Promotion of Service Delivery in Terms of the Social Contract Theory in South Africa's Legal Framework
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2024/v27i0a17747Keywords:
Human rights, service delivery, social contract theory, good governance, South AfricaAbstract
As is evident in the prevailing water and electricity rationing, South Africa is reeling from a crisis of poor service delivery. Against the background of its apartheid history and liberal constitution, this article examines how South Africa's legal framework promotes efficient service delivery in the context of a social contract theory. Using a literature review and content analysis of legislation, this article argues that basic service delivery is a human right that underlies the core function of the State regarding its social contract with citizens. The article critiques cooperative governance and the demarcation of service delivery duties between the spheres of government in the 1996 Constitution, the Municipal Structures Act, the Municipal Systems Act, and the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act. It demonstrates how the legal framework places a heavy burden on the local government to provide basic amenities. By highlighting how a social contract informs the purpose of the constitutional State, the article demonstrates why service delivery must be taken seriously in a nation desperately in need of socio-economic transformation.
Downloads
References
Bibliography
Literature
Akinboade OA, Kinfack EC and Mokwena MP "An Analysis of Citizen Satisfaction with Public Service Delivery in the Sedibeng District Municipality of South Africa" 2012 International Journal of Social Economics 182-199
Akinboade OA, Mokwena MP and Kinfack EC "Understanding Citizens' Participation in Service Delivery Protests in South Africa's Sedibeng District Municipality" 2013 International Journal of Social Economics 458-478
Alexander P "Rebellion of the Poor: South Africa's Service Delivery Protests: A Preliminary Analysis" 2010 Review of African Political Economy 25-40
Bekink B Principles of South African Local Government Law (LexisNexis Butterworths Durban 2006)
Berg-Schlosser D "Indicators of Democracy and Good Governance as Measures of the Quality of Democracy in Africa: A Critical Appraisal" 2004 Acta Politica 248-278
Bilchitz D "Citizenship and Community: Exploring the Right to Receive Basic Municipal Services in Joseph" 2010 CCR 45-78
Biljohn MIM and Lues L "Citizen Participation, Social Innovation, and the Governance of Local Government Service Delivery: Findings from South Africa" 2020 Int'l J Pub Admin 229-241
Bohler-Muller N et al "Life After Judgment: The Nokotyana Case Re-examined" 2018 Journal of Contemporary African Studies 143-159
Booth D "Hitting Apartheid for Six? The Politics of the South African Sports Boycott" 2003 Journal of Contemporary History 477-493
Brand D, Freedman W and De Vos P (eds) South African Constitutional Law in Context 2nd ed (Oxford University Press Cape Town 2015)
Brown RL "Accountability, Liberty, and the Constitution" in Tushnet M (ed) Bills of Rights (Routledge London 2017) 49-98
Chenwi L "Unpacking "Progressive Realisation", Its Relation to Resources, Minimum Core and Reasonableness and Some Methodological Consideration for Assessing Compliance" 2013 De Jure 744-746
Craig BH and Gilmour RS "The Constitution and Accountability for Public Functions" 1992 Governance 46-67
Currie I and de Waal J The Bill of Rights Handbook 6th ed (Juta Cape Town 2013)
Davis SR The ANC's War against Apartheid: Umkhonto We Sizwe and the Liberation of South Africa (Indiana University Press Bloomington 2018)
De Villiers B "Intergovernmental Relations: The Duty to Co-operate – a German Perspective" 1994 SAPL 430-437
Department of Provincial Affairs and Constitutional Development The White Paper on Local Government (The Department Pretoria 1998)
Du Plessis W "Legal Mechanisms for Cooperative Governance in South Africa: Successes and Failures" 2008 SAPL 87-110
Edwards T "Cooperative Governance in South Africa, with Specific Reference to the Challenges of Intergovernmental Relations" 2008 Politeia 65-85
Fraser-Moleketi G "Towards a Common Understanding of Corruption in Africa" 2009 Public Policy and Administration 331-338
Herbst 1996 International Security
Herbst J "Responding to State Failure in Africa" 1996 International Security 120-144
Hume D "Of the Original Contract" in Miller EF (ed) Essays: Moral, Political, Literary (Liberty Fund Indianapolis 1985) 253-264
Imiera PP "The Corruption Race in Africa: Nigeria Versus South Africa, Who Cleans the Mess First?" 2020 De Jure 70-89
Joseph S "Democratic Good Governance: New Agenda for Change" 2001 Economic and Political Weekly 1011-1014
Kanyane M "Exploring Challenges of Municipal Service Delivery in South Africa (1994-2013)" 2014 Africa's Public Service Delivery & Performance Review 90-110
Kenosi L "Good Governance, Service Delivery and Records: The African Tragedy" 2011 Journal of the South African Society of Archivists 19-25
Klabbers J "The Undesirability of Soft Law" 1998 Nord J Int'l L 381-391
Koelble TA and LiPuma E "Institutional Obstacles to Service Delivery in South Africa" 2010 Social Dynamics 565-589
Koma SB "The State of Local Government in South Africa: Issues, Trends and Options" 2010 Journal of Public Administration 111-120
Langa JP "Transformative Constitutionalism" 2006 Stell LR 351-360
Liebenberg S "The Interpretation of Socio-Economic Rights" in Woolman S and Bishop M (eds) Constitutional Law of South Africa (Juta Cape Town 2006) ch 33
Makoti MZ and Odeku OK "Intervention into Municipal Affairs in South Africa and Its Impact on Municipal Basic Services" 2018 African Journal of Public Affairs 68-85
Mathenjwa M "Contemporary Trends in Provincial Government Supervision of Local Government in South Africa" 2014 LDD 178-201
Mcloughlin C "When Does Service Delivery Improve the Legitimacy of a Fragile or Conflict Affected State?" 2015 Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration and Institutions 341-356
Moeti T et al "Factors Affecting Access to Public Healthcare Facilities in the City of Tshwane, South Africa" 2023 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 1-13
Mogale TM "Developmental Local Government and Decentralised Service Delivery in the Democratic South Africa" in Mhone G and Edigheji O (eds) Governance in the New South Africa (UCT Press 2003 Lansdowne) 215-243
Mojalefa L and Koenane J "The Role and Significance of Traditional Leadership in the Governance of Modern Democratic South Africa" 2018 Africa Review 58-71
Mubangizi BC "Improving Public Service Delivery in the New South Africa: Some Reflections" 2005 Journal of Public Administration 633-648
Naidoo G "The Critical Need for Ethical Leadership to Curb Corruption and Promote Good Governance in the South African Public Sector" 2012 Journal of Public Administration 656-683
Nanda VP "The 'Good Governance' Concept Revisited" 2006 The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 269-283
National Planning Commission "Building a Capable and Developmental State" in Our Future: Make It Work. National Development Plan, 2030 (National Planning Commission Pretoria 2011) ch 13
Ndinga-Kanga M, Van der Merwe H and Hartford D "Forging a Resilient Social Contract in South Africa: States and Societies Sustaining Peace in the Post-Apartheid Era" 2020 Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 22-41
Ntsebeza L "Democratization and Traditional Authorities in the New South Africa" 1999 Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 83-94
Okeng EA Post-1996 Service Delivery in South Africa: Constitutional and Social Contract Perspectives (LLD-thesis University of the Western Cape 2022)
Palmer I, Moodley N and Parnell S Building a Capable State: Service Delivery in Post-Apartheid South Africa (Zed Books London 2017)
Pillay PS "Ethics, Public Trust, and Corruption: Reflections on South African Realities" 2017 Administratio Publica Journal 22-39
Pillay S "Corruption – the Challenge to Good Governance: A South African Perspective" 2004 International Journal of Public Sector Management 586-605
Rantete J and Giliomee H "Transition to Democracy through Transaction? Bilateral Negotiations between the ANC and NP in South Africa" 1992 African Affairs 515-542
Reddy PS "The Politics of Service Delivery in South Africa: The Local Government Sphere in Context" 2016 The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa 1-8
Rousseau J The Social Contract (JM Dent London 1913)
Rotberg RI "The New Nature of Nation‐State Failure" 2002 Washington Quarterly 83-96
Royce M. "Philosophical Perspectives on the Social Contract Theory: Hobbes, Kant and Buchanan Revisited: A Comparison of Historical Thought Surrounding the Philosophical Consequences of the Social Contract and Modern Public Choice Theory" 2010 Post Modern Openings 45-62
Ruiters G "The Moving Line between State Benevolence and Control: Municipal Indigent Programmes in South Africa" 2018 Journal of Asian and African Studies 169-186
Seidman A and Seidman RB State and Law in the Development Process: Problem Solving and Institutional Change in the Third World (St Martin's Press New York 1994)
Sen A Commodities and Capabilities (Oxford University Press Delhi 1999)
Sen A Development as Freedom (Oxford University Press Oxford 2001)
Sisk T Democratization in South Africa: The Elusive Social Contract (Princeton University Press Princeton 1997)
Sithole S and Mathonsi S "Local Governance Service Delivery Issues during Apartheid and Post-Apartheid South Africa" 2015 Africa's Public Service Delivery and Performance Review 5-30
Skyrms B Evolution of the Social Contract (Cambridge University Press Cambridge 2014)
Southall R "Polarization in South Africa: Toward Democratic Deepening or Democratic Decay?" 2019 The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 194-208
Taylor BB "Second Treatise of Social Contract: A Comparative Analysis of Locke and Rousseau" 2015 Black and Gold 1-7
Thornhill C "The Transformed Local Government System: Some Lessons" 2008 Journal of Public Administration 492-511
Waldron J "John Locke: Social Contract Versus Political Anthropology" 1989 The Review of Politics 3-28
Young KG "The Minimum Core of Economic and Social Rights: A Concept in Search of Content" 2008 Yale Journal of International Law 113-174
Yung C and Shapiro I "South Africa's Negotiated Transition: Democracy, Opposition and the New Constitutional Order" 1995 Politics and Society 269-308
Case law
Mnquma Local Municipality v Premier of the Eastern Cape (231/2009) [2009] ZAECBHC 14 (5 August 2009)
Mogalakwena Local Municipality v Provincial Executive Council, Limpopo 2014 4 All SA 67 (GP)
Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality v Chairperson, North West Provincial Executive Council 2015 1 BCLR 72 (CC)
Nokotyana v Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality 2010 4 BCLR 312 (CC)
Unemployed Peoples Movement v Premier for the Province of the Eastern Cape (553/2019) [2020] ZAECGHC 47 (21 May 2020)
Legislation
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996
Group Areas Act 41 of 1950
Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act 13 of 2005
Limburg Principles on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1986)
Local Government: Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998
Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000
Native Lands Act 27 of 1913
Population Registration Act 30 of 1950
Reservation of Separate Amenities Act 49 of 1953
Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act 41 of 2003
Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (1993)
International instruments
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)
United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No 3: The Nature of States Parties Obligations (Article 2 Para 1 of the Covenant) UN Doc 12/14/1990 (1990)
Internet sources
Afriforum 2021 South Africa's Worst and Best-Performing Municipalities https://afriforum.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Report-on-worst-and-best-performing-municipalities-ENG-GFdB.pdf accessed 24 June 2023
Auditor-General of South Africa 2022 State of Local Government: Audit Outcomes https://mfma-2022.agsareports.co.za/pages/audit-outcomes accessed 23 March 2024
Cloutier M 2021 Social Contracts in Sub-Saharan Africa: Concepts and Measurements. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 9788 https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/26a90318-dbe9-5752-9113-b243dc4eef18/content accessed 23 March 2024
Cloutier M et al 2021 Social Contracts for Development: Bargaining, Contention, and Social Inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36777 accessed 29 June 2023
De Visser J 2019 Multilevel Government, Municipalities and Food Security https://foodsecurity.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/CoE-FS-WP5-Multilevel-Government-Municipalities-and-Food-Security-17-Apr-19.pdf accessed 23 March 2024
Diala AC 2022 What the Zulu Kingship Judgment Tells Us about the Future of South African Customary Law https://theconversation.com/what-the-zulu-kingship-judgment-tells-us-about-the-future-of-south-african-customary-law-178786 accessed 29 June 2023
Grootes S 2022 The Nationwide Failure of South African Democracy https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-06-12-the-nationwide-failure-of-south-african-democracy/ accessed 11 October 2022
Hirsch A 2015 How Compromises and Mistakes Made in the Mandela Era Hobbled South Africa's Economy https://theconversation.com/how-compromises-and-mistakes-made-in-the-mandela-era-hobbled-south-africas-economy-52156 accessed 21 October 2022
Maphaka D 2023 The State of South Africa's Public Health Facilities https://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/opinion/the-state-of-south-africas-public-health-facilities-36a1f367-0ee2-4c79-b7da-c501ad82d4f0 accessed 24 June 2023
Moosa M and Hofmeyr J 2021 South Africans' Trust in Institutions and Representatives Reaches New Low. Afrobarometer Dispatch No 474 https://www.afrobarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ad474-south_africans_trust_in_institutions_reaches_new_low-afrobarometer-20aug21.pdf accessed 23 March 2024
Nkomo S 2017 Public Service Delivery in South Africa: Councillors and Citizens Critical Links in Overcoming Persistent Inequities. Afrobarometer Policy Paper No 42 https://www.afrobarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/
/02/ab_policypaperno42_local_service_delivery_in_southafrica.pdf accessed 23 March 2024
Oosthuizen M 2016 Why South Africa Can't Deliver on the Social Contract Set Out in Its Constitution https://theconversation.com/why-south-africa-cant-deliver-on-the-social-contract-set-out-in-its-constitution-69119 accessed 19 October 2022
Republic of South Africa 2013 Service Charter. Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council Resolution 1 of 2013 https://www.gov.za/documents/
other/public-service-charter-04-sep-2013 accessed 25 March 2024
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific 2006 What is Good Governance? http://www.unescap.org/huset/gg/governance.htm accessed 12 October 2022
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Adv. Dr Ebi A Okeng, Anthony Chima Diala
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
.png){kind=spacer}