decentralization in africa. Africa is no exception to either the decentralisation trend or the reality of its complexity and diversity. Mozambique, south africa and zimbabwe show how political authorities with downward. Decentralization and service delivery in african cities. Decentralisation extends to the lowest level of the organisation. Bolivia, brazil, china, india, indonesia, pakistan, south africa, and uganda. Indeed apartheid could be seen as form of decentralisation intended to reduce governments accountability to the majority. In the early stages of decentralization, the south african government is emphasizing increased access to clinics through their construction in rural and otherwise remote areas south africa department of health, 20, south africa department of health, 2014.
It is intended primarily for policymakers, in this case meaning civil servants and their. South africa, with instituted decentralization to both the provincial and local levels, is an exception to this rule. Meaning, advantages and disadvantages of decentralisation. Seeing as the problems experienced by south africa are common problems for many subsaharan. The politics of decentralisation in southern africa. The politics of democratic decentralization in kerala, south africa, and porto alegre, politics and society 29. The regional and local units act as agents for the central government and execute certain functions on its behalf. Decentralisation in south africa the main aims of the decentralisation. South africas decentralization was an essential component of its. During the 1990s and early 2000s, a wave of decentralization reforms swept across africa and the rest of the global south. Pdf fiscal decentralisation in kenya and south africa.
Particular attention is directed towards the revised program introduced in 1982. Elected local governments, it was hoped, would give citizens more voice in public affairs, and so drain the reservoir of discontent that feeds insurgency usaid 2009. Decentralization means dispersal of powers and authorities by the top level to the functional level management. Decentralisation and municipalities in south africa researchspace.
Post independence era problems that developed as a result of this dual central and local administration included encroachment on the rights and responsibilities of the weaker local. South africa has federalism, so in addition to its central government, it also has strong regional states called provinces. The south african local government model is considered to be decentralised in character, incorporating. The process of democratic decentralisation in south africa is greatly. In previous modules, youve learned the theory behind federalism and decentralization, as well as the most important concepts and building blocks, this module, we will look at three case studies to acquire insight into how federalism and decentralization work in practice. Decentralization and local governance in developing. An overview of decentralization and local governance in eastern and southern africa kundishora, phillip. One of the limitations of approaching healthcare access in this way is that the landscape can be interpreted as twodimensional. July 2005 understanding fiscal decentralisation in south africa. The underpinning of south africas decentralisation is provided by the. Industrial decentralization has formed a central element of state regional policy under south africa s apartheid government. Why decentralization in south africa has failed koelble.
Decentralisation refers to tire systematic effort to delegate. A government has not decentralized unless the country. Fiscal decentralization in south africa fiscal division of powers as demonstrated in table 16. Professor stephanie allais ethics clearance number. So, there is a local level below the regional state. Difference between centralization and decentralization with.
For instance, south africa is a quasifederal country with its decentralization laws clearly enshrined in its constitution. Educational decentralization and school governance in south africa. Decentralization in africa decentralization, democracy and. Decentralization and corruption in subsaharan africa. Jun 07, 2017 the points given below are noteworthy, so far as the difference between centralization and decentralization is concerned. Decentralization in africa international monetary fund. The wave was given a push by international donors who regarded devolution as the key to achieving efficiency in administrative performance and resource mobilization, and to ensuring popular participation in decisionmaking that would curb corruption. Decentralization, healthcare access, and inequality in.
Until recently, though, the programme has evinced little interest amongst industrialists. Distribution of conditional transfers contents acknowledgements 3 1. Industrial decentralization policy in south africa. Democracy and descentralisation in south asia and west africa. Difference between centralization and decentralization. Swapos vision on decentralization was reflected way back in its election manifesto of 1989. In south africa, decentralization has increased corruption levels due to an overburdened bureaucracy and the lack of democracy at the local level. Africa shows an impressive institutional creativity. Decentralization in postapartheid south africa request pdf. The contributors to decentralization and local governance in developing countries examine this institutional transformation from comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives, offering detailed case studies of decentralization in eight countries. Industrial decentralisation id has been a central component of south africa s regional strategy for over twenty years. 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.
For example, article 1, paragraph 12 of the constitution of cameroon describes the republic as a decentralized unitary state while part x articles 5562 enshrines the autonomy of sub national governments see also the constitutions of ghana. Drawing selectively on the large academic and practitioner literature on decentralisation and the articles in this volume, this article brie. One reason decentralization has attracted so much attention is that it is often a crosscutting reform that can relate to such impor tant bank concer ns as the rela. Post independence era problems that developed as a result of this dual central and local administration included encroachment on. While the south african constitution gave clear mandates to local government, the issue of adequate institutional capacity for municipal government was largely. Decentralisation in south african local government university of. Schoeman1 department of economics university of pretoria 1 professor in economics university of pretoria. Tanzania desk study by per tidemand and nazar sola.
One of the key questions posed in this thesis is to what extent the system of decentralized governance in south africa enables or hinders municipalities. The country is organized into 9 provinces, 6 singletier metropolitan municipalities, 50 district municipalities, and 228 local councils within the district municipalities. Diminishing the gap between democratic institutions and populations. Kenya and south africa have adopted fiscal decentralisation models in their constitutions. South africas particular combination of policy changes may be unique, but its experience has much resonance with the worldwide attempts to restructure and deregulate state schooling, and to create devolved systems of. Rethinking decentralization in developing countries. Cecon1023 a research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the masters degree in development theory and policy university of the witwatersrand. Fiscal decentralisation overseas development institute. May 31, 2010 for example, article 1, paragraph 12 of the constitution of cameroon describes the republic as a decentralized unitary state while part x articles 5562 enshrines the autonomy of sub national governments see also the constitutions of ghana, uganda, senegal, nigeria, burkina faso and south africa. Experiences of uganda, rwanda, and south africa, johnmary kauzya the mere fact of opting for decentralization shall not by itself ensure that the population effectively participates in its development which is the ultimate goal of a good policy of decentralization and good governance.
A framework with south asian and west african environmental cases. History of industrial decentralization in south africa part ii. Decentralisation in south africa university of pretoria. Decentralisation in south african local government. Nigeria, which used to be the only federal state in africa, has adopted a new constitution that maintains the federal framework. This is why a number of developing countries have opted for reforms in which decentralisation played an important part mookherjee 2001. Moreover, intergovernmental transfers play a much larger role in uganda and kenya, while urban areas rely much more on their own tax revenues in senegal and south africa. Decentralization and local governance in developing countries. Nigeria, which used to be the only federal state in africa, has adopted a new constitution that maintains the federal framework and gives more powers to its subnational governments. South africa desk study by louis picard and thomas mogale.
Introduction the existence of local government has always been defended on the basis that it is a crucial aspect of the process of democratization and intensification of mass participation in the decisionmaking process. An outlook on research and policy, ids bulletin 45. One reason decentralization has attracted so much attention is that it is often a crosscutting reform that can relate to such impor tant bank concer ns as the relation between. South africa, like many countries, has introduced new policies for school governance, among a variety of other reforms, in pursuit of national goals of economic growth, democratization and equity. Industrial decentralization has formed a central element of state regional policy under south africas apartheid government.
The fact that id policy has been premised upon political rather than economic considerations has been thought to lie at the root of this failure. Healthcare access and utilization remain key challenges in the global south. Effectiveness of decentralization in ghana their obligations and attract able and competent officers ministry of local government. The paper begins by describing the evolution of decentralization policy and examines the results to date. This paper is concerned with industrial decentralization in south africa, specifically the impact of decentralization on industrialization in the bantustans. Decentralization in africa decentralization, democracy. Democratic decentralization and centralprovinciallocal. An overview of decentralization and local governance in. Uganda 1995 ethiopia 1994 nigeria 1999 south africa 1996 kenya 2010 zimbabwe constitutional entrenchment of multilevel government for zimbabwe. Africa, have chosen a federal, or quasifederal system.
Two countries, ethiopia and south africa, have chosen a federal, or quasifederal system. Pdf we document the changing forms of decentralisation in south africa from the early 20th century through to the postapartheid era. History of industrial decentralization in south africa part. This was why many of the antiapartheid movements tended to be strongly centralist in orientation mccarthy 1992. The unification of powers and authorities, in the hands of highlevel management, is known as centralization. South africa s particular combination of policy changes may be unique, but its experience has much resonance with the worldwide attempts to restructure and deregulate state schooling, and to create devolved systems of. The author would like to acknowledge the valuable inputs provided by.
Educational decentralization and school governance in south. Educational decentralization and school governance in. However there is always the potential for party politics to play a role when the party in power nationally loses control of local governments, a situation of so called vertically divided political authority. When a part of the work is entrusted to others, it is known as delegation. History of industrial decentralization in south africa. Fiscal decentralisation in kenya and south africa 77 1 introduction decentralisation is the dispersion of power and responsibilities from a central government to regional or locally managed units. In south africas political circumstances as a country of almost 40 million, constituted of heterogeneous cultural and political groups, the need for effective decentralized democratic local government as a vehicle for development and national integration is imperative. The points given below are noteworthy, so far as the difference between centralization and decentralization is concerned. Decentralization in south africa was entrenched in the new democratic constitution of 1996 and charged local government with bringing basic and other services to the population.