Local government as the stage for resistance: Strategies and tactics of opposing mega projects in Gauteng

Democracy is associated with particular kinds of spatialities. In this paper I address two aspects of the spatiality of democracy through an assessment of transitional arrangements for local government in South African cities. Political identities, as well as spatial arrangements, involved in democratic politics are associated with instability, uncertainty, and ongoing contestation. In democracies, the contestation both of identities and of spaces is institutionalised and this implies the generalisation of particular spatialities. Drawing on a spatially informed interpretation of the work of Ernest Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, I argue that the transitional phase in the emergence of democracy in South Africa has involved the growth of a democratic culture—even in situations where substantial compromises have been made to keep recalcitrant white interests on board. I question the assertion of a nonracial politics which seeks to erase the possibility of ethnically based political identities and argue that the failure of the left to hegemonise their perspective of a nonracial political project and a nonracial postapartheid city may have ironically assisted in extending the possibilities for democracy. A key conclusion is that democracies are associated with different spatialities which facilitate contestation and representation. A politics of space, given the radical undecidability of spatial boundaries, is supportive of the extension of democracy.

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Sustainable Energy Transitions in Sub-Saharan African Cities: The Role of Local Government

Urban Energy Transition ◽

10.1016/b978-0-08-102074-6.00042-5 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 529-551 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Simon Bawakyillenuo ◽

Mark Olweny ◽

Megan Anderson ◽

Mark Borchers

Keyword(s):

Local Government ◽

Sustainable Energy ◽

African Cities ◽

Energy Transitions ◽

Sub Saharan

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Land-based financing in sub-Saharan African cities

Environment and Urbanization ◽

10.1177/0956247817753525 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 35-52 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Stephen Berrisford ◽

Liza Rose Cirolia ◽

Ian Palmer

Keyword(s):

Local Government ◽

Addis Ababa ◽

African City ◽

City Governments ◽

Rapid Urbanization ◽

African Cities ◽

Actual Application ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Progressive Agenda ◽

High Level

Decentralization reforms and rapid urbanization place increasing pressure on African urban authorities. In response, land-based finance has been gaining popularity within development discourses as a method of increasing local autonomy and financing local government infrastructure provision. This paper discusses the conceptual basis for land-based finance, the instruments that form part of this approach, and the actual application in several African cities. Drawing on three case studies (Addis Ababa, Harare and Nairobi) and a high-level scan of 29 developments in various African cities, we show how land-based finance is being implemented in practice and discuss the potential for wider uptake. We conclude that African city governments are using land-based financing, albeit in inconsistent ways. We argue that urban authorities should consider the more extensive and progressive use of land-based financing instruments, despite the constraints imposed by both technical and political conditions. A progressive agenda for local government finance in African cities should take land-based finance seriously, as well as the local practices and institutional arrangements through which it operates.

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Going somewhere slowly? An assessment of the pace of local government HIV/AIDs multisectoral responses in African cities

Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance ◽

10.5130/cjlg.v0i0.4068 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 160-172

Author(s):

Francis Kintu

Keyword(s):

Local Government ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Local Governments ◽

Hiv Prevalence ◽

Complex Nature ◽

African Cities ◽

Aids Epidemic ◽

Risk Environments ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Hiv Aids

Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries have the highest rates of HIV prevalence in the world accounting for an estimated 71% of all new infections (UNAIDS 2010). HIV prevalence is greatest in urban informal areas, caused largely by the proliferation of a variety of risk environments that facilitate the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS. As a strategic response to the complex nature of the HIV/AIDs epidemic in urban areas, decentralised multisectoral HIV/AIDs responses at the local government level have been adopted. These are seen as a sustainable way of dealing with the spread of HIV/AIDs in a number of African cities, in line with internationally accepted recommendations. Now that a number of local governments in African cities have adopted HIV/AIDS multisectoral responses, the question can be asked to what degree is this is this response being implemented in these countries, and what challenges are faced by cities as they adopt this approach? This article reviews HIV/AIDS multisectoral responses in African cities, and discusses the challenges that face urban local governments as they implement these responses.

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Comparing local fiscal autonomy in the water and sanitation sectors of Johannesburg and Nairobi

Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance ◽

10.5130/cjlg.v0i13/14.3729 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 141-156

Author(s):

Angelita Kithatu-Kiwekete

Keyword(s):

Local Government ◽

Municipal Services ◽

Recent Past ◽

African Cities ◽

Local Revenue ◽

Fiscal Autonomy ◽

Local Expenditure ◽

Close Proximity ◽

Fiscal Decentralisation ◽

Government Reforms

The rationale for local fiscal autonomy suggests that local expenditure and local revenue generation should remain in close proximity. This is achieved through fiscal decentralisation to local government, to ensure efficient provision of local services that align with local needs, and to improve accountability to residents. Fiscal decentralisation has found resonance in developing countries through local government reforms, but in Africa fiscal decentralisation has been focussed mainly on revenue sharing, except in a few cases where some local fiscal autonomy has been achieved. Urbanisation in Africa is likely to continue (UN-Habitat, 2008), necessitating an increase in municipal service delivery which African cities must finance − hence the need for local fiscal autonomy. Local fiscal autonomy is arguably contentious for African cities, partly because provision of municipal services must be tempered with considerations of equity and redistribution to the poorer urban populations, and because inadequate welfare nets from national government do not subsidise the gap in municipal revenue. In the recent past, Kenya and South Africa adopted local government reforms in different forms that has yielded different forms of local fiscal autonomy. The paper conducts a comparative of local fiscal autonomy in municipal services provision in Nairobi and Johannesburg.

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