A policy analysis of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Executive Council Cluster System with particular reference to Governance and Administration Cluster as a case study.
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Abstract
The focus of this study is to determine whether the Governance and Administration Cluster
could be considered as a policy network within the cluster system of the provincial
government of KwaZulu-Natal. The study looks at the provincial government clusters, in
particular, the Cluster for Governance and Administration, as policy networks that facilitate
policy coordination and implementation within the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal.
The challenge of improving policy coordination and implementation continues to confront all
spheres of government in South Africa. This is despite the introduction of the cluster system
in 1999 which sought to resolve coordination and implementation problems at national and
provincial levels. Government is still confronted with gaps in the implementation of public
policy, poor implementation or lack of implementation due to uncoordinated implementation
efforts by departments. The study acknowledges that policy coordination, integration and
implementation in government is inherently complex. It is argued that governance and public administration increasingly take place in network-like
settings where sustainable patterns of interaction between actors have formed in a specific
area of public policy and that public problems are dealt with in highly interactive processes.
The study points out that clusters play a dual role of being an interorganisational forum for
integrated policy making as well as the role of being a tool for implementation of government
policy. All respondents were unanimous in that the clusters have been the most effective tool
of coordinating collaboration in policy making and implementation within the provincial
government. However, the cluster system does not facilitate collaboration with private actors
and civil society due to its closed nature and restrictive membership.
The study of the cluster system within the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal has
revealed that the clusters, in particular, the Governance and Administration Cluster lacks
some of the key characteristics of a policy networks approach. Most provincial government
clusters do not meet the basic features of a policy network such as autonomy of actors, equal
participation of state and non-state actors in policy making, interdependence, sharing of
resources, goals and strategies, voluntary participation, identifiable stakeholders,
interrelationships and interactions. It can be argued that the Governance and Administration
Cluster, as an overall and overarching coordinating instrument in the Office of the Premier,
operates along the lines of the central-rule model which emphasises hierarchy and a single
command authority for coordination of policy making and implementation. The Cluster for Governance and Administration in the Office of the Premier in the provincial
government of KwaZulu-Natal can be considered as an intergovernmental structure that
brings together government officials both political and technical from different levels of
government for coordination of policy making and implementation.
Description
M.A. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2015.
Keywords
Political planning -- South Africa., Policy networks -- South Africa., Intergovernmental cooperation -- South Africa., Theses -- Policy and development studies.