The moving line between state benevolence and control: Municipal indigent programmes in South Africa
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Date
2018
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Publisher
SAGE
Abstract
free in South Africa. Having registered as municipal indigents, the poor not only gain access to free basic
services but also embark upon a voyage into a bureaucratic underworld where policies are changed and
eligibility criteria and sanctions are unevenly applied. Various preconditions and limits on services, as well
as social surveillance of indigent households, has turned indigency programmes into a ‘regime’. The policy
has swung from hard cost recovery (mass disconnections) during the period 1994–2000 to ‘free’ basic
services and, more recently, to social-shaming and criminalisation. This paper provides a thematic account
of recent municipal indigent processes in order to explore the ‘moving boundary’ between benevolence and
control regarding this crucial citizen–state interface. Based on recent interviews with government officials, a
review of relevant government documents, and describing the administrative complexities, the paper reveals
aspects of what the poor confront in day-to-day experiences of the state. It is argued that there are lessons
for all municipalities seeking a more sustainable and democratic path to citizenship rather than an ongoing
low-level war with poor citizens.
Description
Keywords
Free basic services, Indigents, Local government, Policy analysis, South Africa, Surveillance
Citation
uiters, G. (2018). The moving line between state benevolence and control: Municipal indigent programmes in South Africa . Journal of Asian and African Studies, 53(2), 169–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909616667522