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Democracy and delivery: the rationalization of local government in South Africa

Literature › Works

Christopher Pycroft (2000). Democracy and delivery: the rationalization of local government in South Africa. International Review of Administrative Sciences 66(1). SAGE Publications.
Type journal article
Scope Post-1994 South African economy
Method policy analysis
Period studied 1992–2000
Regions South Africa, former homelands, municipalities
Themes transition post apartheid, macro fiscal finance debt, business and state, inequality poverty unemployment, resistance social movements
Citation key pycroft2000

Argument

Pycroft argues that the post-1994 local government settlement achieved democratization and deracialization but not financially viable municipalities or effective service delivery. The 1998 White Paper and the Demarcation, Structures and Systems legislation aim to fix structural weaknesses (boundaries, council size) and systems weaknesses (capacity, performance management). He reads this as local-level expression of the shift from the RDP to GEAR and of 'new public administration' (privatization, managerialism, retrenchment). He warns that implementation faces resistance from municipal unions, councillors and the ANC's own support base, and that failure would leave municipalities unable to support the macro-economic framework.

Evidence and method

Government legislation and policy documents (White Paper on Local Government 1998, Municipal Demarcation Act 1998, Project Viability report 1998, Demarcation Steering Committee 1998), SAIRR survey data on growth and jobs, and secondary literature (Nattrass, Kaul, Abedian and Biggs). Mainly the author's own earlier work on local government.

Findings

  • Local government negotiations were hurried and produced an interim framework, the LGTA, not a final blueprint. (p. 3)

    The Local Government Transition Act of 1993 (LGTA) which established the post-apartheid local government framework, therefore, was never envisaged as the blueprint for the final form of local government.

  • Democratization and deracialization were achieved but are insufficient for development goals. (p. 3)

    democratization and deracialization are not, of themselves, sufficient to achieve the development aspirations of the government, nor to meet the expectations for municipal services of South Africa’s people.

  • Cost recovery in former homeland municipalities was very weak. (p. 5)

    Recovery rates in some former homeland municipalities are on average as low as 42 percent.

  • Outstanding municipal debt rose sharply between 1996 and 1998 in the Project Viability core group. (p. 5)

    Outstanding municipal debt for a core group of 282 councils from across the country (representing 54 percent of all urban municipalities) rose from R6.29 billion in October 1996 to R8.89 billion by March 1998

  • Growth and job creation fell well short of GEAR targets, limiting municipalities' ability to attract investment. (p. 7)

    Economic growth in South Africa, while positive, has slowed from 3.4 percent in 1995 to 1.7 percent in 1997, well below the GEAR growth target for 1997 of 2.9 percent.

  • The formal sector shed jobs in 1997 instead of creating the number GEAR targeted. (p. 7)

    the loss of 130,000 formal sector jobs in 1997, while the GEAR strategy aimed to create 252,000

  • 1980s struggle tactics such as rent boycotts persisted and damaged municipal finances. (p. 8)

    The tactics developed during the struggle in the 1980s, including rent boycotts and mass demonstrations to disrupt council business, have continued into the post-apartheid era with a devastating impact on municipal financial viability.

  • Demarcation uses fixed financial ratios, including a 35 percent cap on manpower costs, to judge viability. (p. 10)

    manpower costs at less than 35 percent of income; debt-servicing costs at less than 25 percent of income; poverty support less than 5 percent of income

  • Most municipalities fail the viability thresholds and will need re-demarcation. (p. 10)

    Those that fail to achieve these minimum thresholds of viability (currently the vast majority of municipalities throughout the country) will require re-demarcation.

  • Private-sector involvement in municipal services is central to the new approach, but was still at an early stage. (p. 13)

    By May 1999, two public–private partnerships had been signed, eight msps were being negotiated and a further 15 were undergoing feasibility studies.

  • Restructuring and retrenchment will meet resistance from unions, councillors and the ANC's own base. (p. 15)

    It is likely that municipal employees, individually and collectively through their trades unions, will resist retrenchment.