First draft: 25 June 2010
Not for public distribution
Achieving low carbon city governance (… in Durban)
Glen Robbins
robbinsg@ukzn.ac.za
Paper prepared for Academy of Science of South Africa.
Contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................3
2. Governance concepts ..............................................................................................................3
3. Governance in Durban ............................................................................................................9
4. Foundations for a low carbon governance framework for Durban.......................................16
5. Concluding comments ..........................................................................................................17
References ................................................................................................................................19
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Acronyms
ABM
ANC
APA
Area Based Management
African National Congress
Air Pollution Act
GHG
ICLEI
KZN
Green House Gasses
International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives
KwaZulu-Natal (Province)
NEMA
National Environmental Management Act
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1. Introduction
It is widely accepted that urban regions the world over, home to over half of the world’s
population, are key sites for action in generating proactive and sustained responses to climate
change challenges facing the globe. City administrations and their accompanying political
structures, varied as they might be, have in the past decade begun to take steps to identify and
test some of their possible roles in confronting environmental challenges and contributing to
new solutions. At times these responses have been the product of enlightened leadership or as
a result of the influence of technocrats within the local or other spheres of government. In
other cases these responses might have been the product of hard-fought community struggles
or even perhaps encouraged through evolving corporate agendas. In many, if not most, cases
it is likely that any one set of responses has emerged through multiple layers of influence, at
times contradictory and at times reinforcing.
The importance of cities and the scale of the challenges facing them, particularly in the
developing world, is not just a product of rapid urbanisation but also their growing role as
centres of formal and informal economic production. These cities are more often than not a
heady mix of complex and uneven sprawled settlement patterns, with household consumption
and economic production dynamics that are increasingly energy intensive – if not in unit
terms then certainly in absolute terms – as agglomeration effects take hold. These processes
are occurring side-by-side with evolving forms of government and processes of governance.
For different city actors to seek to craft a future with a lower dependence on carbon dioxide
generating consumption – in absolute terms as well as in unit terms – will inevitably require
new webs of institutions but also new ways in which citizens and institutions interact.
This paper seeks to understand the nature of the governance challenges that emerge from the
social, ecological and economic imbalances that characterise cities such as Durban should
there be a desire to build towards a lower (or low) carbon future. The paper does not seek to
present any detailed case for lowering carbon emissions of cities as this is dealt with
extensively elsewhere in the Academy of Science of South Africa process. The paper begins
with a discussion of the concept of governance with a particular engagement with processes at
the local government sphere. This is followed by an exploration of the city governance
imperatives that might arise in the context of the climate change agendas. Some reference is
then made to the experiences of other cities in this field. Finally the paper attends to the issue
of what imperatives might exist in terms of low carbon governance in Durban.
2. Governance concepts
The term governance has been in use alongside the concept of government since the days of
Plato. However, it has risen to prominence in the last few decades as supra-national bodies
and national governments have sought to define the processes of the functioning of
institutions and organisations as being as important, if not more important, than the form of
the structures. In the contemporary context the term is used most often with subjective
qualifiers such as in good governance and bad governance. There are numerous definitions
of governance and even more frameworks defining what might constitute good or bad
governance. This section will explore some of these with a specific interest in its applications
in the urban sphere.
Before outlining some of the definitions it is worth pointing out that the manner in which the
definitions are crafted or subsequently used is informed by different perspectives of the
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individuals or institutions. Some definitions are crafted in a manner which puts the state at
the centre of social processes whilst other definitions seek to frame a definition which sees the
state as one of a number of influential players that influence society. Nevertheless, there are
common themes as can be seen from some of the definitions that follow.
One of the most widely cited definitions is that of the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP). The UNDP describes governance as, “the system of values, polices and
institutions by which a society manages its economic, political and social affairs through
interactions within and among the state, civil society and private sector. It is the way a society
organizes itself to make and implement decisions – achieving mutual understanding,
agreements and action …Governance, including its social, political and economic dimensions,
operates at every level of human enterprize, be it the household, village, municipality, nation,
region or globe.” (UNDP, 2004 as cited in Fakier et al, 2005:4)
In subsequent evolutions the UNDP has also been associated with the following definition:
“Governance comprises the complex mechanisms, processes, and institutions through which
citizens and groups articulate their interests, mediate their differences, and exercise their legal
rights and obligations.” (UNDP Internet Conference Forum on "Public Private Interface in
Urban Environmental Management" accessed from http://www.gdrc.org/u-gov/ugovdefine.html on 29 April 2010).
The World Bank defines governance as, “… the traditions and institutions by which authority
in a country is exercised for the common good. This includes (i) the process by which those in
authority are selected, monitored and replaced, (ii) the capacity of the government to
effectively manage its resources and implement sound policies, and (iii) the respect of citizens
and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions amongst them.”
(http://go.worldbank.org/MKOGR258V0 accessed on 9 June 2010) It is notable that in this
definition there is a framing of the concept in a manner where there is a close association
between the term governance and some sense of normative desired state ideas about how
society and its institutions as well as individuals should function. It is also noted that the
World Bank organize their governance related support work together with programmes
against corruption where governance programmes are seen as strengthening the fight against
corruption which would be a prime example of poor or bad governance.
More often than not those describing governance move on to define forms or processes within
governance which they believe might be good or bad for society as a whole or one or other
group in society. For example, drawing on the UNDP again there is a loading of values
behind the concept of what they define as good governance: “Good governance is among
other things participatory, transparent and accountable. It is also effective and equitable and it
promotes the rule of law. Good governance assures that political, social and economic
priorities are based on broad consensus in society and that the voices of the poorest and the
most vulnerable are heard in decision-making over the allocation of development resources.”
(UNDP Internet Conference Forum on "Public Private Interface in Urban Environmental
Management" accessed from http://www.gdrc.org/u-gov/ugov-define.html on 29 April 2010)
As Cloete (2005) outlines, “Styles of governance are frequently judged as good or bad. Hyden
& Braton suggests that four criteria can be used to assess the style of governance in a society:
the degree of trust in government, the degree of responsiveness in the relationship between
government and civil society, the government’s degree of accountability to its voters and the
nature of the authority that the government exercises over its society (1993:7). Against this
background, good governance is conceptualised here as the achievement by a democratic
government of the most appropriate developmental policy objectives to sustainably develop
its society (Cloete 2000). This is done by mobilising, applying and coordinating all available
resources in the public, private and voluntary sectors, domestically and internationally, in the
most effective, efficient and democratic way. This working definition contains both normative
and utilitarian elements (Cloete 2003).” (Cloete, 2005: 1)
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More often than not bad governance is framed as shortcomings or failings of one or other
aspect of good governance. Hence if something is the antithesis of promoting the rule of law
it is seen as bad governance or as a governance failure of one sort or another. Bad
governance is seen as contributing to poor societal outcomes in development processes where
the interests of society as a whole, and in particular the most vulnerable are not
accommodated or prioritized. There is some controversy about value-laded judgments made
in relation governance experiences of different societies. It is important to recognize that
experiences vary significantly across country boundaries and even within countries as do the
values which might underpin any one notion of what constitutes good governance and the best
modes to realise the goals behind this. Thus the Chinese government might view much of the
arrangements in place in their society which have delivered very significant poverty reduction
gains as having key elements of what could be considered good governance whilst their critics
might see aspects of bad governance where citizen voices might be suppressed. Equally
questions could be asked of the massive corporate interest funding in political systems in the
United States of America as having within it elements of bad governance, whilst others would
claim the United States as having the ideal set of governance arrangements.
It is notable that in the last two decades in particular discussions about governance have
percolated into many different societal spaces. It is not unusual to hear talk of corporate
governance codes and of the term being used to describe interactions within many non-state
organisations from sports clubs to neighbourhood associations. Here too the discussions often
centre on what constitutes good or bad governance within these particular contexts.
Discussions about governance can therefore often have a focus on the relationships between
the state and society, but should also take account of multiple forms of interaction within
society beyond the state-society axis.
Governance and the urban sphere
How then does the governance debate play into the urban sphere? A key dynamic that has
generated much discussion about governance in urban systems has been the process of
decentralization which has taken root in much of the world in the past few decades. This is
seen by many commentators as a move to improve governance by giving citizens a greater
role in influencing their affairs through access to local democratic instruments and a local
state with some capacity. These moves have stimulated much in the way of debates about
governance at the local level. Urban governance has also achieved prominence as the growth
or urban settlement has become increasingly the dominant form of settlement the world over.
As a recent OECD publication points out, “Urbanisation is a worldwide phenomenon and is
expected to continue for decades to come (OECD, 2006; OECD, 2008; United Nations,
2008). According to the United Nations, roughly half of the world’s population lives in urban
areas, and this share is increasing over time, projected to reach 60% by 2030. … most of the
urban population growth up to 2030 will occur in developing countries.” (Corfee-Morlot et al,
2009:14)
Urban governance has thus become a matter of growing concern as it is widely understood
that the bulk of the world’s poor would have the best prospects of their development potential
being enhanced in urban areas and many of these very areas are also the ones where economic
growth will take root (Satterthwaite, 2007a). However, it is also understood that many of
these developing country urban regions are associated with many challenges in terms of
backlogs of services, high levels of poverty and of course governance failures of one sort or
another that see sub-optimal decisions being made, sometime at the local level, but also in
other spheres of government. Satterthwaite points out that, “Most of the costs associated with
rapid urban growth are not caused by the growth itself but rather by the inability of national
and local institutions to adapt to the new challenges that this growth presents.” (Satterthwaite,
2007a:viii)
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Discussions about urban governance give some considerable weight to understanding the
relationships between the local sphere of government and other spheres in the context of
debates about decentralization and its relationship to various governance outcomes. CorfeeMorlot (2009) propose a multi-level governance assessment framework as, “a starting point
for understanding how central governments and other public and private actors interface to
design and implement policies from international to national and local levels of action.”
(Corfee-Morlott et al, 2009: 25) This framework suggests there is a need to focus on both
vertical and horizontal dimensions of governance at the urban level and how these might
interact with one another. The vertical aspects focus on interactions between spheres of
government or hierarchies. The horizontal aspects look more to the connections between
different groups, organisations and the like at the different levels. Governance outcomes are
thus influenced by both the horizontal and vertical dimensions and the degree of influence or
character varies under different conditions and in different places with different histories.
Alber and Kern provide a useful framework in which to look at the local state and governance
(Alber & Kern, 2008). It is around these roles of local government that they suggest
governance performance of local government could be examined. The four roles are
described as follows, “First, self-governing can be defined as the capacity of local
government to govern its own activities, such as the improvement of energy efficiency in
governmental offices and other municipality-owned buildings. Self-governing relies on
reorganization, institutional innovation and strategic investments. Second, governing through
enabling refers to the role of local government in coordinating and facilitating partnerships
with private actors and encouraging community engagement. Tools such as persuasion and
(positive) incentives are most important for this mode of governing. Third, governing by
provision means that practice is shaped through the delivery of particular forms of services
and resources. This is accomplished through infrastructure and financial means. Fourth,
governing by authority can be characterized as the use of traditional forms of authority such
as regulation and the use of sanctions.” (Alber & Kern, 2008: 5) These categories will be
examined later with specific reference to matters of environment in urban spheres as they are
described by the authors.
Satterthwaite (2007a) points out that many developing country cities are only early on in the
processes of creating governance foundations appropriate to enabling them to face up to their
development imperatives. Creating appropriate legal frameworks for land, generating landuse planning systems and designing and delivering an infrastructure network are just some of
the elements that Satterthwaite states are important in enabling local governments to build
more effective governance foundations. The emphasis by some on the political and
government structure dimensions can be rendered largely meaningless without these other
dimensions been given the necessary attention. The author suggests that, “the quality of a city
depends more on the quality of its governance than on its size.” (Satterthwaite, 2007a: 65)
Satterthwaite (2007a), takes this case further to argue that in general terms, “Effective local
governance is more important in the lives of most people than good national or global
governance (although achieving effective government institutions in each locality often
requires changes in government at provincial/state, national and global levels). In addition,
how are national governments and international agencies going to meet their “global”
responsibilities without effective local government institutions as partners? For instance, it is
difficult to see how biodiversity can be protected, malaria, AIDS and most other diseases
reduced, and greenhouse-gas emissions kept down without effective and representative local
governments. Most global environmental problems will be resolved only through the
aggregate impact of actions undertaken by local governments – yet local governments are
hardly ever given much consideration in global conferences and global action plans.”
(Satterthwaite, 2007a: 72)
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Understanding urban governance challenges in the light of new/emerging environmental
agendas
(how priorities are set, with what timeframes and with what process and power distribution
implications etc)
The past two decades has seen a steady rise in attention given to environmental concerns at a
local government level and in cities. This has been significantly influenced by a range of
factors such as:
 Growing consensus between public policy influencers and the scientific community
about the need to confront development or under-development related impacts on
biodiversity, on people and on the prospects of a sustainable future;
 Increased activism in civil society and greater individual consciousness relating to
environmental issues; and
 Perceptions about the rising threat of risks related to climate-change interactions with
a compromised natural system such as the case of changing rainfall patterns
interacting with inappropriate development patterns raising risks of floods.
This raised awareness and the action taken by various groups have combined to stimulate a
great variety of responses. In many cases this has involved a greater level of public reflection
– including at times in political processes – on the challenges faced by the environment. This
has at times been translated into policies and strategies as well as into the creation of state
capacity to attend to environmental challenges and the implementation of policies. This has
also been matched by a growing civil society presence in public discourses and action around
the environment. It is however notable that in many instances much of the key authority
remains with the national state: “In most countries no direct link exists between national
GHG-reduction goals, derived from national climate protection programmes and international
agreements (UN, EU), on the one hand, and the implementation of these goals at regional and
local level, on the other. Since mandatory provisions in the national legislation which is
relevant for local climate policy is rather limited, or fully lacking, in most countries, local
climate action remains a voluntary task for local authorities. (Alber & Kern, 2008: 16)
Alber and Kern (2008) provide a review along with that by Satterthwaite (2007a) of the types
of actions that local governments have taken around the environment. These include strategic
and planning initiatives aimed at trying to guide actions of the state and other social actors,
the commissioning or extensive scientific and policy research, the amending of institutional
structures and legislation and the roll-out of programmes aimed at responding to one or other
challenge. There has also been considerable attention paid to reforming the focus of existing
local government units or departments to make them more aligned with environmental goals.
With specific reference to climate change challenges, Alber and Kern (2008) used the four
modes of governing, introduced previously, to explore the kinds of climate change
governance responses that local government could consider under the different modes. It
should be recognised here that these modes are not necessarily mutually exclusive and
according to the authors it is relatively common for them to be present in their entirety in
local governments. The table below summarises some of the examples cited by the authors.
Table 1.
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(Source: Alber & Kern, 2008: 6)
The authors go one to explain that specific Green House Gas (GHG) emissions targeting
began to take root after agreements around the Kyoto protocols. The initial focus of these
responses was on mitigation measures. Some of the responses included the building of
emission inventories, followed by carbon disclosure projects – with municipalities sometimes
taking a lead in disclosing municipal-generated carbon disclosures. ICLEIs Carbon
Disclosure Project through use of city-city networks would be an example of these types of
initiatives and how increasingly networked interaction between role-players around the globe
is enhancing prospects for improved governance.
Carbon disclosures were followed by GHG reduction targeting with specific targets being set
around key emissions categories to inform decision making and stimulate responsible action
by those responsible for emissions. Alber and Kern (2008) suggest that by and large targeting
has not been too successful with problems being faced in terms of institutional coordination
where many large emission impact decisions get taken outside influence of environmental
units in local government, or even outside local government itself. This highlights the points
made previously in the discussion on governance in the urban sphere where multi-level
coordination becomes an imperative.
Alber and Kern (2008) report that more recently there has been a shift to actions related to
adaption to likely climate changes as the risks from climate change are already impacting on
cities. This has tended to reinforce a more central role for relevant departments in
municipalities (also reported by Roberts, 2008). There exists a very strong imperative for
local government to take a lead in local adaptive responses as the impact of climate change
across space is likely to be highly variable. However, the requirement of a very strong
technical foundation for the development of adaption strategies has meant that many are very
much at their preliminary stage. The authors outline how, “Cities in high-income countries
are considered as enjoying a relatively high adaptive capacity (Satterthwaite et al. 2007). Thus
it may be assumed that they will be able to improve resilience and manage adaptation once a
certain degree of awareness has been developed and guidance has become available. In
contrast, the lack of adaptive capacity in middle-income and low-income countries calls for
extensive support, both in terms of capacity building and investments in infrastructure and
services.” (Alber & Kern, 2008: 16)
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Alber and Kern (2008) suggest that an imperative exists for modes of governance around
GHG to be exercised both in horizontal terms (across departments within municipalities or
between municipalities) and in vertical terms (between municipalities and communities or
between municipalities and national or international spheres of decision and policy making. In
horizontal collaboration terms much potential exists for adjacent (and sometimes more distant
municipalities) to share their knowledge and experiences of self-governing actions around
GHG. There is also scope to work to plan joint provision in fields such as energy or
transportation as there are opportunities for collaborative forms of regulation. Alber and Kern
go on to propose a number of fields where collaboration around GHG can be introduced on
the vertical access through, for example capacity building, changes in grant systems and the
like.
Local government in general and cities in particular tend to face a full range of challenges in
evolving governance systems responsive to environmental challenges. These can include a
lack of consensus around the nature of challenges and the nature of appropriate responses,
power struggles over trade-offs that might need to be made and the related allocations of
resources required and also the complexity of planning and acting around inter-generational
processes where costs of inaction might be borne by future generations. Some of these
challenges, as well as the opportunities are described in the case of Durban.
3. Governance in Durban
Before looking more closely at governance challenges in Durban related to possible low
carbon city commitments it is worth giving some attention to matters of governance more
generally in the city. Prevailing governance conditions and approaches will impact on the
possibilities that exist for embracing forms of governance the have potential to contribute
towards a future city where green house gas emissions and carbon generating forms of
development are managed in a manner that they do not continue to stress environmental
conditions in the city.
In any discussion on governance in Durban it is imperative that some history is sketched as
both the form and content of government and much of its processes is examined in the light of
this history. The same could be said for many civil society interactions and at a
neighbourhood scale as the city has changed over time. South African cities come from a
history where government was organized to benefit a majority and governance processes were
highly influenced by and authoritarian state culture. Whilst the apartheid state did take
significant steps to preserve wilderness areas, it tended more often than not to favour
economic growth prospects over other concerns, both social and environmental. Both city
form and city services delivery patterns were highly unequal leaving the majority of poor
black urban residents on the periphery of cities with little in the way of effective services.
Formal governance structures did little to take account of these conditions and there were
active attempts to suppress the voice of black urban residents. Not existent democratic
processes at the level of the local state tended to see these residents often having to bear the
brunt of pollution industries (with South Durban being a case in point) with little or no access
to appropriate measures to manage these circumstances.
Since the early 1990s, with the process of democratic reform in the country, there has been
considerable attention given, initially to the reorganisation of government at the local level
and the creation of democratised electoral processes but in subsequent years to a range of
governance related reforms aimed at enhancing the accountability of local government and in
giving citizens greater voice. In legislative terms the importance of the Local Government
Structures Act (Republic of South Africa, 1998) and Local Government Systems Act
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(Republic of South Africa, 2000) of the late 1990s standout as critical elements in help
crafting both the government reforms and governance processes that have followed. It is
notable in South Africa that the Constitution gives formal recognition to local government as
a sphere of government (it is not merely an administrative creation as it is in many other
countries). The Constitution has also been central to the processes of trying to craft new
governance arrangements. Chapter 7 of the 1996 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa
(Republic of South Africa, 1996). Apart form the significant scope of the rights and duties
accorded specifically to local government in the Constitution there are also rights accorded to
the citizenry, in a Bill of Rights, which create an important bedrock for governance at the
local sphere. In fact there has been widespread use of the Constitution by communities in
their struggles to have rights respected where local government has acted in ways that do not
align with key constitutional provisions or interpretations. However, this strength of the
constitution – in that it seeks to protect the rights of individuals or groups – has also been
raised as a concern when it comes to some aspects of governance in that the benchmark often
used in determining whether or not any one party should take a particular action is if it affects
the rights of any one or other party. Many critics hold the view that primary protection for the
environment is weakened – for example where a river can be polluted as long as it does not
affect the health of communities in a direct manner or reduce access to rights of access to
clean drinking water.
A key element of local government changes in South Africa since 1994 has been the
introduction of metropolitan scale government in the major cities. This was driven by a
number of imperatives. Probably the most significant of these was to create opportunities for
redistributive action by the local state across space from a single city tax base. This was
aimed at avoiding a situation where local state revenue might be generated from commercial
or higher income areas could not be re-allocated to neighbourhoods without any significant
local tax base. It also forced a much greater degree of coordination between fragmented local
government units that had been operating in the past. A further motivation was to secure a
greater degree of integration with peri-urban and surrounding rural areas by drawing them
into city administration.
Along with these local government reforms have come a reformed political process too with
new electoral processes and municipal structures. The eThekwini Municipality today has one
hundred electoral wards with one hundred elected ward councilors. This is matched by 100
proportional representation councilors nominated by parties in proportion to their share of the
electoral vote. Under the Local Government Structures Act (Republic of South Africa, 1998)
the Council has opted for an Executive Committee decision making system as opposed to
having an Executive Mayor as the bulk of the other cities have chosen. This was due in a
large part to the fact that an outright majority eluded the dominant party, the African National
Congress, in past local government elections. In forming a coalition with a smaller party it
chose the Executive Committee system to be able to offer some access to decision making
structures for smaller parties as well as the opposition as the Executive Committee system is
based on a proportional allocation of seats. In both the Executive Mayor and the Executive
Committee system the full elected council is the ultimate decision making body and all
councilors are represented on this and on an array of council committees with specific
responsibility for fields of mandated local government decision making.
In the exercise of its governance responsibilities it is probably the Local Government Systems
Act (Republic of South Africa, 2000) and the Municipal Finance Management Act (Republic
of South Africa, 2003) that have the greatest impact on how citizens and various stakeholders
experience interaction with local government in its more formal mechanisms. Both the acts
mentioned above require local government to act in a participatory manner by engaging the
citizenry in planning, budgeting and policy making processes. The Local Government
Systems Act (2000) sets out the process of generating municipal Integrated Development
Plans (IDPs) as the central tool for municipal planning and action. These are to be
10
supplemented by medium term (three year) and annual budgets to align expenditure to
specific municipal goals and targets. In the legislation the IDPs are seen as an element to
enhance democracy and not just an administrative exercise.
The eThekwini Municipality has consistently produced IDPs as required and moved in recent
years to align budgetary expenditure to these frameworks as they have been adopted. These
are core governance tools in the municipal environment as they are used to justify actions and
choices on a consistent basis. Most municipalities tend to keep the frameworks relatively
open-ended to allow for a measure of discretionary action both in terms of political choices
and in terms of administrative allocations. These are further supported by a range of other
formal policy documents and frameworks that are more often than not specific to a local
municipality in their content but are required to be present in all municipalities. An example
of these would be spatial planning frameworks such as the Spatial Development Framework
setting out broad land-use imperatives as well as an array of land-use related planning
frameworks that operate under these such as sub-regional spatial development frameworks
and local area plans with greater and greater levels of specificity. These too provide
important points of governance interaction between citizens and the state.
Municipalities also have powers to determine some forms of local legislation through
promulgating municipal by-laws which cover a wide range of fields such as health and safety,
land-uses, permitting, charges, penalties and the like. These were much in evidence in the
municipality prior to 1994 and have tended to be seen as somewhat less important in that the
bulk of them were not reviewed or extended to areas covered by broader municipal
boundaries until recently. However, there has of late been a renewed focus on municipal
bylaws as a key element of the local states governing machinery in recent years. An example
of this would be a reversion to using bylaws to govern street trading areas as opposed to
developing negotiated settlements in different areas.
The way in which the local state organizes itself is also important in governance terms. Since
the start of the post-1994 local government reforms the dominant move has been to create a
single centralized local government administration to replace the highly uneven and
fragmented local government structures of the past. After the 2000 local government
elections this was accelerated with the bulk of the remnant local government offices being
centralized. There has been some movement to create a measure of a more localized presence
in recent years. This has included investment in refurbishing facilities for local councilors
closer to their wards, opening up municipal contact offices for the payment of services and
related queries and in the allocation of responsibilities in many line departments. A notable
experiment was the setting up of five area based management and development (ABMs)
zones with funding from the European Commission between 2003 and 2008. This involved
setting up of dedicated local development teams in five pilot areas of the city to help drive
more localized programmes with the support of enhanced external funding. These were seen
to bring noticeable benefits to areas such as Cato Manor and the Inanda-Ntuzuma-KwaMashu
area where the benefit of enhanced participation and the application of local knowledge by
administrators based in the area allowed for more effective municipal deliver and more
refined local projects. However, it appears that a decision has been made to reintegrate these
teams into municipal line departments as the idea of a further restructuring of the already
much restructured local administrations along the ABM lines has not found favour with senior
politicians or bureaucratic heads.
Has there been and is there good governance in Durban?
As one might expect in any one context there are many different perspectives in terms of what
constitutes goods governance as well as whether or not local government in Durban as
contributed to enhancing the good governance experience of citizens in Durban. Undoubtedly
the move from apartheid era local government to the present day democratic local
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government has seen major strides to enhance good governance. Local government today, for
the majority of citizens is far more responsive to their needs and has increasingly been
enabled through national legislation and new funding frameworks to play an effective
developmental role. The introduction of the many varied processes at the local government
level such as those related to the IDP have introduced possibilities that were never even
contemplated prior to 1994. A read through Municipal publications and the Mayor’s Annual
report in recent years shows a local government aware of major challenges it faces in meeting
the needs of a growing city and confident that the steps it is taking in delivery of housing,
basic services, improved living environments and economic development are making major
strides to realizing the Municipal vision statement:
“By 2020, eThekwini Municipality will be Africa’s most caring and liveable city…
To realise this vision, we believe there are basic elements that all citizens, the business
community and visitors must have:
 Ease of movement in the city.
 A safe environment in all parts of the municipal area.
 Access to economic opportunities.
 Resources to afford what the city offers.
 A clean and green city.
 Homely neighbourhoods.
 Access to services, in particular municipal, health and education services.
With delivery of these, the people of eThekwini should be able to:
 Live in harmony.
 Be proud of their city.
 Feel protected.
 Feel their basic needs are being met.
Achieving the vision means addressing the key development challenges by making key
interventions.” (http://www.durban.gov.za/durban/government/policy/vision accessed on 10
June 2010)
It is notable that the eThekwini Municipality has received a range of accolades and is
regarded in many circles as being having the best municipality in South Africa. It has won
Vuna awards from the former Department of Provincial and Local Government for its
delivery performance and has received some international recognition for some of its
programmes. These are further supported by the Municipality having the best credit rating of
nay city in South Africa, having delivered more public housing units and more electrical and
water connections than other cities and retaining clear audits throughout recent years of
turmoil. These are by no means insignificant and suggest, at least in relative terms, a highly
capable administration under the guidance of political leadership with a strong orientation to
meeting developmental commitments.
However, despite these accolades, or in some cases because of them, the Municipality has
come in for some considerable criticism. Much of the criticism relates to the tendency by the
local state to revert to its own formal processes in terms of decision making without engaging
more meaningfully with the citizenry (Ballard et al, 2007). Although there are consultative
processes around the bulk of municipal processes with active involvement from ward
councilors there has been an ongoing concern amongst many civil society groups that the
local state tends towards a one-size-fits-all approach in its models of delivery to the poorer
urban communities making up the majority of the cities residents. Alongside this there have
been concerns that the dominance of a single party – the African National Congress (ANC) –
with its own rather centralised decision making processes has diluted a more vibrant and
diverse civic engagement (Ballard et al, 2007). It is often suggested that decisions get made
in ANC structures before being brought through council processes for rubber stamping.
Buccus and Hicks (2008) go further in their criticism to suggest that, “some doubt does arise
as to the extent of the political will of elected representatives and senior bureaucrats to put
12
participation ideology into practice in a meaningful way. This is brought about by apparent
tendencies within the leading party, the African National Congress (ANC), and government
structures to close ranks against those who voice any opposition to or criticism of their
policies, labeling dissenters within their ranks as ‘ultra-left’, politically ambitious or even, in
some cases, racist.” (Buccus & Hicks, 2008: 156)
In particular there have been concerns that these processes have come to characterise socalled strategic decision making around major projects and initiatives where there is a limited
tendency to engage with broader interest groups. Examples cited include the commitments
made around mega events such as the Point Waterfront developments and the Fifa World Cup
2010. Some have suggested that these processes have been further complicated by very close
working relationships of senior council political leaders and a powerful network of local
business people (Moffet & Freund, 2004). Some have argued further that the Municipality
has embraced a market-based development strategy as a result of these close relations which
aggravates inequality and poverty (Bond, 2004).
There are also criticisms made that the municipality has through its reform of government
structures denuded localities within the city with a meaningful level of accessible
administrative presence. This has two dimensions. The first of these would be that accessing
responsive local officials with some measure of decentralized authority can be very difficult
for both citizens and ward councilors alike. The second aspect is that various forms of local
knowledge and insight are not captured by officials with a neighbourhood beat and
incorporated into decision making processes at a municipal wide level. Finally there are those
that argue, perhaps because of the fact of the claimed capacity of the municipality, that it
really should have done more that it has in terms of delivery (Robbins, 2010). Once again
there are two elements here that have been raised. The first is that a bolder municipal
leadership might have pushed for greater flexibility and low adaptation in programmes such
as housing where there core policies are set at a national level (Charlton & Kihato, 2006).
The second set of concerns would be that while delivery might have been impressive in
relative terms in Durban, it still falls way short of the need that exists (Pithouse, 2008).
Democratic local government in Durban remains a relatively young project. In a little over a
decade major changes have been instituted to render significant changes in the form and
content of local government processes and actions. Facing the considerable structural
problems of the city and the considerable levels of poverty have been major pre-occupations
of local government. However, there have been sustained efforts to develop a deeper and
more complex set of responses as time has passed.
What about the environment and governance in Durban?
Durban has been often noted as a leading actor around environmental challenges in the South
African local government context. This is probably not entirely disconnected from the fact
that as an industrial city with high levels of poverty and service backlogs the democratic local
state has been under sustained pressure to act. This period is also one where the national and
provincial environmental governance systems have gone through major changes – often at
some remove from the day-to-day imperatives of local government.
At a national level, the arrival of democracy brought a shift is in focus in environmental
policy to extend the national states attention from areas of conservation to include more
actively matters of pollution and low quality living environments. This can be traced in a
number of national policy frameworks issued since 1994. A key element of the governance
framework has been that related to the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) of
1998 which placed an imperative on any public or private entity undertaking a development
or activity with some likely environmental impact having to follow a public procedure to
assess risks and engage with interested and affected parties about these. The South African
13
Air Quality Act of 2004 also heralded a major stride forward in that local government and
other spheres of government had an up-to-date regulatory framework around which decisions
could be taken. More recently the South African Air Quality Information System has been
launched and is viewed by the national Department of Environmental Affairs as being an
important element of improving air quality governance in the country.
However, although these and many other initiatives are central to the country’s
responsiveness to environmental and carbon related challenges there has been at times a
tendency to play down the role of local government or at least to under estimate the
contribution local government could make. This was well illustrated in the protracted
processes around the South Durban area where decisions made about both future development
and present day responses to air pollution were shown to be highly fragmented across spheres
of government. The establishment of a programme coordination mechanism led to some
improvement in these processes but still left somewhat unanswered the question of how to
craft an appropriate local response relevant to specific local circumstances.
Nevertheless, despite these coordination issues there has been sustained action around
environmental matters more broadly in the municipal sphere in Durban in the last two
decades. In the late 1980s initial commitments were made around what was referred to as the
Durban Metropolitan Open Space System. In the last twenty years this has expanded as the
metropolitan boundaries have been set and it has been incorporated fully into municipal
planning frameworks with a recognition, not just of the conservation benefits it might offer,
but also in terms of protection of bio-diversity and for the provision of environmental
services. In the post 1994 era Durban was also one of the first cities, under the aegis of Local
Agenda 21 to initiate a major review of environmental conditions. Subsequent activities have
included major reviews of institutional capability, spatial identification of key bio-diversity
areas, indepth work on climate change impacts with a specific focus on sea-level rises for a
coastal city.
In line with the arguments made by Alber and Kern (2008), some of the progress made has
been due to growing realization that the city needs to act now in response to climate change
threats. Very significant spring tides and wave damage in recent years helped bring home this
message to bureaucrats and politicians that might otherwise have been skeptical. Roberts
(2008) points to some key factors that have helped secure progress around environmental
governance in the eThekwini Municipality. The author, a senior manager in the Municipality,
argues that, “it can be concluded that reasonable progress (given the development challenges
and resource constraints faced by the municipality) has been made in Durban in
mainstreaming climate change concerns at the local government level.” (Roberts, 2008: 536)
Roberts gives considerable weight to this progress on processes which built the awareness and
capacity of officials, not just those responsible for environmental programmes, but also in
fields such as town planning and coastal engineering. Roberts suggests that this capacitation
enable institutional change and the mainstreaming of environmental concerns in municipal
policy. An examination of key Municipal strategy frameworks such as the Long Term
Development Framework and the IDP and demonstrate that it is indeed true that significant
attention is given to environmental constraints, challenges and the required actions needed
(eThekwini Municipality, 2001 & 2007).
In recent years the degree of attention paid to carbon emissions and responses thereto have
begun to garner more responses. Whilst air pollution matters were traditionally dealt with
through the health unit of the Municipality in terms of permits to polluters to operate, the
issue of carbon emissions more generally has now received attention. Scarce resources in
terms of staff with skill around environment issues are being allocated to attend to these
matters and efforts are being made to develop models to project climate change impacts from
major developments being proposed by the private sector or in municipal planning
frameworks. The recent hosting of the FIFA 2010 World Cup and the related investments
14
made were accompanied by a programme aimed at reducing the net carbon impact of the new
stadium and developing something akin to a carbon sink by planting of many indigenous trees
around a major landfill site. These activities demonstrate that Roberts’ assertion of growing
mainstreaming of climate change awareness in the eThekwini Municipality.
Drawing again on Alber and Kern’s (2008) framework it is possible to reflect briefly on some
of the roles the Municipality might have played. Certainly there has been considerable
attention on the self-governing processes as outlined by Roberts (2008). This has sought to
encourage responsible action by the Municipality and its various departments – not just
internally but also in the manner they interact with the broader city. There has been a
growing level of attention towards more enabling activities where partnerships and interaction
with other stakeholders become highly relevant. This has involved working to make
information available and sharing knowledge – often with networks that stretch across the
country and also internationally. In terms of governing through provision a prime example
would be the DMOSS programme around metropolitan open space where it has been
recognised as providing key measurable environmental services. Of the four categories
presented by Alber and Kern it is probably the last that has achieved most of the attention as
the country and cities have sought to rapidly adjust their regulatory frameworks to reduce
negative impacts and guarantee greater protection for citizens.
Table . Examples of actions in various governance fields as proposed by Alber and Kern
(2008)
Modes of urban climate change governance and sectors of climate change
mitigation
Self-governing
Governing
Governing
Governing by
through enabling through provision
authority
Emissions
Sharing information Access to partially
Using planning
inventory for
on energy
treated water to
frameworks to
Municipality under
reduction
firms for industrial
require developers
Climate Change
strategies with the
use.
begin to respond to
Protection
public and
climate change
programme
businesses.
imperatives
(including pilot
audit of Municipal
buildings).
Roberts (2008) highlights that political support for these efforts in Durban have by no means
been consistent and at times have been somewhat against the efforts to enhance
environmental governance capabilities where these efforts are seen in some way to
compromise shorter term development imperatives (such as using available open land for
public housing). Whilst some years ago there was one seat won a party with a prominent
environmental agenda the main parties that contest the local government sphere tend to have
little to say in the manifestos around the environment. It is also noticeable that informal and
formal networks with active civil society formations in the environment field are by no means
pronounced. These networks are stronger with experts in various fields and professionals
active in the environment field but there is an absence of regular formal and informal
interaction. These factors have tended to influence municipal programmes very much
towards the technical territory and ultimately focus on regulatory outcomes rather than
mobilizing a wider range of social actors. In a country with a dominant set of political actors
and a very focused set of policies it is perhaps not surprising that mobilizing this sphere and
broadening engagement can be difficult. However, the evidence from other cities
(Satterthwaite, 2007a) suggests that sustaining sound governance processes and their
continuous review and enhancement depends very much on an open deliberative type decision
making environment.
15
4. Foundations for a low carbon governance framework for Durban
In looking at elements that might form part of a low carbon governance framework for
Durban it is important to consider a number of factors. Some of the proposed elements are
presented below.
Citizen and civil society engagement and partnerships
For a governance framework to have effect it must be founded on a recognition that local
government is only one of a number of actors that impact on the carbon intensity of Durban’s
development path. Not only are the other spheres of government high relevant, but there is
also an imperative to engage with organisations, particularly those in the business community
as well as the citizenry to craft plans and strategies. A low carbon future for Durban would
require citizens to change their consumption patterns, for businesses to move to new modes of
production and for the state to be in a position to facilitate these moves in an effective
manner. In working to build a broader front of action around climate change it is likely that
this could also help secure greater attention from local politicians and also provide something
of a platform to engage more confidently with other spheres of government.
Political responsibility
Within the Municipality the matters related to environment tend to get heard in subcommittees related to Planning/Economic Development and Health/ Safety. The centrality of
climate change matters to the agendas of the Council structures remains a matter of concern
as their agendas are often weighed down by number other matters. There is perhaps a case for
giving some enhanced attention to environmental matters in structural terms within the
Council committee system. This might not necessarily be a decision making structure as such
but could play a critical role in reviewing Councils plans and processes and also draw in other
actors described above. This might offer the opportunity of generating greater political
attention and also supporting political accountability of different council departments to low
carbon policy imperatives. Having a political leader with explicit responsibility for this field
would be important.
Institutional consolidation and capacity enhancement (extending the reach)
Within the bureaucracy progress has been made to enhance coordination and to improve
capacity. The improved coordination around development plan applications and EIA’s is
certainly commendable. However, there is some value for this to be enhanced around climate
change matters. The present shared perspectives and awareness rely quite heavily on
individuals working together with a high level of trust and shared knowledge. In a fast
changing local government environment this might not survive institutional changes and
might benefit from greater institutional formalization as well as further deepening of capacity.
This could also benefit from the kinds of partnerships and relationships mentioned above
where for instance the creation of enhanced scientific capacity as well as civic capacity in the
City could provide a very useful resource in taking forward future low carbon commitments.
Progress that has been made in the fields of open space, town planning and energy should find
its way into areas such as transportation and finance. Transportation has large carbon
ramifications and is a field that needs considerable attention. The manner in which the
Municipal finances and revenue systems operate also send very important signals to both city
planners and citizens. For example at present generating property rates is helped by rapid
growth in property development but this might present major challenges to a low carbon
future. Finances will also be key in changing incentives to citizens around their consumption
behaviour. These must be explored together with regulatory approaches.
Demonstration projects to encourage participation and communicate relevance
Much of the work to date around the environment has been in the field of knowledge creation,
capacity enhancement, institutional re-alignment and regulation. On the ground projects that
16
are visible to citizens and associated with environmental objectives are relatively rare. To
help make the content of environment programmes resonate more immediately with citizens
and business there should be a much greater commitment to helping provide resources for
appropriate action and improving the enabling environment. Regulatory focused initiatives,
although essential, should be nested in a mix of other approaches that engage the citizenry and
various social actors in neighbourhood and citywide collaborative action. An example taken
form the literature is where city parks and leisure areas have had their roles reconceptualised
as essential elements in the urban environmental fabric with appropriate resources and
capacity attached to them. Compared to some cities Durban might appear to have the luxury
of considerable open space but it should also seek to make areas such as parks work to help
meet not only long term carbon mitigation and adaption goals but also to serve as
communicators to citizens of key messages and spaces for other actors to contribute to
development goals related to the environment.
Poverty reduction and low carbon initiatives must be integrated
Programmes around the environment in Durban, despite considerable efforts to counter this
view, are often seen as not being immediately relevant to the lives of the urban poor. Recent
climate change adaption policy work has sought again to counter this view. However, it
remains an essential element in a context of high levels of poverty and inequality to make the
environmental agenda relevant to the immediate needs of the urban poor to access services,
shelter and economic activities. This cannot only be about more innovative communication
strategies but must also be about direct engagement with key municipal policies that impact
on the poor such as those related to housing, basic services and economic development.
Environmental justice groups tend to see the Municipality as somewhat distant from their
concerns and it would seem that there could be scope for the Municipality to seek to narrow
the gap between the local state and these civil society entities that are often active in poorer
communities.
Develop alternative economic growth paths
Various lower carbon future development paths for Durban also require considerable attention
to be paid to economic development paths and how the city may influence these. Although
environmental matters have begun to feature as relevant considerations in economic
programmes the remain somewhat marginal. Mitigation and adaption initiatives need to
engage business actors as partners but should also inform discussions about future growth
paths. Continuous striving for higher levels of economic growth needs to be tempered with
both distributional and climate impact considerations.
New regulatory opportunities to be explored
While a caution against to heavy a focus on regulatory processes there are grounds for
creative and appropriate use of by-laws and policies to support greater alignment around
carbon reduction intentions. At present Municipalities have relatively limited scope in terms
of powers to use these more effectively but there are grounds to begin to push for greater local
freedom to set standards around matters such as vehicle emissions, licensing of activities and
the like. Internationally, allowing increased scope for local regulation has help engineer
important local debates and testing of approaches to tackle climate change.
5. Concluding comments
In closing it is worth reflecting on the following comments by Satterthwaite, “There is also
convincing evidence that robust economies and a high quality of life can be de-linked from
continuing increases in resource use, pollution, waste and greenhouse-gas emissions. …In
practice, this needs competent, effective local governance structures – and in most cities and
smaller urban centres in low- and middle-income nations, these are not evident. There are
17
many factors constraining the development of appropriate governance structures, or limiting
their possible actions to address problems of poverty or environmental degradation –
especially where these raise costs and limit choices for politically powerful enterprises and
populations. Good governance will set limits on where industries can locate and developers
can build, and on which local water sources they can tap and which wastes they can dispose
of. It will have measures to promote and support the needed supply of land for new housing
with infrastructure and services. The latest information on global warming suggests that good
governance will need to set limits on how much individuals can drive automobiles or fly (or
on the amount of fossil fuel they can use). Good city governance has to include actions to
ensure that infrastructure and services are available to all within its boundaries, and that
revenues are raised from those who benefit from this. It will ensure “the rule of law”, through
which the rights and entitlements of everyone (including low-income groups) and “the public
good” are protected, and that effective democratic processes are in place, including the values
this implies, such as accountability to citizens and transparency in the generation and use of
public resources. For urban areas, adaptation to the direct and indirect impacts of climate
change also depends, perhaps more than anything else, on competent, capable urban
governments that work with and are accountable to low-income groups. Initial analyses of
climate-change related hazards and vulnerabilities for cities show how it is poorer groups who
are more at risk and face larger impacts (for instance as their homes are in flood-plains with
no storm drains and no early warning systems), as well as facing greater risk of loss for their
assets, less possibilities of help or compensation and less adaptation possibilities such as
moving to safer homes or settlements.” (Satterthwaite, 2007a: 70-71)
18
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http://www.durban.gov.za/
http://www.gdrc.org/u-gov/ugov-define.html
http://go.worldbank.org/MKOGR258V0
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