ABSTRACT
This chapter details Local Economic Development (LED) policy positions in the country. The political reforms of the early 1990s and the subsequent era of reconciliation and compromise which followed has brought about fundamental social, political, economic and administrative reforms in the country. By contrast, LED policy positions adopted by government, the private sector and community groups are well advanced. During the course of 1994 and 1995, significant progress in the development and drafting of LED policies and strategies was made. In 1995 the government was finalising a separate LED policy, which took the form of an LED draft Green Paper. In advocating LED an appeal is made for a shift in government policy from its traditional ‘top-down’ orientation in South Africa to a ‘bottom-up’ focus which relies on creativity found at the local level. Local authorities are seen as playing a key role in LED and are encouraged to take a more pro-active stance in the area of economic development.
