SECTION I 7.21.1.14 Policy
2.9 POWER RELATIONS IN DURBAN
The Local Government Transitional Act 97 of 1996 (LGT A) allows for a local negotiation process to define the allocation of powers and functions between the Metropolitan Council and Metropolitan Local Councils (MLCs). This has resulted in different allocations in each area. In some cases the location of municipal function does not enable sound management and administrative practices, and simply reflects the lack of clarity regarding the specific powers and duties of each tier which has resulted inconsiderable confusion and inefficiency between the Metropolitan Council and MLCs (Local Government: White Paper 1995:25).
2.10 AN INSTITUTIONAL APPROACH TOWARDS DIFFERENT LEVELS OF PUBLIC POWERS
Local government holds the promise of being the crucial sphere of the state action to change the relations of power and wealth. To this end, The Local Government Transitional Act (Act 97 of 1996) and the new Local Government White Paper (March 1998) ushered in a number of fundamental changes to the laws controlling the running of cities: the role of traditional leaders is circumscribed; the number of municipal authorities is reduced with the aim of containing the costs of local government and professionalising political office; the principle of financial accountability is introduced as local authorities obtain the power to raise their own funds. Most importantly, the functions of local government are expanded to include eradication of poverty and local economic development. The institutionalised mechanism for local authorities achieving these responsibilities is entrench in Integrated Development Planning or an IDP.
All local authorities are required to produce an IDP which conforms to the LDO's each year. The aims are that, through the IDP mechanism, the post-apartheid objectives of restitution, (re)development and growth will be achieved at the local level. Integrated Development Planning embodies the core purpose of local government and guides all aspects of revenue raising and service delivery activities, interaction with the citizenry and institutional organisation (parnell & Pieterse 1998: 14)
It is also the primary tool to ensure the integration of local government activities with other tiers of development planning at provincial, national and international levels (e.g.
Local Agenda 21) requirements. In this sense it serves as the basis for communication and interaction between the different tiers of government and spheres of governance. The IDP is thus the gearing mechanism through which national constitutional obligations are matched with the autonomous priorities of locally generated development agendas, (parnel & Pieterse 1998:14).
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An IDP is a process through which a municipality can establish a development plan for the short, medium and long term. It enables a municipality to (Integrated Development Planning 1998:3):
(1) assess the current reality in the municipal area, including econonuc, social and environmental trends, available resources, skills and capacities;
(2) assess the varied needs of the community and different interest groups;
(3) prioritise these needs in order of urgency, importance, and constitutional and legislative imperatives;
(4) establish frameworks and set goals to meet these needs;
(5) devise strategies to achieve the goals within specific time frames;
(6) develop and implement projects and programmes to achieve key objectives;
(7) establish targets and monitoring tools/instruments to measure impact and performance;
(8) budget effectively with limited resources and meet strategic objectives; and
(9) regularly monitor and adapt the development programme based on the underlying development framework and development indicators. Developmental Local Government as enshrined in the White Paper therefore extends way beyond the scope of UDS and spells out a vision for transforming South African cities that relies on both the latest technical procedures of environmental, economic and physical planning, and democratic political process at the local scale.
Integrated development essentially recognises the complex inter-relationship between various aspects of development: political social, economic, environmental, ethical, infra structural and spatial. Given their inter-relationship, it is impossible to address one dimension only and expect to make an impact on inequality or poverty. In fact IDPs recognise that any sustainable and successful strategy must address all of these elements in a co-ordinated way, based on an analysis of the underlying structural factors that sustain economic growth, poverty and inequality. In theory at least, the IDP also makes it essential for a local community to identify development needs and, simultaneously, to
execute agreed to poverty and growth strategies that emanates from a common vision that spells out how local needs will be reached (parnel & Pieterse 1998:15).
It is difficult to reach agreement about the goals and tasks of local government for at least three reasons:
• there is constant disagreement about the existence and severity of problems
• there is fear of addressing structural aspects of development problems; and
• the limited frameworks for organising social, economic and environmental spheres alternatively to ensure integrated and sustainable development process.
However, the IDP's provide a systematic framework to allow different stakeholders, who are all critical for integrated development, to come together and with local government to prioritise key programmes to address the major problems and ensure social and economic development (IDP 1998:3).
Many of the ideas encapsulated in the IDP process will be familiar to international development professionals. The history of South African governments' racist appropriation of international notions of urban planning makes it un surprising that the post-apartheid government has also drawn extensively on global trends in urban planning, policy and governance to formulate its agenda. In any reconstruction process, governments draw on available and dominant discourses to interpret, package and advance their agendas (parnell & Pieterse 1998:16).
Unlike earlier reglmes the new government is committed to justice, participatory democracy, poverty alleviation, the physical development of underprivileged zones of the city and racial redress. In the late twentieth century casting about for equitable and just solutions to urban problems meant a very competitive reflection on urbanisation, inner city revitalisation, environmental sustainability and social exclusion. The model of developmental local government has also drawn from the literature on democracy and development and is of course reflective of the experience of the anti-apartheid struggle.
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As an option to sustainable governance, the new utility of the approach to developmental local government will be tested on the ground rather than in academic or policy forums.
Basically, Integrated Development Plan means bringing together the efforts of national, provincial, regional and local government, and at a municipality level, the efforts of individual residents, groups (such as NGOs and civics) the private sector and other stakeholders, to set goals and work together in a planned way to achieve these goals in the interests of all in the community and a country as whole (Integrated Development Plan1998:3).
Such integration requires holistic thinking. Issues and sectors are looked at in relationship to each other, not in isolation. This enables the very best use of resources to achieve development aims (Integrated Development Plan 1998:3).
2.11 URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND POLICY DEBATES OF DIFFERENT LEVELS