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Building a Capable State

Building a Capable State

Ian Palmer | Nishendra Moodley | Susan Parnell

(2017)

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Book Details

Abstract

The sustainable development goals signed in 2016 marked a new phase in global development thinking, one which is focused on ecologically and fiscally sustainable human settlements. Few countries offer a better testing ground for their attainment than post-apartheid South Africa. Since the coming to power of the African National Congress, the country has undergone a policy making revolution, driven by an urgent need to improve access to services for the country’s black majority.

A quarter century on from the fall of apartheid, Building a Capable State asks what lessons can be learned from the South African experience. The book assesses whether the South African government has succeeded in improving service delivery, focusing on the vital sectors of water and sanitation, energy, roads, public transport and housing. Emphasizing the often-overlooked role of local government institutions and finance, the book demonstrates that effective service delivery can have a profound impact on the social structure of emerging economies, and must form an integral part of any future development strategy.

A comprehensive examination of urban service delivery in the global South, Building a Capable State is essential reading for students and practitioners across the social sciences, public finance and engineering sectors.


‘The authors present a rich, comprehensive but sober analysis of progress achieved by the South African public sector in the two decades after apartheid. Their view from the local level is particularly relevant, as South Africa is one of the few African countries with empowered sub-national government.’
William Cobbett, Director, Cities Alliance

‘A landmark critical review drawing on a rich evidence base from both academic and practitioner perspectives. Its insights and analytical framework have relevance for other countries and cities facing the challenges of the “new urban” agenda.’
Stephen Essex, Plymouth University

‘This brilliantly researched book holds lessons for the many countries dealing with rapid urbanisation and growing demands for basic infrastructure in cities.’
Julio D. Dávila, University College London

'Lucid and detailed.'
Foreign Affairs


Ian Palmer is the founder of Palmer Development Group (PDG). He has 40 years experience in the fields of civil engineering and development. Ian is also an adjunct professor at the University of Cape Town (UCT) attached to the African Centre for Cities. For a period of 15 years from 1997 to 2012 he was on the board of Mvula Trust, an NGO focused on providing water and sanitation for rural communities.

Nishendra Moodley currently works with the South African National Treasury’s City Support Programme. He joined the City of Cape Town in 1998 to manage local government transformation projects and subsequently joined and later led Palmer Development Group (PDG). He has a Master’s degree in Public Administration. He has worked on local government policy development, monitoring and evaluation processes for national government, and institutional transformation projects for municipalities.

Susan Parnell is a Professor of Urban Geography in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Sciences at UCT. She is centrally involved in the African Centre for Cities, serving on its executive. She is the author of over a hundred peer reviewed papers, and a number of books, including Africa’s Urban Revolution (co-edited with E. Pieterse, Zed 2014)


Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Cover cover
Praise for the book i
About the authors ii
Title page iii
Copyright iv
Contents v
List of figures vi
List of tables ix
Abbreviations xi
Preface xiv
1. What is the ‘capable’ state? 1
1. Introduction 1
2. Building the capable state: a prerequisite for rights-based sustainable development 3
3. What is the capable state? 5
4. Keeping up with global development goals 11
5. The South African trajectory: time and constraints on building state capability 13
6. The structure of the book 18
2. Twenty years 22
1. Introduction 22
2. The political transition to 1994 23
3. Inheriting apartheid’s institutions and services: 1994 27
4. Negotiating the post-apartheid transition 30
5. Local government mandate and institutional design 32
6. Changing context in the post-apartheid years 39
7. Conclusions 46
3. Institutions 49
1. Introduction 49
2. Design of the system: structure of local government 49
3. Rationalising the structure: devolution and differentiation 54
4. The functions of local government 57
5. Intergovernmental relations 64
6. The role of state-owned enterprises 66
7. Partnerships with the private sector 68
8. Community role in service provision 70
9. Conclusions 73
4. Improving capability through regulation and support 75
1. Introduction 75
2. Balancing regulation and support 77
3. Assessing organisational capability 80
4. DPME and the delivery agreements 82
5. Regulating performance of local government 85
6. ‘Vertical’ support 91
7. Benchmarking mediated by national government 97
8. Horizontal learning and peer benchmarking 98
9. Citizens and civil society 99
10. When support fails 102
11. The role of national departments 105
12. Conclusions 107
5. Municipal organisational capability 109
1. Introduction 109
2. Twenty years of organisational transition 110
3. Governance and the political-administrative interface 116
4. Organisational leadership and the capability of the municipal manager 117
5. Financial management 120
6. Technical capacity: variations across the settlement spectrum 121
7. Incentives and the performance management system 124
8. Citizen engagement 126
9. Conclusions 127
6. Financing municipal services 129
1. Introduction 129
2. The twenty-year transition in financing municipal services 129
3. Functions of local government and associated expenditure 131
4. Structure of the local government fiscal framework 136
5. Profiling municipalities and their partners 136
6. The adequacy of municipal finances 141
7. Transfers from the national fiscus 145
8. Financing infrastructure 147
9. Property rates 148
10. Tariffs for ‘trading services’ 150
11. Subsidising services to the poor 152
12. Conclusions 155
7. Water and sanitation 158
1. Introduction 158
2. Institutional transition 158
3. Access to services 161
4. Institutions 166
5. Financing water and sanitation provision 178
6. Conclusions 184
8. Electricity 187
1. Introduction 187
2. The electricity policy transition 187
3. Access to services 189
4. Power generation and the electricity crisis in South Africa 192
5. Institutions 194
6. Financing electricity provision 202
7. Conclusions 206
9. Roads and public transport 208
1. Introduction 208
2. Transition over the past twenty years 208
3. Access to transport services 210
4. Infrastructure 214
5. Institutions 217
6. Finance 223
7. Conclusions 228
10. Housing 230
1. Introduction 230
2. The housing transition over twenty years 230
3. Housing delivery 233
4. Housing finance 244
5. Housing in the broader context of human settlements 247
6. Conclusions 248
11. Is South Africa a capable state? 252
1. The capable SA state: ‘Yes, but ...’ 252
2. The ‘time and sector’ differences 256
3. What does a capable state look like? 264
4. Conclusions 273
Appendix A 274
Appendix B 276
Notes 278
References 283
Index 295