A critical analysis of national government supervision of provincial government under the 1996 Constitution

Abstract

This dissertation is the product of an in-depth literature review on national government supervision of a provincial government in terms of the 1996 Constitution. While the Constitution accords equal recognition to the national, provincial and local spheres of government, and furthermore confers autonomy on each one of them, these three spheres are interrelated, which means that the upper spheres supervise the lower spheres. Hence, it became necessary to establish the rationale behind the wide-ranging powers which the Constitution confers on the national government to supervise a provincial government, and so the rationale behind the concept of “government supervision” was investigated. Accordingly, mainly local sources dealing with national government supervision of provincial government were studied, and a case study of national government supervision of Eastern Cape, Limpopo and North West provincial government was undertaken. In order to understand the interrelationship among the three spheres of government, which is the crux of the notion of “government supervision”, the structure of government ushered in by the 1996 Constitution is discussed. Taking cognisance of the fact that the theme of this dissertation is intergovernmental supervision, this study also discusses the legal framework for national government supervision of provinces. The case studies conducted in these three provinces revealed certain shortcomings, which then led to recommendations for remedial action.