The search for power and legitimacy in Black urban areas: the role of the Urban Councils Association of South Africa
- Authors: Atkinson, Doreen
- Date: 1984
- Subjects: Urban Councils Association of South Africa Neighborhood government -- South Africa Black people -- South Africa -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/1864 , vital:20234 , ISBN 0868101141
- Description: Since their establishment in 1977, Community Councils, like their predecessors, have been severely criticised by urban blacks for their powerlessness. Councillors themselves are disappointed with their inability to improve the living and working conditions of their constituents, and are aware of the rejection of councils as a meaningful political forum by many sectors of black society. In 1978 the Urban Councils Association of South Africa (UCASA) was formed to tie together the ineffective Councils into a more forceful power bloc, which would provide Councils with greater legitimacy and political credibility in the community. By doing so, UCASA acts as a counter to the Administration Boards manned predominantly by whites; UCASA is therefore in the difficult position of operating within government- created structures, while challenging the very structure on which itself is based. This report will outline UCASA's structure and activities within the context of the controversial position of local black urban authorities. It will also be necessary to describe UCASA's political standpoints, both on issues relating to Community Councils and broader South African problems. Three dominant themes constantly recur: structural deficiencies within UCASA itself; tension between UCASA and white officials within Administration Boards and the Department of Co-operation and Development; and UCASA's reaction to left-wing critics who adhere to the non-collaborationist approach with regard to government-created institutions. These divergent attitudes to UCASA will be discussed in more detail towards the end of the paper; finally, an evaluation of UCASA's success in establishing itself as a focal point of pressure for reform from within the ranks of Community Councils will be presented. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1984
- Authors: Atkinson, Doreen
- Date: 1984
- Subjects: Urban Councils Association of South Africa Neighborhood government -- South Africa Black people -- South Africa -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/1864 , vital:20234 , ISBN 0868101141
- Description: Since their establishment in 1977, Community Councils, like their predecessors, have been severely criticised by urban blacks for their powerlessness. Councillors themselves are disappointed with their inability to improve the living and working conditions of their constituents, and are aware of the rejection of councils as a meaningful political forum by many sectors of black society. In 1978 the Urban Councils Association of South Africa (UCASA) was formed to tie together the ineffective Councils into a more forceful power bloc, which would provide Councils with greater legitimacy and political credibility in the community. By doing so, UCASA acts as a counter to the Administration Boards manned predominantly by whites; UCASA is therefore in the difficult position of operating within government- created structures, while challenging the very structure on which itself is based. This report will outline UCASA's structure and activities within the context of the controversial position of local black urban authorities. It will also be necessary to describe UCASA's political standpoints, both on issues relating to Community Councils and broader South African problems. Three dominant themes constantly recur: structural deficiencies within UCASA itself; tension between UCASA and white officials within Administration Boards and the Department of Co-operation and Development; and UCASA's reaction to left-wing critics who adhere to the non-collaborationist approach with regard to government-created institutions. These divergent attitudes to UCASA will be discussed in more detail towards the end of the paper; finally, an evaluation of UCASA's success in establishing itself as a focal point of pressure for reform from within the ranks of Community Councils will be presented. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1984
Local government restructuring : white municipal initiatives 1985-1988
- Authors: Atkinson, Doreen
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Local government -- South Africa Municipal government -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011618 , vital:20235 , ISBN 0868101826
- Description: The local government level has historically been the most neglected aspect of government in South Africa, both in research and in conventional political activity. Yet, paradoxically, it has been the level at which several crucial government policies have played themselves out, away from the public eye, but drastic in their effects on the material and political position of all inhabitants of towns and cities in South Africa. This research into local government was begun with two basic questions in mind. Firstly, local-level attempts to alter their own institutional structures needed to be documented and analysed. A consideration of six case studies of white initiatives for change at the local level uncovered numerous political and economic dimensions which interact and set constraints on each other. It is impossible to produce one final interpretation of why these local events happened, what their significance was, and what possibilities they offer for the future. Invariably, each case study is a microcosm of the broader multifaceted conflict in South Africa. This report is an attempt to present as many of these dimensions as possible, even though it cannot ever be complete. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1989
- Authors: Atkinson, Doreen
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Local government -- South Africa Municipal government -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011618 , vital:20235 , ISBN 0868101826
- Description: The local government level has historically been the most neglected aspect of government in South Africa, both in research and in conventional political activity. Yet, paradoxically, it has been the level at which several crucial government policies have played themselves out, away from the public eye, but drastic in their effects on the material and political position of all inhabitants of towns and cities in South Africa. This research into local government was begun with two basic questions in mind. Firstly, local-level attempts to alter their own institutional structures needed to be documented and analysed. A consideration of six case studies of white initiatives for change at the local level uncovered numerous political and economic dimensions which interact and set constraints on each other. It is impossible to produce one final interpretation of why these local events happened, what their significance was, and what possibilities they offer for the future. Invariably, each case study is a microcosm of the broader multifaceted conflict in South Africa. This report is an attempt to present as many of these dimensions as possible, even though it cannot ever be complete. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1989
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