Editing Federation (section)

====South Africa====
[[File:Map of South Africa with English labels.svg|thumb|Provinces of South Africa]]
Although South Africa bears some elements of a federal system, such as the allocation of certain powers to provinces, some nevertheless argue that it is functionally a unitary state.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261213778|title=The type of government in the Republic of South Africa - Examining the presence of federal and unitary state elements in the republic|last1=Wright|first1=Jonathan Haydn Faure|date=31 March 2014|website=www.researchgate.net|access-date=8 November 2016|quote=After careful research and analysis of various sources and the constitution, it can be confirmed that the government system in the Republic of South Africa is a unitary system. Observance of the government in action, as well as analysis of the constitution, has contributed to this confirmation. Despite the delocalization enjoyed within the republic, the federal principle is not evident enough and it failed Wheare’s very simple federal test right in the beginning}}</ref> On the other hand, if federation is defined as the constitutional entrenchment of the powers of subcentral units (provinces, etc.) that is not unilaterally changeable or revocable by the central authority, South Africa does qualify, formally, as a federal state.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=van Staden |first=Martin |date=Fall 2021 |title=The Potential for Constitutional Devolution in South Africa |url=https://www.cato.org/cato-journal/fall-2021/potential-constitutional-devolution-south-africa |journal=[[Cato Journal]]}}</ref>