An Analysis of the Governance Constraints and Opportunities in a Federally-Structured Democracy: Perspectives from South Africa

South Africa is recognised as one of the most unequal societies on earth. According to a 2010 World Bank Report, the Gini coefficient for South Africa in 2009 was 63.14. According to the National Development Plan for 2030, South Africa hopes to reduce the level of inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, from the current rate of 0.69 to 0.6 by 2030. South Africa is a constitutional democracy with executive powers vested in a President, a federally-structured, three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary. This decentralised system provides for governance structures at national, provincial and local levels, each with its own legislature and executive, but based on a system of interdependent, interrelated and co-operative government. The national, provincial and local levels of government have legislative and executive authority in their own spheres of influence. The ‘federating units’ are the provinces. Each province has its own provincial government, with legislative power vested in a provincial legislature and executive power vested in a provincial premier and exercised together with the other members of the provincial executive council. However, the powers of provinces are circumscribed by the South African Constitution which specifies their "functional areas" or competences in the spirit of "co-operative government". This article poses the question: Does this federally-structured system contribute to both democracy and equity by promoting political participation and the equitable distribution of resources? In other words, does the system promote democratic processes and support social (racial, ethnic) cohesion and economic prosperity and equity between the various spheres of government?