Southern Africa \ Local government in small states
SSmall states are defined as countries with less than 1.5 million inhabitants (including small island states and small island developing states - SIDS). Small states make up more than half of the 53 Commonwealth member countries. They face a particular set of challenges including governance, managing vulnerability and remoteness, dealing with limited economic opportunities, and dealing with the impact of climate change
Featured
Developmental Local Government in South Africa: Institutional fault lines
This paper provides a brief introduction to the recent history of, as well as the legal and policy framework for, local government in South Africa. It discusses the transformation of local government from a racially configured, illegitimate arm of the apartheid government into a system designed to produce developmentally oriented municipalities. The progress made by South African municipalities towards realising the vision of developmental local government is remarkable and unprecedented. Over the last 13 years, municipalities have embarked on the extension of infrastructure and development, whilst absorbing fundamental changes to their internal governance and management arrangements, financial management systems and intergovernmental responsibilities. The new local government system offers great potential for the realisation of a better life for all citizens, facilitated by a new generation of municipalities. However, the challenges remain huge and some of these can be attributed to institutional fault lines. These include challenges that come with large, inclusive municipalities, new executive systems and the political appointment of senior officials. The paper also identifies the downside of overzealous institutionalisation of community participation. With regard to intergovernmental relations, the paper highlights the need for a clearer definition of local government mandates and a greater recognition of the role of big cities. The current insistence on comprehensive intergovernmental alignment of policies and budgets is questioned, and suggestions are made to substitute this with an approach of selective alignment around key national priorities.
Author: Jaap de Visser Publisher: University of Technology, Sydney Publication year: January 2009
Role of courts in interpreting local government's environmental powers in South Africa
Author: Oliver Fuo Publisher: University of Technology Sydney Press Publication year: 2015
Developmental local government: putting local government at the heart of development
Background discussion paper for the 2013 Commonwealth Local Government Conference, Kampala Research reports. The paper sets the context for developmental local government and reflects on what the term means in respect of the different systems of local government and approaches to local government across the Commonwealth. Chapter 1 looks at the global environment and how global challenges are impacting on governance, service delivery and development at the local level. Chapter 2 looks at how we define developmental local government in the different regions of the Commonwealth. It also sets out a case study on South Africa’s experience of defining developmental local government within a system of cooperative governance, and how it has impacted on development at the local level to date. Chapter 3 focuses on the fundamental enablers for developmental local government: The political framework, Financing local government, Human resource management and capacity, Enabling citizen participation Chapter 4 looks at key priorities for the post 2015 global development agenda and considers the role for local government in a post 2015 context as a key partner in development, providing a voice for local communities and implementing many of the key services essential to reducing poverty. Chapter 5 reflects on practical approaches to developmental local government and looks at different ways in which local government is playing a central role in local development. Chapter 6 reflects on the future and some of the key issues for discussion and debate at the conference
Author: Reneva Fourie Publisher: CLGF Publication year: 2013