The gap between public finance legislation and local economic development in South Africa

Journal of Local Government Research and Innovation

 
 
Field Value
 
Title The gap between public finance legislation and local economic development in South Africa
 
Creator Khomo, Sandile M. Farisani, Tshililo R. Mashau, Pfano
 
Subject Local Government; Governance; Public Administration; Management municipalities in developing countries; local economic development; local structures; public finance legislation; sustainable livelihoods framework; institutional theory
Description Background: Local structures or institutions are widely regarded as crucial agents in the redistribution of financial resources that are key to local economic development (LED) in municipalities within developing countries. Despite this, the gap between public finance legislation (which needs local structures for its implementation) and LED persist in developing countries.Aim: The article aims to understand how municipalities from developing countries may narrow the gap between public finance legislation and LED. This article focusses on the Ulundi Local Municipality in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (a developing country with a constitutional democracy) to extract relevant lessons for developing countries.Methods: Following a qualitative research method, primary data in this study were collected through semi-structured interviews and secondary data through relevant reports and literature.Results: The findings reveal that a combination of dereliction of duty, local structures’ lack of capacity and political will is responsible for the gap between public finance legislation and LED in Ulundi Local Municipality.Conclusion: It is concluded that the gap between public finance and LED renders public finance legislation ineffective towards LED in the developing countries’ municipalities.Contribution: The suggestions on the process to narrow the gap identified are drawn from Ulundi Local Municipality stakeholders with the guide from both the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) and the Institutional Theory.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor University of Kwazulu Natal, Durban University of Technology, Central University of Technology
Date 2025-04-25
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Interviews
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/jolgri.v6i0.243
 
Source Journal of Local Government Research and Innovation; Vol 6 (2025); 9 pages 2788-919X 2709-7412
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://jolgri.org/index.php/jolgri/article/view/243/587 https://jolgri.org/index.php/jolgri/article/view/243/588 https://jolgri.org/index.php/jolgri/article/view/243/589 https://jolgri.org/index.php/jolgri/article/view/243/590
 
Coverage sub-Saharan Africa Economic and social order post Covid 19 Youth; elders; Black; 18-65
Rights Copyright (c) 2025 Sandile M. Khomo, Tshililo R. Farisani, Pfano Mashau https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT