Provincial legislatures are the most likely casualty of a review of provincial and local government systems, which analysts have described as the most candid admission of failure by the government.
Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi has announced that the government is inviting public submissions on how to reconfigure the powers and functions of provincial and local government. This follows a Cabinet decision to assess whether the aim to serve the people is being advanced by the provincial and local government arrangements.
Mufamadi’s department has been given the task by the ANC, which has debated the political and administrative functionality of provincial governments inconclusively for the past two years. Local governments have failed to meet expectations, despite legislation and special interventions to improve delivery.
Mufamadi says the government does not plan either to abolish or reduce the provinces, as it will be guided by public inputs. But he makes the point that most provincial legislatures have little to do as they do not have any original legislative-making powers.
The Mail & Guardian reported last year in August that the strong opinion at an ANC national executive committee meeting then was that provinces be retained in their original form, but their political powers be removed so that they become an administrative body of the government.
Provincial legislatures have been criticised in the ANC for not performing their monitoring function on provincial departments.
‘Because of concurrent powers, provincial departments are a mirror of some national departments. Provinces are institutionally constrained and cannot support local governments effectively. Many of our legislatures do not have as much work as they would like,†Mufamadi says.
Susan Booysen, of Wits UniverÂsity’s Graduate School of Public and Development Management, says the review process is an open admission that provincial and local government systems are not working. She says it is one in a series of other plans, such as Project Consolidate, which has tried to improve the systems of governance.
‘This is an admission that something went wrong in the design of the system. However, it is to government’s credit that it is saying this must change, even if it is embarrassing. Remember that before the local government elections there was a wave of local government service delivery protests, then Khutsong during the elections. Now, after a lull, there has been the second wave of protests since February, which is the most definitive evidence that the system is just not working, despite several interventions. The killing of councillors has brought up a new, dangerous dimension,†Booysen says.
Political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi says a deficit has emerged between President Thabo Mbeki’s stated goal of service delivery and the available state capacity. ‘It is one thing to build state machinery, but if you lack meaningful participation of Âcitizenry then you will run into some of these problems.â€
He says abolishing provincial governments could further centralise power in the national government.
The DA has reacted negatively to what it views as an attempt to dilute its only power base through the rumoured merger of the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape into one province.
The department of provincial and local government has drawn up a list of questions to guide public submissions. On provinces, these include whether there should be a provincial government; how this should be determined and what the alternative options are; and, on local government, how a municipality can better account for its performance and for its use of public resources. (See sidebar.)
Booysen says the new system is likely to be ready for implementation only around 2010, which she believes is too late. Public responses are expected by the end of October this year, leading to a Green Paper to be published by the end of this year for comment. At the end of next year, there should be a new White Paper on provinces and a review report on local government that will be considered by Parliament and the Cabinet.
Questions to ask
Ten of 65 questions about local and provincial government
1. How effective has your municipality been in extending basic services and what areas are in need of improvement?
2. What is the best way of holding councillors accountable to local communities?
3. How can we improve the fight against corruption in the local government sphere?
4. How can a municipality better account for its performance and for its use of public resources?
5. How can a municipality improve its information and communications on progress with service delivery and community expectations?
6. What changes, if any, should there be in the functions that are currently allocated at national, provincial and local level?
7. Should there be a provincial system of government? How should this be determined and what are the alternative options?
8. If provinces are to be retained, what should be the criteria for determining their purpose, structure, functions, number and sources of funding?
9. Do we need provincial legislatures? What are their advantages and disadvantages in the provincial system of government?
10. How have the provinces contribute to the reduction of disparities and socio-economic inclusion and exclusion?
Source: Department of provincial and local government