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The Mosaic of Local Governments in Post Apartheid South Africa: Municipal Asymmetries and Spatial Inequality

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Inequality and Governance in the Metropolis

Part of the book series: Comparative Territorial Politics ((COMPTPOL))

Abstract

Do Vale and Cameron offer an account of the sweeping process of decentralization in post-apartheid South Africa. The chapter identifies the main characteristics of local asymmetries in South Africa that emerged out of decentralization and explores the institutional dynamics behind these asymmetries. The findings show that the post-apartheid decentralization framework has financially and institutionally enabled mainly the metropolitan municipalities, creating space inequality within the local system of government in South Africa. The chapter also demonstrates through a case study of housing policies in Cape Town and Johannesburg that services vary across metros of different provinces with similar fiscal and administrative capabilities. The chapter concludes that there are several institutional factors behind the creation of an asymmetric regime of place equality in South Africa.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of International and Area Studies, Hankuk University, Seoul, South Korea

    Helder Ferreira do Vale

  2. Department of Political Studies, Univeristy of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Robert Cameron

Authors
  1. Helder Ferreira do Vale
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  2. Robert Cameron
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA

    Jefferey M. Sellers

  2. University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Marta Arretche

  3. University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Daniel Kübler

  4. The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

    Eran Razin

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© 2017 The Author(s)

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Cite this chapter

do Vale, H.F., Cameron, R. (2017). The Mosaic of Local Governments in Post Apartheid South Africa: Municipal Asymmetries and Spatial Inequality. In: Sellers, J., Arretche, M., Kübler, D., Razin, E. (eds) Inequality and Governance in the Metropolis. Comparative Territorial Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57378-0_8

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