The Mosaic of Local Governments in Post Apartheid South Africa: Municipal Asymmetries and Spatial Inequality

Abstract

Do Vale and Cameron offer an account of the sweeping process of decentralization in post-apartheid South Africa. The chapter identifies the main characteristics of local asymmetries in South Africa that emerged out of decentralization and explores the institutional dynamics behind these asymmetries. The findings show that the post-apartheid decentralization framework has financially and institutionally enabled mainly the metropolitan municipalities, creating space inequality within the local system of government in South Africa. The chapter also demonstrates through a case study of housing policies in Cape Town and Johannesburg that services vary across metros of different provinces with similar fiscal and administrative capabilities. The chapter concludes that there are several institutional factors behind the creation of an asymmetric regime of place equality in South Africa.