Are District Municipalities Still Relevant?
A lot of talk and discussion documents have been making the rounds in the past two or three years about the imminent restructuring of the state machinery and the review of provinces. Yet little or nothing is said about the inevitable question: What is the future of district municipalities?
Stimulating Sustainable Development: The National Framework for Local Economic Development in South Africa.
The National Framework for Local Economic Development in South Africa aims to support the development of sustainable local economies through integrated government action. The Framework comprises four main strategies, which the article discusses in details.
Return to Sender: Municipalities and the Postal Services Act
The Postal Services Act of 1998 stipulates that delivery of all "letters, postcards, printed matter, small parcels..." is a reserved service which may only be performed by a licensed provider. The delivery of Bills, statements of accounts, notices and such documents sent by municipalities to consumers of municipal services falls within the definition of reserved services.
Municipality's Share of the National Pie: New Grants, More Money in the Fight Against Poverty.
The Division of Revenue Bill 2007, introduced by the Minister of Finance, Trevor Manual, sets out the allocations local government will receive for the 2007/2008 financial year. The Bill not only determines local government's equitable share of revenue raised by the national government, but it also contains a number of innovations. The most important are the new conditional grants- the Neighbourhood Development Partnership grant and the Water Services Bulk Infrastructure grant.
The Winds of Change: Local Government Gaining Momentum
Decentralisation and Local Government are fast becoming buzz words of African governments busy reconfiguring their state structure. This has not always been the case. Centralisation of power has long been considered a solution for African ills. With the increasing shifting of powers to local government, the tight grip of central governments on power is slowly but surely loosening.
Legal Briefs.
Does Item 12 of the Code of Conduct for Councillors prevent Councillors from acquiring municipal property?
Immunity for Councillors: Testimony Outside Council.
Councillor's immunity from civil liability for anything they say in council is an important cornerstone of constitutional democracy and protects councillors from defamation actions. But the ambit of the immunity is not without limit.
Decentralised Response to HIV & AIDS.
In recent years, many municipalities have started formulating and implementing their HIV and AIDS response strategies and much progress has been made. However, most are still grasping with the issue and responses are often limited in nature, concentrating on some aspects of a comprehensive AIDS response but not yet to the extent of a well-coordinated and integrated HIV and AIDS strategy.
Community Participation: The Cornerstone of Local Participatory Democracy.
Community participation is key to the functioning of local government. One of the constitutional objects of local government is to encourage the involvement of communities and community organisations in local government. The Landmark Doctors for Life and Matatiele judgments, passed by the Constitutional Court in August 2006, are critical for the interpretation of the law of community participation in local government.
A secret ballot?
The Municipal Structures Act provides that the election of office-bearers must take place in a secret ballot. However, it does not stipulate what the consequences would be if every councillor did not, in fact, cast his or her vote in secret.
The Practice of Premier's Intergovernmental Forums
The Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act, which came into effect on 15 August 2005, requires that all provinces must have established Premier's Intergovernmental Forums within one year of the Act coming into operation. That year has come and gone. Have the PIF's been established? Are they functioning as envisaged by the Act?
The Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act: A Year in the Provinces and Districts.
The Community Law Centre hosted a national conference on the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act. A year in the provinces and districts at the University of the Western Cape. The aim of the conference was to review the implementation of the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act, No 13 of 2005.
Municipalities and Clean Development Mechanism Projects.
Landfill sites are excellent opportunities for municipalities to develop Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects, but the window of opportunity for municipalities to do is limited. What are the phases or steps in the development of a CDM project?
HIV & AIDS: Why and How Local Government Must Respond.
The epidemic, its prevention and its consequences require coordinated responses of all institutions and sectors involved in municipal development. While municipalities may need further guidance through national programmes to know how to respond, the municipal management gas to ensure that appropriate measures are being implemented on the ground.
Executive Commitees: Proportional or Fair Representation?
The recent debate over plans to change the type of government in the City of Cape Town raised some interesting questions about the composition of executive committees. It is often assumed that am executive committee must be based on proportional representation, with seats automatically assigned according to the representation of each party in the municipal council. While this is possible and in most cases desirable, the courts have held that it is an option open to the municipal council but not an imperative.
District Intergovernmental Forums: Measuring Compliance With the Act.
The Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act requires that, within one year of its coming into operation, districts must have established district intergovernmental forums. Has this been done and are they functioning effectively?
Calming the "Cape storm" Intergovernmental Relations in Action.
The highly politicised dispute in the City if Cape Town about a proposed change in the system of governance from an executive mayoral system to an executive committee system was finally resolved by an agreement between Mayor Helen Zille and MEC Richard Dyantyi. The dispute settlement mediated by Minister Sydney Mufamadi is a good illustration of how the intergovernmental Relations Framework operates in practice.
Who Wants to be President When You Can be Mayor: Career Patterns of Local Government Politicians: The Case of Metropolitan Mayors.
Local Government is emerging as a strong third sphere of government. Within local government, metropolitan cities are coming out as powerful institutions. Meanwhile, the discussion on the role of provincial government's is raging. This article looks at the impact of the emergence of local government on career patterns of politicians.
When Everything is Political: A Customer Care Model For Local Government.
A mayor was called to a community meeting. People had been promised houses, but where were they? The mayor had no houses handy and she had not made the promise, but the people were angry. One man got up and threatened to drive out those who had been allocated houses in a neighbouring development. Conflict was in the air. The mayor listened. She had no magic solution to this problem, but she listened and show the people that she understood. She did not solve the problem but she did defuse the crisis.
The State of Our Cities.
The South African Cities Network recently released its 2006 State of the Cities Report. This report is an update of the 2004 report, which looked at how cities were confronting the challenges of the post-apartheid era. The 2006 report focuses on the trends in municipal governance between 2001 and 2006. It also provides an in depth analysis of some of the challenges that municipalities face and outlines policy options available to them in addressing these challenges.
Stepping Stones and Stumbling Blocks: Changing Municipal Boundaries.
The Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) is entrusted with the often difficult task of demarcating municipal boundaries. Disputes around cross-boundary municipalities and the changing of municipal boundaries have recently been the focus of violent protests by communities affected by these decisions. The MDB recently published a proposal about the incorporation of the Paarl, Wellington, Stellenbosch and Drakenstein municipalities into the Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The notice attracted much attention in the media and raised important questions around how the MDB engages with proposals received from the public.
The Duty to Involve the Public: The Constitutional Court Speaks.
The Constitutional Twelfth Amendment Act altered the basis for determining provincial boundaries and resulted in, among other things, in the changing of provincial boundaries between Kwazulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. It effectively relocated the local municipality of Matatiele from Sisonke District Municipality in KwaZulu Natal to the Alfred Nzo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape and relocated Umzimkhulu Local Municipality from Alfred Nzo District Municipality into the Sisonke District Municipality in KwaZulu Natal.
Municipalities and Clean Development Projects.
The emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is a major factor in climate change. The most recent scientific evidence shows that global warming is happening at an alarming and increasing rate.
Making Headlines
Gauteng has officially been declared a global city region. It is set to become the 12th largest metropolitan settlement in the world by 2015. Gauteng is already recognised as a global city region with a population of over 9.5 million people and the fourth largest economy in Africa. It contributes more than a third of the country's GDP.
EU-Africa strategy: A way out of poverty?
The Good Governance Learning Network is a loose network of South African NGO's that focuses on promoting good governance. It is funded by the Ford Foundation and supported by other funding partners such as the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and the Open Society Foundation for South Africa.
Tying Municipal Manager's Pay to Performance.
Municipal managers are well paid-too well, it has sometimes been argued. Many wonder why the head public servants of local government should earn more than mayors, or in some cases even the President. The remuneration of managers became a hot issue in the run-up to the recent local government elections. the Department of Provincial and Government recently gazetted new regulations on the performance and remuneration of municipal managers.
Managing Expectations While Commiting to Improved Service.
The writing of the Buffalo City Service Charter was an iterative process that involved a cross-section of officials in the municipality. During the sessions, the measurability of the promises and pledges on quality was hotly debated. Officials agreed that in the case of some services, like water and sanitation, there are national standards with which they have to comply.
Local Government: A Key Player in the Build-Up to 2010.
With the FIFA World Cup in Germany now over, four billion eyes will turn to South Africa and its cities to judge their readiness to host the prestigious event in 2010. Over 350 000 visitors are expected to descend to on the country to join 2.7 million local spectators for 43 days to watch some of the best national soccer teams in the world.
Legal Briefs: Proportional Leadership?
Let's say that in a collective executive system, Party A has 37 councillors, Party B has 13 and Party C has one. The Executive Committee has 10 Members and five standing committees. Is Party B entitled to chair a standing committee on the basis of proportionality.
From the Courts: Extending Municipal Managers Contracts
The Change of government in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Council has also seen a change in the office of the municipal manager. Although the decision of the Cape High Court in Mgoqi v City of Cape Town dealt with a number of issues, at the core of the dispute was whether the the outgoing mayor could have extended the contract of the then municipal manager, Wallace Mgoqi.
