An exploration of the success and failures of developmental local government on service delivery: a case of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality

Abstract

Developmental local government is regarded as a remedy for the deep-rooted structural socio-economic challenges in South Africa. Many of these challenges are a legacy of apartheid and colonialism, so the ascent to power of a democratic government after the 1994 democratic elections was seen as a watershed for the development of policies and programmes to ameliorate poverty, unemployment and gross inequality. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act, 108 of 1996, positions South Africa as a developmental state (defining developmentalism as a capable state with strong economic growth and professionalized public institutions). The White Paper on Local Government, 1998, was also introduced to mitigate poverty and unemployment. The adoption of a democratic developmental state model that empowers local government, as the coalface of service delivery, was seen as the solution. The developmental trajectory posited by the national government was thus predicated on the efficacy of municipalities. This study therefore explores the success and failure of developmentalism in South Africa, using the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality as a case study. Analysis and comparison regarding the best model for South Africa was done on the basis of a literature review of international and local studies and official documents and legislation. The review shows that the now defunct developmentalist Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) was adopted in 1994 to address the socio-economic ills associated with colonialism and apartheid, but it was replaced by the neoliberal Growth Employment and Redistribution policy. Most developing countries use East Asia as a template to replicate developmental models. Developmentalism thrived in Asia because these countries are not democratic. However, South Africa is a constitutional democracy, which means that the public and public participation must be taken into consideration in policy-making and decision-making, especially for local government to address local socio-economic problems, particularly those affecting the poor. This was not found to be the case in the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, where developmentalism is overshadowed by endemic problems around leadership, patronage and a lack of consultation with the people, leaving their needs largely unmet. Neo-liberal policies, clearly not aligned with developmentalism, have been espoused, so a developmental local government model has not been implemented systematically in the Metro. Recommendations to prioritize truly developmental local economic growth and socio-economic development include extensive training and higher appointment criteria.