The moving line between state benevolence and control: Municipal indigent programmes in South Africa

dc.contributor.authorRuiters, Greg
dc.date.accessioned2021-07-16T08:54:59Z
dc.date.available2021-07-16T08:54:59Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.description.abstractfree 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.en_US
dc.identifier.citationuiters, 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/10.1177/0021909616667522en_US
dc.identifier.issn1745-2538
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1177/0021909616667522
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10566/6418
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherSAGEen_US
dc.subjectFree basic servicesen_US
dc.subjectIndigentsen_US
dc.subjectLocal governmenten_US
dc.subjectPolicy analysisen_US
dc.subjectSouth Africaen_US
dc.subjectSurveillanceen_US
dc.titleThe moving line between state benevolence and control: Municipal indigent programmes in South Africaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
0021909616667522.pdf
Size:
171.83 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: