APARTHEID PRACTICE CREATES ECONOMIC ANOMALIES AND FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS

became the responsibility of the various homeland governments. However, homeland and self­

gowming authorities did not enjoy full autonomy over township cauncils within their areas. This was due to the fact that the South African-central govemmeat's Department of Devel_opment Aid shared responsibility in the provision of most services in these towns, and had wide-ranging cootrol over finance, often with predetermined unifonn tariffs for municipal services in tenns of Proclamation R293 towns. Even the independence of the homelands of the Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei, for the most part, heralded little change in the status quo.

The majority of homeland township cauncils were thus severely constrained regarding the necessary functions, powers and financial freedom (Bekker 1991). Outside the proclaimed urban areas of the homelands were the tribal authorities. These reflected traditional fonns of government as perfonned in the particular area, sometimes in the modified fonn of a community authority which might have comprised tribal chiefs, elders, and elected councillors. In all cases, these tribal authorities had limited say over local affairs and were scarcely more than agents for their respective homeland govemrneots (Bekker 1991).

From the above it is obvious that the devel_opment and management of the city was skewed in accordance with the diet.ates of apartheid. The consequences were that nnmicipal service provision urban inhabitants enjoyed was laigely determined by their designated group area. The different developmeot and .management practices have resulted in variations in perceptiaos about the supply and payment for municipal services. This is evident from the reports and ^ovents about non­

payment discussed in Chapter One, and the resuhs of attitudinal and perception research described in Chapter Two.

3.3 APARTHEID PRACTICE CREATES ECONOMIC ANOMALIES AND

R215.00 (Rand) respectively (Urban Foundatioo J993b). Research further indicated that the disparities by the 1990's were so prooounced that th_ey would not be rectified by simply transferring revmues from white local authority areas (Urban F oundatian 1993b ). The problems faced by black local authorities were exacerbated by massive boycotts of payment fur municipal services and other strategies aimed at destabilising township government. The point will be discussed further in section 3.4 on resistance to apartheid rule. Aspects to be discussed in this secti.oo include the institution of the South African Constitution of 1983 and regiona1 services councils.

3.3.1 The South African Constitution Act of 1983 (the Tricameral Parliament)

In white-designated South Africa, the historical evolutioo of the local authority system along racially separate lines was to be further emrenched by the Republic of South Africa Constitutioo Act. Act 110 of 1983 in which a tricam.eral parliament was established. The overall structure of government in accordance with the Act at fim, second and third-tier levels is represented in Figure 10. The implementation of the Act was to establish the principle of own affairs and gmeral affairs. It identified local government as an own affair. but for whites, coloureds and Indians only.

Black local authorities were still to be the domain of central state and provincial government agencies. The continued fractured nature oflocal authority structure, despite the Act, is reflected in Figure 11.

Coloured, Indian and white local govemmeot was deemed to be an own affair in tenns of the 1983 Constitution and, therefore, was the responsibility of the local government departments in the tric.ameral parliament (Figure 10). As there was no distinction between mw and general affairs for blacks, affairs concerning blacks fell within the jurisdiction of the black local authorities, in terms of the Black Local Authorities Act of 1982, which was the responsibility of the Department of Constitutional Development and Planning (DCDP) (Figure 10).

Accordingly, the South African government was to persist with a policy of centra1ised service provision to black township areas, contrary to the internationally held view, where local government was seen as a means towards effectiveness in developmem., urban management and municipal service delivery (Devas and Rakodi 1993a; Urban Foundation 1993b). The coosequmce ofthis practice was inadequate municipal service provision and minima] participation in, and therefore comprehension c,£: the urban development process by township residents.

Furthennore, the state's racially•based tricameral refonn initiatives at the political centre and ineffective structures at the local level r�hed in considerable community..t)ased anti.•apartheid mobilization. predominantly in the townships (Chetty 1991; McCarthy 1992), which will be further discussed in section 3.4 which deals with the resistan^ce to apartheid rule.

3.3.2 Regional Services Councils/Joint Services Boards

A further innovation in the structure of the ^local authority system was the introductim of ^regional servi^ce councils in terms ofthe Regional Services Council Act of 1985. ^Toe Act, at first rejected by the KwaZulu homeland administration (Lemon 1992), was later replaced bythe KwaZulu and Natal Joint Services Act (84/1990). Consequently, regional services councils were set up in the pm-1994 democratic election provinces of the Cape, Transvaal, and Orange Free State. whilst joint services boards were established in the c:ase of KwaZulu and Natal. These bodies were intended to act as an extension of existing third�tier institutims and were responsible for general affairs (Figure I 0). Such general affairs involved the provision of a bulk supply of services such as water, electricity, sewerage, transport, and planning, as well as the provision and maintenan^ce of infrastructure in areas of need.

White

I

Own affair.I

I I

Coloured. Indian Minister.i' Councils

,

¹

House of House of

State President

I

House of

Assembly Representatives Dclegales ... regional offices ... .

White Coloured. lndien

Primary .Local Authorities

=======

--,

General affairs Cabinet

I

1,

I

Dept. of Constitutional

I

Development & Planning.

Department of State ---(DCDP)

Provincial Administration and Executive Committees

I I

R.egiomlSemces=====BJaclc

Couo.cil9 Locai

Authorities

Figure 10 The 1983 coostitutiaial structure of own and general affairs in South Africa Soun:e: Lemoo 1992: 9

White Local Authority r---,

I Coloured Management I

I I

I Commitooe ^I

L---'

Black Loe.al Authority

,---

! Indian Management : Committee ^I _I

L.---�

Figure l l Structure of the local authority as at the time ofttans.ition in South Africa in 1993 Source: Cloote 1995: 2

The primaJy local authorities that coo.stituted a regiorud services council remained :responsible for own affairs, especially with regards reticulation to the household level. Regicmal services councils were intended to fulfU a three-fold function. According to the then Departme.nt of Cmstitutiooal

Development and Planning, the councils were to promcte efficiency and c.ost-efred:ivmessthrough the ratiOllalisation of service provisim, provide a forum for multiracial decision-making, and generate substantial revenue (from levies on bus:ine.ss) for the development of infrastructure in areas ofneed, such as in black. coloured and Indian townships.

According to the th.en Minister of Constitutional Development and Planning, Mr Chris Heunis, a number of other reasons underlaid the introduction of the councils as noted by Bekker (1991).

Firstly, they were to provide a mechanism for the transfer of payments to black, c.oloured, and Indian loc:al authorities, as had been recommended by the Browne and Croeser Inquiries (cited in Bekker 1991) into local government finance. Secondly, they were intende.d to ext^end the principle of own and general affairs from the national and provincial levels, to that of third-tier level, otherwise known as local gowmment. Thirdly, they were to provide broad institutions at the local level intended to strengthen legitimacy and viability, and thus enhance the capacity of local authority in order to meet the challe.nges of rapid urban growth.

By the late l 980's events and research had re.waled the separate local governments for urban black communities to be administratively ineffective, financially unviable, and politically of dubious legitimacy(Drakaki.s-Smith 1992; Franke� Pines and Swilling 1988; Lemon 1991; Mandy 1991;

Smith 1992; Swilling, Humphries and Shubane 1991; Urban Foundation 1991; 1993b). The government's new constitution was greeted by violeut response by blacks, sparking off rent and service payment boycotts in the Vaal Triangle which then spread throughout the rest of the c.ountry. Of particular significant to the researm. uneconomic flat rates for reot and municipal services were applied in township areas (Bassett 1993). In order to remedy inevitable arising shortfalls, vast a.mounts of bridging finance were transferred from the provincial administrations (Mandy 1991 ). Coosequently the cmcept of affordable municipal services was never engendered in the minds of township residents. This is evident from the

results

of attitudinal and perception studies conducted in South Africa (see OJ.apter Two).

Developments suclt as those describe abow were to play a significant role in the life-world experiences of township inhabitants and in their experience of the urban development process.

This in tum would have had a cmcomitant influence on their perceptions about the supply and payment for municipal services.