The Role of Political Parties at the Local Government Level A Refl ection on South Africa at the time of the Policy Process of Review on Decentralisation

The ongoing review of decentralisation in South Africa will defi nitely affect political parties’ legitimisation mechanisms at the local level. For this reason, one may expect the same actors, together with civil society organisations (CSOs), to be actively involved in the policy process of review. Their apparent low involvement in this process is taken as this policy brief’s starting point, which is aimed at focusing on the role of political parties in local governments.1 The article also uses references in the case of Ghana to highlight the main challenges for local governments in South Africa, and suggests critical perspectives for further studies.