Suchergebnisse

Serious questions are being asked concerning the manifestation of instability in society. The phenomena of maladministration, corruption, unrest, protests, failure in leadership, and the results of protest marches and poor service delivery, make one believe that the value, functioning and contribution of co-operative governance and intergovernmental relations is a myth. When public protests and instability are analysed, the main issue found at the heart of the problem concerns co-operation, implementation and co-ordination between the various spheres of government. Co-operation is needed to ensure satisfactory service delivery. The question can be asked if there is a direct relationship between poor service delivery, public protests and co-operative governance and good governance. Firstly the conceptual and constitutional framework of co-operative governance and intergovernmental relations will be discussed. In the following section the problems and challenges facing good governance will be analysed. Aspects pertaining to structural tension, policy choices, responsibility, accountability and implications of problems with good governance will be assessed. The manifestation of practical situations will be viewed against the background of co-operative governance.

The transformation process in South Africa brought about fundamental changes, especially in the area of inter-governmental relationship. Responsibilities, functions and powers of the three spheres of government (central, provincial and local) were changed and streamlined as put forward in the Constitution of South Africa Act 108 of 1996. The relationship between the different spheres of government must be seen against the background of the new democratic dispensation. Furthermore, the principle of co-operation between the different spheres of government emphasizes the dependency and interaction between theses spheres. The question that arises over a decade of democracy in South Africa is whether the constitutional dispensation and specifically the principle of co-operative government is successful. What are the challenges facing co-operative government? In this article the emphasis will fall on problems that relate to co-operative government and the challenges that need to be addressed by the central, provincial and local government.

Without presenting an in-depth discussion on the system of government of South Africa as contained in the respective constitutions of 1990, 1983 and 1960, it is adequate for our purposes to state that, historically speaking, South Africa had a parliamentary system of government. With the new constitutional dispensation the question arises whether the system of government has changed. To answer this important question the following discussion will firstly concentrate on a theoretical framework identifying the core characteristics of a parliamentary and a presidential system. Secondly, an analysis of the South African Constitution (1996) according to the above-mentioned characteristics of a parliamentary and a presidential system, will clearly indicate that the South African constitutional dispensation is still characterised by a parliamentary system of government.