English, and Only in Settings Chosen Only by • Participation Was Widespread, Including by the Poor and Disadvantaged
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Accountability in Public Services Public Disclosure Authorized in South Africa Public Disclosure Authorized Selected Issues Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Accountability in Public Services in South Africa Selected Issues March 2011 © 2011 Photo credits: Cover and pages 9, 33, and 65 by John Hogg; pages 13, 25, 53, 71, 87, 105, 117, and 123 by Trevor Samson. Design, editing, and production by Communications Development Incorporated, Washington, DC. Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii Executive Summary 1 Introduction 9 Chapter 1 Progress in Service Coverage and Quality 13 Setting the stage 13 Challenges to public services 14 Public expenditures on basic services 16 Targeting of government spending 18 Assessments of services 19 The rising tide of service delivery protests 22 Chapter 2 Citizen Voice 25 Elections 26 Political accountability at the local level 26 Broader political accountability 28 Conclusion 31 Chapter 3 The Compact 33 The compact 33 Measuring inputs, outputs, and outcomes 37 Procedures 37 Silos 38 Community Development Workers 40 Enclaves 41 Contracts 42 Decentralization: international experience 43 The system of decentralization in South Africa 46 Performance of local governments in South Africa 49 Chapter 4 Citizen-User Power 53 The Batho Pele principles of consultation and redress 54 Improving information flow 55 ACCOUNTABILITY IN PUBLIC SERVICES IN SOUTH AFRICA iii Provider choice and user fees or copayments 60 Participatory local government budgeting and development planning 61 Community-driven development 62 Chapter 5 Participatory Assessment of Service Delivery 65 The municipalities 65 The methodology 66 Results by service 67 Results by municipality 68 Perceptions of communities 69 Perceptions of service providers 69 Conclusion 70 Chapter 6 Education 71 Change and challenges 71 Learning outcomes 71 Public spending 73 Public spending and learning outcomes: an association 74 Funding the schools 74 The enabling — and disabling — environment for teachers 76 Accountability at the school level 81 Policy recommendations and research agenda 84 Chapter 7 Water and Sanitation 87 The changing approaches to service provision 88 Infrastructure provision for water services 89 Deteriorating water services 94 Accountability relationships in the water sector 95 Conclusions and policy recommendations 101 Notes 103 Chapter 8 Toward Local and Community-Driven Development 105 Approaches toward community and local government empowerment 105 Centralization versus decentralization 106 Participation in sectoral programs 107 Social action funds 108 Community-driven development and decentralization 109 Accountability mechanisms 110 Toward a model of coproduction of services 110 The status of and prospects for local and community-driven development 112 Conclusion 114 iv ACCOUNTABILITY IN PUBLIC SERVICES IN SOUTH AFRICA Chapter 9 Approaches and Tools for Effecting Change 117 Quality control and lean production in automobile manufacturing 117 World Bank and South African experience 118 Monitoring inputs and outputs 119 Impact evaluation 120 Chapter 10 Conclusions 123 Broad recommendations 125 Sector-specific recommendations 125 Annex 1 Policy Matrix 127 Annex 2 South Africa’s Legal Framework for Community-Driven Development Grant Funding Mechanisms 131 Annex 3 Scaling Up Local and Community-Driven Development 133 Annex 4 Land Reform in South Africa: Legacies, Limits, and Innovations 139 Annex 5 Project Consolidate: Hands-On Local Government Support and Engagement Program 145 References 147 Boxes 1.1 The Community Works Program 14 1.2 The Treatment Action Group 16 2.1 Elections in South Africa 27 2.2 Improving local development through community-based planning 30 4.1 Citizen report cards: Bangalore and Uganda 57 4.2 Reporting absenteeism in the health and education sectors 59 5.1 Tzaneen politicians’ views of their role 68 6.1 School-based performance awards in Chile 81 6.2 Meta-analysis of school-based management initiatives in the United States 83 7.1 Instances of disease attributable to poor management of water services 94 7.2 Examples of current institutional models for water services provision 98 7.3 Focus groups in eThekwini Metro 100 7.4 Citizen awareness of rights and responsibilities 101 8.1 The Comilla model of rural development 107 8.2 The contest between centralization and decentralization in India, 1948 to present 107 ACCOUNTABILITY IN PUBLIC SERVICES IN SOUTH AFRICA v 8.3 The Bamako Initiative in Benin, Mali, and Guinea 108 8.4 Design principles for community-driven development 110 8.5 Six innovations in financial accountability for community project management 111 8.6 Linking sector programs, local government, and communities 111 8.7 Proposed program of community development grants 114 Figures 1 Service provider institutions: the short and long routes to accountability and the three relationships 1, 9 2 Accountability relationships and functions 11 1.1 Real expenditure on basic public services, 1995/96–2009/10 (2005 prices) 16 1.2 Expenditure on basic public services as a share of GDP, 1995/96–2009/10 17 1.3 Major expenditure areas as a share of total budget, 1995/96–2009/10 17 1.4 Expenditure on basic public services as a share of total budget, 1995/96– 2009/10 17 1.5 Per capita expenditure on basic public services, 1995/96–2009/10 18 1.6 Social protests, 2004–2010 22 3.1 Example of a silo’s functions in a land reform project 39 3.2 Decentralization of services 44 3.3 Decentralizing accountability relationships 44 3.4 Transfers by type, 2003/2004–2009/2010 49 3.5 Key interventions proposed by the Local Government Turnaround Strategy 50 4.1 Share of funds reaching Ugandan schools 56 5.1 Scores of accountability, by service and accountability leg 69 5.2 Accountability challenges perceived by service providers (percent) 70 5.3 Accountability challenges perceived by politicians (percent) 70 6.1 Average grade 8 Trends in International Math and Science Study math test score and difference between poorest and richest quintile, with share of difference due to within- and between-school differences 72 6.2 Average grade 5 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study reading test score and difference between poorest and richest quintile, with share of difference due to within- and between-school differences 72 6.3 Difference between poorest and richest quintile in Southern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality math and reading test score, with share of difference due to within- and between-school differences 73 6.4 Expenditure incidence of primary and secondary schools, public spending over time in South Africa and selected developing countries 73 6.5 Efficiency index of public spending on education in each quintile 74 6.6 Premiums in monthly and hourly earnings of public sector teachers, private sector teachers, and other public sector employees, relative to private sector employees (1995 to 2006) 79 6.7 Students attending schools where the principal reports that more than 50 percent of parents participate in three types of school-based activities, by socioeconomic quintile of the student 82 7.1 Access to water and sanitation in South Africa, 2008 89 7.2 User satisfaction with municipal water services, 2005–2009 92 7.3 Average payments for water services, 2004–2009 92 7.4 Key trends in networked water and sanitation 93 vi ACCOUNTABILITY IN PUBLIC SERVICES IN SOUTH AFRICA 7.5 Civil engineering professionals in local government, 2005 93 7.6 The formal division of responsibility for water services provision 95 7.7 Applying the World Development Report triangle to water servicing in South Africa, 2008 96 8.1 Index of sector decentralization in 19 countries 109 A1 Basic institutional requirements 134 Tables 3.1 Forms of decentralization 45 3.2 Vertical division of revenue, 2003/2004–2009/10 (ZAR million) 49 4.1 Absenteeism rates in developing countries (percent) 57 4.2 Teacher absenteeism rates in Indian states (percent) 58 4.3 Teachers absent during an unannounced visit to randomly selected schools 58 5.1 Characteristics of the six municipalities 65 5.2 Satisfaction with access to services across municipalities (percent) 66 5.3 Complaints and compliments about quality of services 67 5.4 Total adverse comments across municipalities, by accountability leg 69 6.1 Spending per student by type of spending and school quintile, 2005 (ZAR per student) 74 6.2 Disbursed public spending on school grants that actually reach schools: results from Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys 75 6.3 Time devoted to teaching and learning in basic education (percent) 77 6.4 Estimates of teacher earnings “premium,” based on analysis of household survey data 78 6.5 Estimates of teacher earnings “premium,” based on analysis of individual and household survey data: pooled data from 1995 to 2006 79 6.6 Actual and simulated teacher earnings at different points in the earnings distribution 80 ACCOUNTABILITY IN PUBLIC SERVICES IN SOUTH AFRICA vii Preface In 1994, the legacy of apartheid presented the Rationale and justification new South Africa with enormous challenges: This study attempts to shed light on service poverty, inequality, and the immense aspira- delivery capacity and quality challenges in South tions for greater access to basic public services. Africa by analyzing the institutions that “pro- The government immediately began address- duce” services. “Institutions” are not defined as ing these challenges by enshrining constitu- “organizations” but as the rules that govern the tional rights to service access, radically reform- interaction between service providers and ben- ing economic and sector policies, and funding eficiaries. This study examines the accountability ambitious service delivery programs. A new relationships among citizen-users, policymakers, governance and administrative framework for and service providers. These relationships can racially diverse provinces and municipalities be seen as the three legs of a triangle: the first had to be built — and the new structure had leg represents accountability between citizen- to progress quickly in delivering the improved users and politicians/ policymakers, the second services expected by the people.