A hallmark of post-apartheid South Africa has been the introduction of bold and innovative policy in areas ranging from the national Constitution to resource management policy. In line with this approach, there has been a clear commitment to principles of decentralization and participatory development, with Local Economic Development (LED) featuring prominently in national, provincial and local government pronouncements and planning. Despite considerable policy and funding support for LED, results at best can be described as only modest. This paper critically reflects on the importance attached to LED in South Africa, what has been attempted over the last decade, and the various reasons that might explain the limitations experienced with applied LED, including those that are inherent in the nature of LED and those that can be attributed to local factors. The paper draws upon field-based research undertaken over more than a decade and the findings of a major study undertaken by an international development finance organization. The paper raises challenging questions about the nature, focus and potential of LED as an appropriate development intervention.
References
1.
AminA. (1999) An institutional perspective on regional economic development, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 23(2), pp. 365–378.
2.
BinnsT.NelE. (2002) Devolving development: integrated development planning and developmental local government in post-apartheid South Africa, Regional Studies, 36(8), pp. 921–932.
3.
BondP. (2002) Local economic development debates in South Africa, Municipal Services Project, Occasional Papers No. 6 (University of the Witwatersrand: Johannesburg).
4.
Department of Provincial and Local Government Affairs (DPLG) (1998) Local Government White Paper (Pretoria: DPLG).
5.
Department of Provincial and Local Government Affairs (DPLG) (2000) Local Economic Development: Guideline to Institutional Arrangements, Local Economic Development Manual SeriesVolume 1 (Pretoria: DPLG).
6.
Department of Provincial and Local Government Affairs (DPLG) (2003) Local Economic Development Programme, Consolidated edn (Pretoria: DPLG).
7.
Department of Provincial and Local Government Affairs (DPLG) (2006) National LED Framework Document (Pretoria: DPLG).
8.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) (2007) Regional Industrial Development Strategy (Pretoria: DTI).
9.
DesaiA. (2003) Neoliberalism and resistance in South Africa, Independent Socialist Magazine, 54(8), pp. 16–28.
10.
EgziabherT.G.HelmsingA.H.J. (2005) Local Economic Development in Africa (Maastricht: Shaker).
11.
GlasmeierA.K. (2000) Economic geography in practice: local economic development policy, in: ClarkeG.L.FeldmanM.P.GertlerM.S. (Eds) The Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography, pp. 559–579 (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
12.
GoetzE.G.ClarkeS.E. (1993) The New Localism (Newbury Park: Sage).
13.
GreenG.P.FleischmannA.Tsz Man Kwong (1996) The effectiveness of LED policies in the 1980s, Social Science Quarterly, 77(3), pp. 609–625.
14.
HarveyD. (2006) Spaces of Global Capitalism (London: Verso).
15.
HartelebT. (2006) 29 January: DA: ‘Local government in a state of crisis’, Mail and Guardian, Johannesburg.
16.
HelmsingA.H.J. (2003) Local economic development: New generations of actors, policies and instruments for Africa, Public Administration and Development, 23, pp. 67–76.
17.
HindsonD. (2003) Connecting economic growth with poverty alleviation: South Africa's LED challenge, Hologram Newsletter, 3.
18.
Khanya-aicdd (2007) March: furthering the local economic development agenda in Africa, Briefing Paper, 5, Bloemfontein.
19.
Mail and Guardian (2006) 26 June, SA Municipalities owed billions, Mail and Guardian, Johannesburg.
20.
Meyer-StammerJ. (2002) Current challenges for local economic development in South Africa, unpublished document, Duisburg.
21.
Meyer-StammerJ. (2003) Why is local economic development so difficult?Unpublished paper, Duisburg.
22.
MXA (2003) Evaluation of the CMIP and the LEDF: Synthesis Report (Durban: MXA).
23.
NelE.L. (2001) Local economic development: a review and assessment of its current status in South Africa, Urban Studies, 38(7), pp. 1003–1024.
24.
NelE.GoldmanI. (2006) Investigation of Pro-Poor Local Economic Development in South Africa: Combined Urban and Rural Report (Grahamstown: Rhodes University).
25.
NelE.JohnL. (2006) The evolution of local economic development in South Africa, in: PillayU.TomlinsonR.duToitJ. (Eds) Democracy and Delivery: Urban Policy in South Africa, pp. 208–229 (Cape Town: HSRC Press).
26.
NelE.L.McQuaidR. (2002) Critical reflections on the evolution of experience of local economic development in Stutterheim, South Africa and the role of social capital, Economic Development Quarterly, 16(1), pp. 60–74.
27.
NelE.RogersonC.M. (2005) Local Economic Development in the Developing World: The Experience of South Africa (New Brunswick: Transactions Press).
28.
ParnellS. (2004) Building developmental local government to fight poverty: Institutional change in the city of Johannesburg, International Development Planning Review, 26, pp. 377–399.
29.
PikeA.Rodriguez-PoseA.TomaneyJ. (2006) Local and Regional Development (London: Routledge).
30.
ReeseL.A.FasenfestD. (1996) More of the same: a research note on LED policies over time, Economic Development Quarterly, 10(3), pp. 280–289.
31.
Republic of South Africa (2006) National Constitution, Pretoria.
32.
Rodriguez-PoseA.TijmstraS. (2005) Local Economic Development as an Alternative Approach to Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa (Municipal Development Partnership).
33.
RogersonC.M. (2000) Local economic development in an era of globalisation; the case of South African Cities, Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, 91(4), pp. 397–411.
34.
RogersonC.M. (2006) Local economic development in post-apartheid South Africa: a ten-year research review, in: PadayacheeV. (Ed) The Development Decade?: Economic and Social Change in South Africa, 1994–2004, pp. 227–253 (Cape Town: HSRC Press).
35.
South African Cities Network (2008) State of City Finances Report, 2007 (SACN: Pretoria).
36.
StockR. (1995) Africa South of the Sahara (New York: Guildford).
37.
SwyngedouwE.A. (1989) The heart of the place: the resurrection of locality in an age of hyperspace, Geografiska Annaler, 71B(1), pp. 31–42.
38.
TeagueP. (1987) The potential and limitations of community development in LED, Local Government Studies, 13(4), pp. 17–33.
39.
TomlinsonR. (2003) The local economic development mirage in South Africa, Geoforum, 34, pp. 113–122.
40.
TurokI.WatsonV. (2001) Divergent development in South African cities: strategic challenges facing Cape Town, Urban Forum, 12(2), pp. 119–138.
41.
World Bank (2006) LED: LED Quick Reference, Urban Development Unit, World Bank, Washington. http://www.worldbank.org/urban/led/ (accessed 18 January 2009).
