Local economic development in South Africa : policy implications

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to locate and examine the effi cacy of the implementation of the policy on local economic development within the context of the sphere of local government in South Africa. The sphere of local government is currently faced with numerous challenges and bottlenecks that stem from high poverty and unemployment rates, shortage of skills required to propel local economic development, lack of administrative capacity and ineffective implementation of policies. The article further examines the alignment or lack thereof between national and, provincial government development policy frameworks in relation to the policy on local economic development implemented in the sphere of local government. The Emakhazeni local municipality is used as a case study. Pertinent and plausible strategies with a view to address the challenges facing the implementation of the policy are elucidated and explored in the article.