scholarly journals MAPPING THE EMERGENCE OF LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA SINCE THE DAWN OF DEMOCRACY

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail Denise Parker ◽  
King Costa

This paper is an explorative discourse on strategies used for local economic development since the dawn of a new democracy in South Africa. In doing so, the study reflected on international experience and current local economic development practices while at the same time focusing on variables that could be characterized as enablers or barriers to successful implementation in poor areas. It is a theoretical paper, hinged upon secondary analysis of publications in relation to local economic development between the period of 1994 and 2004 with a specific intent to understand the strength and weakness of the foundations upon which the current policies are based. The synthesis focused on concepts such as poverty alleviation initiatives linked to land-based local economic development in South Africa. The study concluded that while there are similarities in the emergence of LED across the global spectrum, less developed countries such as South Africa continue to face a myriad of challenges related to policy development, execution, monitoring and evaluation. It was further recommended that strategic intents for LED should be aligned to community aspirations to have a sustainable impact. It was further recommended that while donor agencies remain crucial, proper allocation and reporting mechanisms may help sustain relationships between LED practitioners and funders. Lastly, it was recommended that a strong and legitimized political will and leadership are vital in encouraging popular participation and sustained community based response.

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 18-30
Author(s):  
Dušan Aničić ◽  
Jasmina Gligorijević ◽  
Miloje Jelić ◽  
Milosav Stojanović

The practice in developed countries has shown a necessity for local government's stronger inclusion in local economic development issues. The economic system in Serbia has features of high unemployment rate and low living standard among the population, and therefore local government taking a larger part in local economic development issues is seen as a real possibility for reducing these problems. Although most of the economic policy instruments lie within the central government jurisdiction, which largely restricts local government possibilities, there is still an important area for local government influence on economic development. There are numerous obstacles for a successful application of the local economic development concept in Serbia, which causes the municipality and regional potentials to be used much less than the possibilities allow, and it has a negative reflection, especially in rural and undeveloped areas.


2018 ◽  
Vol 114 (5/6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daan Toerien

Statistically significant Pareto-like log-log rank-size distributions were recorded for population and enterprise agglomeration in the towns of three different regions of South Africa, and are indicative of skewed distributions of population and enterprise numbers in regional towns. There were no distinct differences between groups of towns of regions from different parts of the country. However, the regional agglomerations differed from those of groups of towns randomly selected from a database. Regions, therefore, appear to have some uniqueness regarding such agglomerations. The identification of Zipf-like links between population and enterprise growth in regional towns still does not fully explain why some towns grow large and others stay small and there is a need to further explore these issues. The extreme skewness in population and enterprise numbers of different towns’ distributions should, however, be considered in local economic development planning and execution.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. K. Pooe

Abstract The ascension of the African National Congress into formal politics through its electoral victory in 1994 resulted in South Africa adopting one of the world’s most heralded social justice and human rights-based documents, the 1996 Constitution. Yet, two-decades of ANC governance this paper argues has not led to the types of economic development needed to advance the formerly oppressed African majority, Colored and Indian populations. This lackluster economic development is even more troubling when one considers the giant economic development steps Asian developmental states have made, without a human rights and social justice approach. It is the contention of this paper that the newly presented General Theory of Law and Development allows for a new type of analysis exploring the reasons why South Africa’s economic development trajectory has been so lackluster, when so many authorities praise the South African legal framework. In making this argument using the General Theory South Africa’s local governments sphere and local economic development will be the subject of analysis.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document