Developmental local government in the 21st century : implementing local economic development as a new mandate.

摘要

The problem statement of this article is to show that South African localgovernment does not exist in a vacuum, but is a member of and signatoryto various international forums and declarations which her sustainabledevelopment has to respect. It is in this context that the article providesfor the concept and background of developmental local government inthe 21st century, and discuses how South Arican developmental localgovernment could implement local economic growth and developmentprogrammes as a new mandate to move citizens away from despair to theage of hope and prosperity.The angle of approach to local government transformation in the1980s of the Nordic countries is discussed prior to a brief examinationof the African perspective on local government in the context ofthe international perspectives on the concept and background ofdevelopmental local government. This is followed by a perspective onthe historical evolution and functioning of local government in Africa.In addition, the article considers the new role of developmental localgovernment in the 21st century as that of improving and sustaining localeconomic development (LED). In this context, a LED model is adaptedand proposed to policy makers and LED practitioners in South Africanmunicipalities to accelerate the improvement of socio-economicconditions of their local inhabitants.