Decentralisation or recentralisation: international lessons for South Africa

Decentralisation is seen as an approach that will enhance the quality and the effectiveness of public administration. However, although in the recent decades developed and developing countries have shown this tendency towards decentralisation, the present inditacions are that some governments are retracting these efforts and prudent steps are being taken towards recentralisation. What was regarded as the major advantages of decentralisation are nowadays disputed issues. In this article decentralisation as applied in South Africa will be evaluated in the light of international tendencies and recommendations made regarding prerequisites for an effective decentralised system of governance.