Room to manoeuvre: understanding the development of provincial government In South Africa, 1994-2004
Date
2006-10-26T08:56:01Z
Authors
Rapoo, Thabo Jackson
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Abstract
Since its inception in 1994, South Africa’s federal system of government has been the subject
of intensive scholarly debates and wide-ranging academic writing. In particular, the
functioning of the country’s provincial institutions has engendered heated public debates
over the years about whether or not they have played their proper role as institutions of
democratic governance. The major challenge that faced the framers of the country’s new
constitution, and which continues to face policy makers currently, was to create functioning
and effective democratic institutions of government at sub-national level. In addition to their
role as democratic/political institutions of governance, the provinces are also agents of
socio-economic development and the delivery of basic social services to citizens.
In the course of attempting to fulfil their functional responsibilities since 1994, the provinces
have encountered enormous political, constitutional, administrative and logistical problems
that have led to widespread dissatisfaction about their performance and effectiveness. In fact,
this dissatisfaction has also led to fundamental questions being raised about the future of the
provinces in South Africa. This thesis seeks to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of
the provincial system during the 1994-2004 period, by looking at the question: to what extent
has the provincial system of government fulfilled its responsibilities of promoting democratic
governance and ensuring effective delivery of social services to citizens at sub-national level?
It also provides an in-depth examination and analysis of the development of South Africa’s
federal system of government between 1994 and 2004.
The study utilised a wide range of research materials gathered through in-depth interviews,
an opinion survey, direct observations, official documents, published and unpublished
documents, and numerous other sources.
Description
Faculty of Humanities
School of Social Science
Keywords
South Africa, Provincial, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Government