Abstract
Research over the last decade on local government in South Africa has highlighted that some municipal councils under the political leadership of the Africa National Congress (ANC) have shown weak political leadership, coupled with strong patronage systems, rent-seeking and corruption which have had an impact on the institutional functionality of municipalities in South Africa. Although patronage politics have been predominantly used to analyse the dynamics of post-apartheid local government ANC politics and councillor representation, this prevents us from understanding the representational focus of ANC councillors in decision-making processes. This paper offers an ethnographic insight into experiences of ANC councillors and the political complexities involved in council decision-making. Using ethnographic research, this paper will analyse how a political decision by the ANC provincial party, which was supported by the ANC regional party at local level – to erect a statue of Nelson Mandela in one of the municipalities in the Northern Cape – generated tensions amongst ANC councillors who strongly viewed their primary role as promoters of better ‘service delivery’ rather than approving the allocation of scarce municipal resources for erecting a statue. The paper reveals how the dominant presence of ANC sub-regional structures at local level contribute to the complex interaction of both ANC party political and municipal organisational rules and norms that influence and shape councillors’ choices in decision-making.
Highlights
Research over the last decade on local government in South Africa has highlighted that some municipal councils under the political leadership of the Africa National Congress (ANC) have shown weak political leadership, coupled with strong patronage systems, rent-seeking and corruption which have had an impact on the institutional functionality of municipalities in South Africa
Through the experience of the mayor and other ANC councillors and their relationship with ANC party structures, the paper demonstrates the complexities of the dominance of ANC political management and the interface between the ANC provincial and regional party
Whilst ANC councillors and political office-bearers such as the mayor understand that their primary focus should be channelled towards representing the service delivery interests of their communities, the partisan role of ANC councillors often conflicts with popular citizen interests
Summary
Research over the last decade on local government in South Africa has highlighted that some municipal councils under the political leadership of the Africa National Congress (ANC) have shown weak political leadership, coupled with strong patronage systems, rent-seeking and corruption which have had an impact on the institutional functionality of municipalities in South Africa. Most analysts have heavily criticised the ANC party and its elected local representatives (in particular ward councillors and political office-bearers such as speakers, mayors and members of the municipal mayoral executive committee) for being embroiled in patronage and rent-seeking (see Staniland 2008; Ndletyana et al 2014; Beresford 2014; Dawson 2014; Butler 2015; Butler and Southall 2015; Ndletyana 2015), neo-patrimonialism (Lodge 1998 and 2014) and corruption (Hyslop 2005; Mashele and Qobo 2014; Johnson 2015) that has led to decline in service delivery and failure of ANC councillors in carrying out their representational mandate. Peter Alexander notes that such community protest action resembles conflict between the state and society, which is symbolic of a “rebellion of the poor”, arguing that while neo-capitalism has sustained massive inequalities in CJLG December 2016
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