Abstract

This article aims to show the need for a clearer wall between political parties and state institutions in South Africa. The focus is on local government level where, it is argued, the absence of a dividing line between legislative and executive functions exacerbates the anti-democratic effects of a party/state conflation. The usurpation of local governance functions by unaccountable party-political structures is argued to frustrate urban autonomy and thereby to undermine the federal elements of the constitutional system of cooperative governance, not least through re-centralising local authority in national or regional structures. This undermines participatory and developmental local governance and complicates the achievement of objectives such as the Sustainable Development Goals.

摘要

本文旨在表明，南非政党与国家机构之间必须建立更清晰的隔离墙。争论的焦点是地方政府，在立法和行政职能之间没有界限，这加剧了政党/国家联合的反民主作用。有人认为，不负责任的政党政治结构篡夺地方治理职能将挫败城市自治，从而破坏合作社治宪法体系的联邦要素，尤其是通过将地方权力重新集中到国家或地区结构中来。这破坏了参与性和发展性的地方治理，并使诸如可持续发展目标之类的目标的实现复杂化。