{"id":560,"date":"2026-11-11T14:47:56","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T12:47:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/?p=560"},"modified":"2026-11-12T13:30:45","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T11:30:45","slug":"federalism-does-not-have-to-wait-for-constitutional-reform-communities-are-already-applying-it-afriforum-institute-for-federalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/en\/federalism-does-not-have-to-wait-for-constitutional-reform-communities-are-already-applying-it-afriforum-institute-for-federalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Federalism does not have to wait for constitutional reform \u2013 communities are already applying it \u2013 AfriForum Institute for Federalism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Dr.-Martin-van-Staden-ENG.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Soundbite: Dr Martin van Staden (English)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Communities do not need to wait for political or constitutional reform to put federalism into practice. The establishment of community institutions \u2013 such as AfriForum and other entities within the Solidarity Movement \u2013 through which communities themselves take responsibility for their own safety, education, and even basic service delivery, demonstrates that federalism is already developing from the grassroots level. This is the core message conveyed by Dr Martin van Staden, head of the newly established AfriForum Institute for Federalism (AIF), in his public lecture titled \u201cFederalism and Federation in South Africa Today,\u201d which was presented today (11 November) at the AfriForum Theatre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This new institute serves as the civil rights organisation\u2019s general research and policy development center, and as an instrument for promoting thought and research on federalism, self-determination, decentralisation, and community autonomy and participation. The AIF strives to establish an intellectual foundation for a future in which communities can exercise greater authority and responsibility over their own affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today\u2019s public lecture is the first of its kind for the AIF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Van Staden, South Africa is already constitutionally a federation, despite the perception that the country is a unitary state. He maintains, however, that the country\u2019s constitutional framework has failed to allow federalism to develop in any meaningful way, as political and financial authority remains largely centralised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe current Constitution of South Africa is a federal constitution in structure and design, as provincial and municipal powers are constitutionally entrenched rather than being subject to the discretion of the central government,\u201d explains Van Staden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, he warns that constitutional provisions alone are insufficient to ensure the decentralisation of powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have a formal federal Constitution that lacks the substance of federalism, and we have a vibrant and prosperous federalist reality developing at the grassroots level, without much of a federal form,\u201d adds Van Staden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his lecture, Van Staden examined, among other things, South Africa\u2019s federalist tradition since the 1850s, highlighting how federalism was considered time and again \u2013 notably during the negotiations preceding the establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910 \u2013 as an alternative to centralised political authority. Although a unitary system was ultimately adopted at the time, federalist ideas continued to influence political movements throughout the 20th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He argues that history shows that federalism has never belonged exclusively to a single cultural group or political community; rather, various communities recognised its potential to protect local autonomy and limit the concentration of political power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Van Staden believes that these initiatives are more than just a temporary response to the failure of public services, and that they instead demonstrate how communities can build institutions and take responsibility for their own interests in a meaningful way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is important to distinguish federalism from the mere decentralisation of government functions, since true federalism requires communities to take responsibility for their successes and failures,\u201d emphasises Van Staden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Van Staden believes that, while constitutional reform is important, the practical development of self-sustaining communities is the immediate priority. \u201cAs these institutions become more established, opportunities may arise to entrench their authority through constitutional arrangements,\u201d he concludes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Martin-van-Staden-Federalism-and-Federation-in-South-Africa-Today-Full-Speech-ENG.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:400px\" aria-label=\"Embed of Martin van Staden Federalism and Federation in South Africa Today Full Speech ENG.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-48cb505e-a78c-48b5-9138-aa841f28e28d\" href=\"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Martin-van-Staden-Federalism-and-Federation-in-South-Africa-Today-Full-Speech-ENG.pdf\">Martin van Staden Federalism and Federation in South Africa Today Full Speech ENG<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Martin-van-Staden-Federalism-and-Federation-in-South-Africa-Today-Full-Speech-ENG.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-48cb505e-a78c-48b5-9138-aa841f28e28d\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Communities do not need to wait for political or constitutional reform to put federalism into practice. The establishment of community institutions \u2013 such as AfriForum and other entities within the Solidarity Movement \u2013 through which communities themselves take responsibility for their own safety, education, and even basic service delivery, demonstrates that federalism is already developing&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[30],"class_list":["post-560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media-statements","tag-news"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":20,"label":"Media statements"}],"post_tag":[{"value":30,"label":"News"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Dr_Martin_van_Staden_hoof_AfriForum_Instituut_vir_Federalisme-1024x680.jpeg",1024,680,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"chante.kelder@afriforum.co.za","author_link":"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/en\/author\/chante-kelderafriforum-co-za\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":20,"name":"Media statements","slug":"media-statements","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":20,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":20,"category_count":2,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Media statements","category_nicename":"media-statements","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":30,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":30,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":4,"filter":"raw"}],"fimg_url":"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Dr_Martin_van_Staden_hoof_AfriForum_Instituut_vir_Federalisme.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":594,"href":"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560\/revisions\/594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.federalisme.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}