Wits School of Governance (ETDs)

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    Emergency housing provision in the city of Johannesburg
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Twala, Baone Samukele
    This research presents a qualitative case study into the City of Johannesburg’s implementation of emergency housing within the context of South Africa’s decentralised development goals. The study explores the challenges faced by local governments, particularly the City of Johannesburg, in their service delivery responsibilities. It examines the adoption of decentralised development in the political and administrative spheres of local government and the role of institutions like SALGA and COGTA in supporting local governments. The research also investigates the struggles of municipalities in applying developmental themes of inclusivity, accountability, and political and social change. The backdrop of the study is the persisting housing backlog and the impact of the failures of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). The research highlights the complexities of providing emergency housing and temporary accommodation in the face of rapid urbanisation, poverty, and the legacy of apartheid spatial planning and housing policies. The study utilises a case study research methodology to scrutinise the political and administrative implementation of developmental local government, their adoption of developmental theories, the opportunities of intergovernmental relations, and the impact on service delivery. The goal is to contribute to a better understanding of the complexities of decentralisation in South Africa and provide insights that could enhance the quality of service delivery, particularly in the provision of emergency housing and temporary accommodation. There is a need to strengthen political and social change; and inclusivity in the City through improving engagement with communities and using resources to find more sustainable ways, in line with the capability and the human rights-based approach, to provide the temporary housing services. Implementing planned community engagement in areas where people are most vulnerable to eviction and emergencies that would require their relocation to temporary emergency accommodation or emergency housing
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    Decoding the District Development Model to understand decentralised governance in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Kgosinyane, Pogisho Godfrey; Abrahams, Caryn
    This thesis contributes to the literature on decentralisation and the intergovernmental relations framework. This contribution is relevant based on current scholarly debates on the contested idealised notions of decentralisation reforms, especially in developing countries such as those on the African continent. The thesis was concerned with exploring the institutional, political, and contextual factors of decentralised governance in South Africa. While much scholarly work on decentralisation in South Africa and on the African continent has been undertaken, new perspectives are needed. Firstly, decentralisation is often associated with normative views, for instance, the good governance perspective espoused by the Bretton Woods Institutions based on structural adjustments policies. Secondly, scholarly work tends to focus on an instrumentalist approach to decentralisation, which concerns itself with administration, delivery of services, and governance challenges at the local level. Thirdly, the political science approach focuses on the structural and social dimensions of decentralisation. This structural dimension considers the actions of political actors and society, which contends that decentralisation limits central states from subsuming all state power. However, this study outlines fundamental deficiencies in this argument by positing that constitutional imperatives on decentralisation do not necessarily constitute compliance. The study argues that political actors can exercise power outside formal, coded institutional structures such as the Constitution. Indeed, power often rests outside of formal intentions and plans if the diffuse realities of power are accepted. The approach of this thesis, however, is theory-driven. Through empirical evidence, this thesis provides insights into the complex power dynamics, the shifting governance, and volatile and contrasting outcomes inherent in decentralisation systems. The study found that while decentralisation in South Africa created new institutions and disperses power to the sub-national levels, it also, paradoxically, solidified power at the local level. These autonomous centres of power have led to an uncooperative, incoherent, multi-layered governance system that constrains rather than Pogisho Godfrey Kgosinyane Page ii 1535858 facilitates service delivery. Thus, decentralisation creates a window of opportunity for different actors to exercise their political power. The study adopted the District Development Model (DDM) as a case study to illuminate the governance interplay among the three spheres of government. The DDM is a multi-sphere development programme designed to improve service delivery and eliminate the pattern of operating in silos by the different levels of government. The study concludes that through the DDM, a new pattern of governance is emerging, altering central-local relations. The strong presence of the central government apparatus within the DDM suggests a process of recentralisation and reconfigured power relations. This thesis theorises that major changes in political and governance systems are not always violent or dramatic. Rather, these changes can be slow and subtle, masked as decentralisation while concealing centralisation tendencies, as revealed by this study. Further, this thesis argues that decentralisation is often fashioned on the premise that the political cultures of developing countries, such as South Africa, are mature enough to deal with the conflicting interests of political actors and institutional variations. The central argument of this thesis is that the conflict- avoiding negotiations during the Convention for a Democratic South Africa have accommodated starkly incongruous and incompatible political cultures, resulting in multiple power centres, thus effacing the claimed benefits of decentralisation. These insights were informed through a detailed case study approach employing face-to-face semi-structured interviews with participants from the three spheres of government.