the africa local government action forum (algaf) - Municipal ...

Pro-poor governmentPro-poor government is context specific and it depends on a number of factors includinghow defines poverty. Poverty reduction does not only require good policies butdeveloping the capacity of the poor people to influence policies, and to holdaccountable those make decisions.The market led approach to pro-poor governance of business development aims toenable local economies to adjust more successfully to macro-economic reforms andemphasize the goals promoting individual self-reliance, entrepreneurship, expansion ofthe market, competitiveness, reduction of unemployment and sustainable growth. Bycontrast, the market-critical or pro-poor approach of community developmentrepresents a bottom up approach geared to goals of achieving local self, reliance,empowerment, participation, local cooperation, and environmental sustainability.Governments ApproachThe South African Government’s approach is broad targeting emphasizing the deliveryof key services to poorer people such as housing, health, education and grants. This ishowever, a mammoth task, as evidenced by backlogs which have resulted in servicedelivery protests.In the housing sector the 2009 Provincial Budget Review makes the point thatgovernment has provided approximately 2.6 million housing units since 1994 and anestimated 1.8 million households still require some form of public support to accessacceptable housing. The 2.6 million houses came at a cost of R 49 billion, at a grossaverage cost of R18 850 per unit and an annual delivery rate of 200 000 units a year.Regarding the education sector, South Africa spends a large proportion of its budget oneducation. The post-1994 era has seen the education system drastically transformed inan attempt to ensure an equitable and quality education. Schooling has been madecompulsory for all children aged between 7 and 15 years. A no-fee schools policy wasestablished in 2008 covering 13 912 schools benefiting about 5 million pupils.The presenter also gave examples of the health sector and the social grants transfers asgovernment approaches to pro-poor government.Civil Society Organizations’ ApproachThis is based on four pillars namely research, advocacy, capacity development andlitigation. A lot of work has been done by NGOs in South Africa regarding Research andCapacity Development for pro-poor government. This includes work done by the BudgetInformation Service (BIS) as well as the Children’s Budget Unit (CBU).3