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| Title: | The role of the National Council of Provinces within the framework of co-operative government in South Africa: a legal analysis with special regard to the role of the Bundesrat in Germany |
| Author: | Wittneben, Mirko |
| Year: | 2002 |
| Periodical: | Verfassung und Recht in Übersee |
| Volume: | 35 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Pages: | 232-289 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | South Africa |
| Subjects: | constitutions 1996 central-local government relations regional government |
| Abstract: | The role of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), like second chambers of parliament in other constitutional systems, is to review South Africa's national legislation with a view to bringing to bear upon it regional interests and concerns. This is achieved by 'participating in the national legislative process and by providing a national forum for public consideration of issues affecting the provinces'. As a constitutional body, the NCOP has no direct precedent in the world though it is closely modelled on the Bundesrat, that is the German 'Federal Council of provinces'. This article provides an outline of the multilevel system in South Africa. It examines some of the provisions relating to federal governance articulated in the 1996 Constitution and compares them with similar features found in the German Constitution. The main focus is on the role of the NCOP within the framework of cooperative government. The article evaluates the composition and voting procedures of the NOCP, its special functions and its role in the legislative process. It attempts to ascertain whether the NCOP fulfils its functions in a manner consistent with the principle of cooperative government provided in chapter 3 of the constitution and it questions whether a change in the provisions relating the NCOP would enhance the principle of cooperative government. As a basis for comparison, attention is paid to the model provided for in German federalism and the Bundesrat. The German federal experience is valuable because of its immense influence on the drafting of the South African Constitution. The article further explores why the drafters of the South African Constitution relied so heavily on the German federal experience and illuminates the reasons for the NCOP's deviation from the model provided for by the Bundesrat. Notes, ref. sum. (p. 180-181). |
