Since 1994, local government in South Africa has faced the most drastic changes of the three spheres of government. For the first time local government is a partner in the governing of the country. Amidst the transformation of local government and all that it entails, this study focuses on the tension between democracy and efficiency. It probes the suggestion of a possible flaw in the institutional design of the new system. Is the Msunduzi Municipality able to accommodate the requirements of efficiency and democracy or will one be compromised to achieve the other?
The Msunduzi City Council has reserved very few decision-making functions for itself. In fact, it has delegated every function it possibly can. Only those which the law stipulates may not be delegated have been reserved for Council. This means that the Executive Committee enjoys wide decision-making powers. Furthermore, the delegations to Standing Committees have been withdrawn and these functions, too, are exercised by the Executive Committee. A combination of the two has created a highly centralised, all powerful, Executive Committee.
The Standing Committees, having been stripped of their decision-making powers have been reduced to advisory committees in the sense that they submit recommendations to the Executive Committee. An argument in favour of this process of a two level structure can be made against the background of the requirements of democracy. Bearing in mind that every single Councillor serves on at least one of the structures (Executive or Standing Committees), the opportunity is afforded to make input into the decision-making process. Although this process is cumbersome and time consuming, the view is expressed that the input made by Standing Committees adds value to the decisions taken. Setting aside the democratic qualities of this system, the Executive Committee also receives the benefit of recommendations which have been debated by specialised committees, for example Planning items by the Economic Development and Planning Committee; human resource matters by the Human Resources Committee, etc.
The counter argument is that efficiency in decision-making will be enhanced if Standing Committees are reinstated with delegated authority to take final decisions which fall within their terms of reference. This argument is in line with statutory provisions which promote the introduction of a system of delegations to promote administrative and operational efficiencies.
There will be an opportunity for Council to review its present decision-making structure when it considers the proposals on the realignment of committees.
Democracy, as operationalised by the requirements ofInclusivity, Transparency, Accountability and Participation in decision-making in the Msunduzi Municipality, was the focus of considerable research. Although criticisms in certain instances are probably justified, in the words of one of the respondents: "The Msunduzi Municipality can claim to be one of the first municipalities, not simply to open all committee meetings, but to also allow members of the public the right to speak."
Furthermore even though its initiative to establish ward committees has only achieved moderate success and its communication strategy and capacity building attempts lacking, a number of
positive aspects have emerged, namely, the Shosholoza Tours; the publication of the budget in 2003; the roadshows to promote public involvement in the budget in 2004; the launch of a new newsletter and the pioneering initiative taken around allowing public participation at meetings.
In conclusion, the Msunduzi Council has not yet been able to promote a more active local democracy in terms of which a shift from a representative type of local government to a participative type of local governance has been achieved. However, to some degree efficiency in decision-making has been sacrificed to allow for greater inclusivity, transparency, accountability and public participation in the decision-making process.
REFERENCES
1. KwaZulu- atal: Determination ofTypes ofMunicipality Act, 2000, (Act 7 of 2000), Pretoria, Government Printer, 2000.
2. Act117 of1998, Section 42.
3. Act 108 of1996, Section 160 (2).
4. Act117 of1998, Sections 79 and 80.
5. Act32 of2000, Section 53.
6. Act 108 of1996, Section 160(2).
7. Act117 of1998, Section 44 (4).
8. Act32 of2000, Section 59 (1).
9. Act 108 of1996, Section 152 (1) (e).
10. Act32 of2000, Section 98.
11. Ibid, Section 11.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid, Section 12 (3)(b)
14. Act 108 of1996, Section 1602 (a) 15. Act32 of2000, Section 15 (1).
16. Ibid, Section 15 (3).
17. Act 108 of1996, Section 160 (7).
18. Act32 of2000, Section 13.
19. Ibid, Section 12.
20. Ibid.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid.
23. Republic of South Africa: Local Government Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003, (Act 56 of2003), Pretoria, Government Printer, 2003.
24. Act32 of2000, Chapter 4.
25. Act 108 of1996, Section 152 (1) (e).
CHAPTER FIVE
THE BUFFALO CITY LOCAL MUNICIPALITY.
INTRODUCTION.
The Buffalo City Local Municipality, located in East London, is the second case in this study. The redemarcation of municipalities resulted in a significant increase in both the geographic area and population for the new municipalities. In the case of East London and the surrounding areas, the 2000 Local Government elections ushered in a new municipality, that being the Buffalo City Local Municipality. The municipalities that were previously in existence in this area were disestablished and the Buffalo City Local Municipality has incorporated the erstwhile municipalities of East London, Beacon Bay, Gonubie, Kidds Beach, Berlin and KingWilliams Town.
Like Msunduzi the Buffalo City Municipality is a Category B municipality, but it differs from Msunduzi in the type of executive authority in operation. As prescribed in the Section 12 Notice which established the Municipality, Msunduzi has a collective executive committee system. The Buffalo City Local Municipality, on the other hand, has an executive mayor-in-mayoral committee system in operation. This is the main structural difference between the two cases as both municipalities have introduced a system of ward committees. It is also noteworthy that both municipalities have been recognised as aspirant Metropolitan Municipalities by the Demarcation Board.l Thus the contrast between Msunduzi and Buffalo isolates theexecutive structure as the sole structural variable, promising insight into its significance for efficiency, democracy and the relationship between them.
The research will focus on the decision-making model in operation in the Buffalo City Local Municipality but more specifically on the executive mayor-in-mayoral committee model. Is this model more efficient than the executive committee? Does it allowfor greater internal democracy by way of councillors' participation in decision-making? Does this model promote greater external democracy in decision-making by way of community participation? What are the attitudes of the main role players towards achieving the Constitutional objective of "encouraging the involvement of community organisations in the matters oflocal government.,,2
1. APPLICATION OF THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.
The methodology employed to research decision-making in Msunduzi was also put to use in respect of the second case study, the Buffalo City Local Municipality. However, the logistics involved in undertaking research six hundred kilometres from home called for tighter time frames than the eleven weeks set aside for the Msunduzi Municipality. Preparation, access and review of documents was scheduled for the week ended 14 November 2004 and a two week period commencing 15 November 2004 was allocated for a visit to East London for the purpose of carrying out further research.
Using the same categories that were identified during the documents review for Msunduzi, namely, establishment of the municipality, committees, public participation, procedures, budgets and by- laws, the required documents were sourced from the East London Library, the archives of the local newspaper, namely, the Daily Dispatch and the Municipal Records Department. The accessing of data through the review of documents, whilst being time consuming, is unobtrusive and provided important base information on which to conduct further research. A list of the 32 documents reviewed is attached (Appendix 20) whilst the breakdown into categories is shown in the table that follows.
TABLE 13 : BUFFALO CITY LOCAL MUNICIPALITY: REVIEW OF DOCUMENTS
TYPE N°
1. Establishment of the Municipality 8
2. Committees 9
3. Public Participation 7
4. Procedures 1
5. Budgets 6
6. By Laws 1
TOTAL 32
For the following reasons it was not possible to attend any meetings of the decision-making structures as an observer. Firstly, the Mayoral Committee which meets on a fortnightly basis conducts its activities behind closed doors. In other words, meetings of the Mayoral Committee are closed to the public and the media. Further comments on this issue will be made under the heading
"Democracy." Secondly, in accordance with the long standing practice in East London, the Council meetings are held on the last Tuesday of every month. The meeting for November 2004 was
accordingly held on the thirtieth, a date which unfortunately fell outside of the scheduled visit to Buffalo City for research purposes.
In accordance with the procedure adopted for the Msunduzi case study, a number of elite interviews or key informants were identified from within the ranks of the elected representatives (councillors);
the administration (officials); the community and civil society. A total of sixteen interviews were conducted, details of which are contained in Appendix 21 whilst a summary of the breakdown into the categories identified has been included in the following table.
TABLE 14: BUFFALO CITY LOCAL MUNICIPALITY: FOCUS INTERVIEWS
CATEGORIES OF RESPONDENTS N°
COUNCILLORS 7
OFFICIALS 4
OUTSIDE ORGANISAT10NSIPERSONS 5
TOTAL 16
Analysis of the data captured was done on the same basis as applicable to the Msunduzi Municipality, namely, efficiency and democracy but I begin with a brief orientation of the establishment, extent, structure and composition of the Buffalo City Local Municipality.