Intergovernmental relations in South Africa : a revised policy approach to co-operative government

Abstract

The attainment of development goals in South Africa is heavily dependent on an effective system of intergovernmental relations (IGR) and also upon the degree to which the institutions of government can operate in mutual trust and good faith and in a state of institutional harmony. Where government institutions and organs of state, in the three spheres of government, have to exercise a statutory power or implement a policy that requires the undertaking of joint work or implementing concurrent functions, those organs of state must co-ordinate their actions and participate in an appropriate manner. Whereas intergovernmental relations consist of the horizontal and vertical relationships among institutions and individuals in the three spheres of government, the principles of co-operative government lock these relations into a particular normative framework. The core of this framework is that the decentralization of state power in terms of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 is not based on competitive federalism but on the norms of co-operative government. In this article, the practice of intergovernmental relations and co-operative government in South Africa will be analysed. The suggestion of a new policy framework for co-operative government by the South African government will be scrutinized. Proposals will be made on how to develop a whole-of-government policy coherence, as well as to support an organisational form to promote cooperative government priorities.