Public Policy Making in South Africa Research Assignment (Essay Sample)

Public Policy Making in South Africa
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Public Policy Making in South Africa
The process of creating public policies is one amongst the most important aspects of governance. To properly govern a nation, a precise and executable method of examining the issues affecting the populace and a strategic way to formulate and effect policies against said issues is necessary. Public policy is defined as the process of choosing strategies to be applied towards governing and providing solutions to the problems of a particular society or location. The importance of this strategy to governance dwells within the fact that public policies affect the livelihoods of many of the citizens of a country, with such critical policies as health-related policies and housing-related ones affecting every resident of a nation. Consequently, the policy-making systems of a nation such as South Africa become a considerable topic because they affect and occasionally predetermined the quality of governance and lifestyle of the natives of that country. The South African policy creation system encompasses a strategic and tier structured process with the local governments, the provincial governments, the chapter 9 institutions, the parliament and the NEDLAC handling the creation of policies as accorded by the constitutional order of the state.
The five key players in the South African policy formulation processes are drawn from the state and non-state organizations, all of which are charged with different duties. The most considerable state-related organizations are the Local governments which manage the municipalities, the 9 provincial governments, the national parliament and the chapter 9 institutions. The parliament, provincial and local governments of South Africa are charged strictly with policymaking, a factor which is part of their central role within their specified jurisdictions. While these institutions are charged with the responsibility of handling policies for their specific demarcations, a set-out separation of duties is effected where each step receives their powers to carry out their tasks with respect to the constitution. On the other hand, the chapter 9 institutions are charged with a differing mandate, one which involves participating in the policy-making process with a specific interest in promoting democracy and securing the nation against any other interests. Therefore, although the chapter 9 institutions are charged with a similar responsibility with the other state connected organs, their mandate is slightly different since it bears specific conduct towards maintaining democracy. Finally, the NEDLAC is a conglomerate of organizations with specific trade, labor and community-related interests which the South African government uses to discuss, accommodate and communicate policy directions and suggestions with an interest of incorporating the affected parties.
Local governments’ role in South African policy making
The role played by local governments in South Africa's policymaking is centered specifically on the policies related to the people at the grassroots. The local governments of South Africa comprise of the municipal mayor and the council members of the same area. These leaders are drawn from the people of that locality and are charged with passing the by-laws that relate to their specific localities (Reddy, 2016). The role of these council members is to create policies which are related to the ones from the national government and to come up with people-oriented policy statements that are to be implemented within their municipalities. This process is carried out through the institution of by-laws and legislation by the council members, laws which relate to the managing of affairs within the local municipality. Further, the process encompasses the identification of social issues that affect the residents of particular areas within that municipality and the proposing of solutions in form of policies which are then either implemented through the budgetary allocations specified for each municipality of forwarded to the provincial parliament for considerations. These policies are considered of lesser value although they constitute the most critical impact on the people at the local level since they directly affect their living. For example, the local government policies in the Xhosa local municipality determine the rates that the people are to pay for their residential areas. This factor asserts that the policies that the council will approve as relates to the rates, whether it is a raise or a deduction of the same will directly affect the residents. Therefore the role of the municipal or local governments of South Africa is to create public policies that are related to each specific municipality through the council member sittings and to effect the same within their jurisdictions.
The provincial government’s roles in policy formulation in South Africa.
Public policy formation in South Africa’s nine provinces is a function of the provincial legislatures. The provincial governments of South Africa play the role of creating and passing policies that affect the lives of the people within the nine different provinces. The scope of this role begins from the simple issues such as the land ownership, health, schooling, housing and property ownership related policies and extends to certain aspects of jurisdictional law, all of which are subject to the constitutional order and national policy. The provincial governments, therefore, comprise three critical organs, the legislature, a premier and the Members of the executive council. The members of the executive council are chosen to head the individual political offices of the province, a critical portion of this government from which policies are accrued to assist each of the politically affiliated sections of the population. Similarly, the legislature, in its capacity as the governing body or the policy formulation organ of the province provides the policies as related to the people's opinions which it gets from the representative membership that forms it. From these policies that are drawn from the local governments or the national government, the provincial legislature proceeds to pass or to refuse whatever policies are brought before its panels. For instance, the Western Cape Government recently passed a provincial Strategic goal that was in accordance with the National Development Plan of 2030 which aims to improve the livelihoods of the residents of its jurisdiction (Treasury, 2017). This implementation affirms that policymaking at the provincial level is also dependent on or connected to the policy-making decisions from the national government, with provincial governments agreeing with and implementing certain prospective plans that will assist the lives of their citizens. Therefore, the provincial legislature plays the role of formulating, approving and sometimes funding public policies within the specific jurisdictions as is relayed within the locality or from the local governments.
The role of parliament in policy formation in South Africa
Parliament in South African policy processes holds arguably the most important stake nationwide. Composed of the national assembly and the national council of provinces, this parliament is the national conglomeration of the functions of policymaking. Therefore, while the provincial and local governments handle the lesser issues at the grassroots, the parliament in South Africa approves the national public policies and still vets the policies of the lower demarcations to determine policies worth of receiving funding from the treasury. The role of parliament in the public policy formation in South Africa begins with the preliminary determinations of the political parties of the nation. The national assembly, in its capacity, ascertains the most important policy statements of the nation as at the time of convening, policies which are then brought to the table for discussion. Once the scrutiny of the said policies is determined and examined conclusively, the public policies are then vetted by committees procured from the membership of both sides of the parliament. Eventually, the policies proposed by the parliamentarians of from the provincial and local government representatives formulate the national policies for South Africa. For example, the creation of the National Development Plan 2030 was carried out by a joint group formed by parliament to ascertain a roadmap for South Africa which would be used as a policy to steer the nation towards cohesion and economic development (Friedman, 2017). Therefore the role of the parliament in South Africa is to formulate critical policies such as the National Development plan 2030 and to approve or decline the proposed plans from the lower governments of the nation.
The parliament of South Africa acts as the middle point between all the interests of the people of South Africa. For example, the parliament is tasked with liaising with the Chapter 9 institutions and the NEDLAC organizations to ascertain the interests of all of these companies and include the same in the policies formulated for the nation. This task involves determining the existent requirements such as the possible impacts of the policy documents towards trade and business as well as the necessary inclusions of human rights related issues within national policy programs. Consequently, the parliament of South Africa plays the role of the national policy-making authority through liaising with the heads the chapter 9 institutions and the NEDLAC group of organizations to determine all spheres of public policy before implementation.
The role of Chapter 9 Institutions in policy making in South Africa
The Chapter 9 institutions of South Africa are hum...