AS the parties move into intense negotiations about “provincial powers” at an Arniston bosberaad, the African National Congress is trying to dismiss the suspicion that its latest drafts on provincial competencies do not comply with the constitutional principles, inherited from the multi-party negotiations at Kempton Park.
The constitutional principle in question states that provincial powers cannot be substantially reduced in the final Constitution. It was specifically put into the interim Constitution to appease the hardline federalist Inkatha Freedom Party, and to coax it into participation in the 1994 elections.
ANC MP and constitutional expert Professor Dirk du Toit said this week: “The Democratic Party is taking a stand against co-operative government. It wants a situation where the provincial governments are in competition for power against the central government. What we are looking for is a model which engenders an atmosphere of consideration among national and provincial governments, an atmosphere of support, respect, acknowledgment and co- operation.”
The model of a national council of provinces, which allows for provinces to represent their interests at national level, is becoming more entrenched by the week. In fact, the idea has sold so well that interest groups such as traditional leaders, volkstaters and local government enthusiasts are trying to secure permanent places.
The squabble comes over a chapter on provincial competencies which is meant to outline how many powers provincial governments control and under what circumstances the national government can override these powers.
The ANC is happy with a formulation which states that national legislation overrides provincial legislation if it has to achieve a national objective. The DP’s Colin Eglin says this gives the central government an open- ended license to override the provincial legislation and that it would undermine the constitutional principles.
The ANC is also pushing to make local government a separate tier of government and not a provincial competency, as it was in the interim Constitution.
The chapter on local government has been left blank in the fourth draft of the final Constitution, as negotiations hot up behind the scenes, but no one is confident enough to put anything on the table.
The NP’s secretary general Roelf Meyer says he does not believe the current model of provincial powers is unconstitutional. “We need to fine-tune some of the differences that exist regarding the interpretation of the latest draft, so that there should be no difficulty in understanding what it means,” he said.