Thesis (Ph.D. (Sociology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / The debate on decentralisation has intensified on various global platforms wherein
both developed and developing countries demonstrate interest in the subject. It is
acknowledged by scholars and practitioners in the fields of social sciences and
management sciences that decentralisation increases power and authority in sub-national governments. In the South African context, the Constitution of the Republic
South Africa (RSA) (Section 156(4)) provides that functions such as the housing
function must be assigned to local government. The Municipal Accreditation
Programme as implemented by the Department of Human Settlements (DHS) is a
classic case of decentralising (delegating and devolving) the housing function from
one sphere of government to another in South Africa (DHS, 2012). Regardless of the
constitutional provision for decentralisation, the challenge encountered is that the
provincial sphere of government is unwilling to delegate and devolve the housing
function to local government. As such, a scientific investigation was more than likely
to unearth some of the reasons for the unwillingness and challenges affecting the
Accreditation Programme in order to provide possible solutions and policy
recommendations regarding the problem identified. The purpose of the study was to
explore the challenges and perceptions on decentralising the housing function to the
local government in South Africa using the case of the Accreditation Programme. The
study was anchored by the Weberian Theory of Bureaucracy and Rationalisation.
Also, Peter Evans’s embedded thesis was utilised as ancillary to Weberian theory. A
qualitative research study was conducted wherein an exploratory case study design
was adopted. Purposive sampling was utilised to single out relevant participants for
the research problem identified. Interviews were conducted to gather data and
thematic data analysis was utilised to analyse data. Besides the solutions provided
which are more on the applied dimension for the empirical contribution of the study,
this study also provides a theoretical contribution by suggesting some fundamental
basis of a Weberian developmental state theory in the South African context. The
empirical and theoretical contribution that this study provides address the researcher’s
quest to contribute in generating knowledge on the subject of decentralisation. / Department of Human Settlements (DHS)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ul/oai:ulspace.ul.ac.za:10386/3370 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Mathonsi, Ntsako Simeon |
| Contributors | Sithole, S. L., Nyawasha, T. S. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | x, 388 leaves |
| Relation |
Page generated in 0.0027 seconds