The History of Devolution of Powers to Local Authorities in South Africa: The Shifting Sands of State Control

South Africa has traditionally had a highly centralised local government system. A major reason for such a centralised system has been the need to implement apartheid at local government level. In the 1980s the National Party (NP) government abandoned some traditional apartheid tenets and introduced certain limited reforms. Some of these reforms involved local government policy changes and the introduction of new structures. Black Local Authorities (BLAs) and Regional Services Councils (RSCs) were introduced. One of the major principles underpinning the local government reform was maximum devolution of power and decentralisation of administration at local level and of minimum administrative control over local authorities in the 1980s. This paper will, firstly, briefly trace the history of local authorities prior to the 1980s, an era associated with centralisation of local authorities' powers and functions. Secondly, it will examine the devolution of policy in the 1980s, looking at why the NP promoted this policy, what its major features were and how successful the policy has been