This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT


LOCAL GOVERNMENT: INTERGOVERNMENTAL CO-OPERATION TO DELIVER DEVELOPMENT FROM A MUNICIPAL BASE


The South African constitution establishes distinct national, provincial and local spheres of government; but the allocation of jurisdictions emphasizes sharing rather than dividing duties. A Member of the National Council of Provinces explains how the three levels of government work together to implement development policy at the level closest to the people – local government.


Ms Nosilivere Magadla, MP, in Cape Town. Ms Magadla is the House Chairperson for Inter- Governmental Relations in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). She joined Parliament in May 2009 for the African National Congress after the fourth democratic elections as a delegate representing KwaZulu- Natal. A teacher for more than 26 years, she sat as a local government councillor from 2000 to 2009, including serving as the council’s Speaker and holding several regional positions.


Ms Nosilivere Magadla, MP


After the country’s first democratic elections on 27 April 1994, the South African society had to be reconstructed for the purpose of creating a basis for a democratic, integrated, prosperous and truly non-racial society. The new democratic government identified local government as the sphere that should be charged with the critical task of rebuilding communities and redressing the legacy of apartheid at its source. Thus local government is the


44 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: IssueOne - South Africa


key site of service delivery and development and is central to the entire transformative agenda of the new South African nation state. The historical mission of the South African democracy continues to be the creation of a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society. This means that our central task is the emancipation of the overwhelming majority of our people from poverty, underdevelopment and inequality. It means uplifting the quality of life of all South Africans, especially the poor and the marginalized. This classification then forms the largest part of the character of the society we are trying to create.


A new start for local government The most significant achievement in the area of governance since 1994 has been the dismantling of the deeply divided apartheid state and the establishment of a non- racial, democratic, unitary state. This fundamental transformation saw a


shift from over 1,200 racially-based local authorities, four provincial administrations and 10 so-called Bantustans under apartheid-created black administrations into 284 democratically elected municipalities, nine provinces and a strong central government. All racially-based local authority structures were then abolished. This process also resulted in the establishment of a progressive policy, and institutional framework to radically transform the state. This new system ensured that even rural areas received municipal services, unlike in the past where they were systematically and deliberately neglected resulting in profound structural faults for our regime of developmental local government. The South African constitution


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199