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.
