The Efficacy of Policy and Legal Framework for Cooperative Governance and Local Economic Development (LED) in Small Towns in a Selected Region in South Africa

Richard Douglas  Kamara; Babette  Rabie

The Efficacy of Policy and Legal Framework for Cooperative Governance and Local Economic Development (LED) in Small Towns in a Selected Region in South Africa

Publication date: 2021

Public Management, 2021, Issue 1 (53), pp. 7 - 26

https://doi.org/10.4467/20843968ZP.21.001.14134

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The Efficacy of Policy and Legal Framework for Cooperative Governance and Local Economic Development (LED) in Small Towns in a Selected Region in South Africa

Abstract

The paper reports on a study investigating the efficacy of policy and legal framework for cooperative governance and LED to facilitate and coordinate responses to socio-economic concerns in the selected small towns in South Africa. The policy and legal framework place the onus for development on the local municipalities and urge the municipalities to partner with other stakeholders such as the business and the civil society to manage and respond to socio-economic concerns within the municipalities. The purpose of this paper is to review the ‘efficacy of the policy and legal framework’ to facilitate ‘cooperative governance’ and ‘LED’, specifically in six municipalities in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Data were collected from government officials, private and civil sector through three data collection instruments, namely, document review, interviews and focus group discussions. The key findings from the study are mixed. The policy design and implementation were established problematic in multifarious ways. However, the findings also provide a glimpse of hopes in matters of public accountability by providing policy guidelines aimed at promoting accountability amongst government role-players. Given the backdrop, some recommendations are provided in this paper. This paper provides feedbacks for policy makers and implementers on the performance of policy and legal framework that informs the cooperative governance of local economies, specifically in small towns, to establish as to what is effective to replicate in form of good practice and what is under-performing for possible review. This assist in improving the understanding of the context that may inhibit or enable stakeholders in taking full advantage of collaborative-led developmental interventions to further peoples’ lives and to enhance their opportunities to partake in matters of development in their municipalities.

JEL: D04, H83, I31

Keywords

Cooperative governance, LED, Policy, legal framework, collaboration, socio-economic

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Information

Information: Public Management, 2021, Issue 1 (53), pp. 7 - 26

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4467/20843968ZP.21.001.14134

Article type: Original article

Titles:

Polish:

The Efficacy of Policy and Legal Framework for Cooperative Governance and Local Economic Development (LED) in Small Towns in a Selected Region in South Africa

English:

The Efficacy of Policy and Legal Framework for Cooperative Governance and Local Economic Development (LED) in Small Towns in a Selected Region in South Africa

Authors

Richard Douglas Kamara

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1153-9215

Stellenbosch University

Babette Rabie

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0463-8645

Stellenbosch University

Published at: 2021

Article status: Open

Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Percentage share of authors:

Richard Douglas Kamara (Author) - 50%

Babette Rabie (Author) - 50%

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English

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