Should All Municipal Managers Get The Boot?
With the election of new councils on 18 May, many municipal managers are likely to lose their jobs. The same applies to the managers reporting to the municipal managers.
Community Participation and Ward Committees
While ward committees are known to communities, they continue to attract fierce criticism. Many communities are disillusioned and feel that participation in ward committees does very little to express their voice. In many instances, they rather choose public protests or the withholding of rates and taxes as mechanisms to get their needs on the municipal agenda. The Constitutional Court has on several occasions evaluated municipalities’ efforts to facilitate community participation in respect of key decisions. This indicates that the courts are taking community participation seriously.
Professional Administration Crucial For Service Delivery.
Municipalities cannot deliver on their developmental mandate without suitably qualified and professional staff. However, evidence shows that the lack of good governance of staff matters in many municipalities results in service delivery failures. Local government needs to professionalise and be professionalised – and there are three aspects to this which this article discusses.
Electing The Last District Councils?
The question waiting to be answered is whether this will be the last election that features districts as a political institution. Of the three local government structures – metropolitan, local and district municipality – only district municipalities’ value in promoting developmental local government is questioned. Many critics suggest that districts do indeed serve a purpose. Others contend strongly that they should be disestablished.
Local Government Elections: Electoral Rule and Regulations
Municipal elections will be held on 18 May 2011. Here is a brief outline of the most critical rules that govern these elections.
Party Manifestos For The Third Local Government Elections 18 May 2011.
With the local government elections set for 18 May, political parties are preparing their party policies and manifestos in a bid to woo voters. A survey of the party manifestos and statements ahead of the elections reveals five main themes: local economic development; improving access to municipal service delivery; community safety; community participation and involvement; and curbing corruption and strengthening local governance.
Local Elections 2011: The Lay Of The BattleGround.
The local elections on 18 May 2011 will be among the most important and interesting elections in South Africa since 1994, as the ANC and the DA join battle for control of the country’s municipalities. Enjoying massive support from the electorate, the ANC has been consistently formidable at election time, but recently has been losing some ground in by elections. Across the country, the party also faces growing pressure from communities demanding better service delivery and accountable government. The growing trend in recent years for public protests to turn violent is worrying.
A Single Election For All Three Spheres Would Be A Bad Idea.
The ANC is debating whether to introduce a single election cycle for all three spheres of government. If this idea goes ahead, it means that in 2014 voters will elect representatives for national, provincial and local governments on the same day. The main arguments for this move are that a single election would reduce the costs of elections, facilitate the deployment of senior politicians to municipalities (which is necessary to boost municipal performance), and improve the alignment of planning and budgeting across the three spheres. None of these arguments has merit. On the contrary, this reform would disrupt municipal governance and service delivery. More importantly, it would reduce local elections to the status of mini-national elections, spelling the end of any prospect of real local democracy in South Africa.
The Tender Process and Blacklisted Suppliers.
The courts view the blacklisting of suppliers by the National Treasury in a very serious light and confirm that organs of state are allowed to cancel contracts concluded with suppliers who, when tendering for a contract, knowingly and wrongfully fail to disclose their inclusion on the National Treasury’s database as companies or persons prohibited from doing business with the public sector.
The Withholding of Rates and Taxes in Five Municipalities.
The Community Law Centre, in partnership with the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and SALGA, recently completed a research project on the phenomenon of rates withholding in five South African municipalities. ‘Rates withholding’ is the practice by ratepayers of withholding their property rates and, in some cases, fees for municipal services because they believe that municipalities are not delivering. We argue that this practice, though less visible than service delivery protests, is equally destructive.
Trends in Community Protest: From 2007 to 2010.
The research was undertaken by Hirsh Jain, a Harvard Law School visiting fellow at the Community Law Centre. This article summarises Jain’s findings relating to the frequency of protests, the incidence of violent protests, the impact of the 2008/09 economic recession, the geographical spread of protests per province, and the types of concerns that fuel protests.
The Future of Local Government in Zimbabwe: A Policy Dialogue.
On 30 September 2010, the Community Law Centre launched a book entitled The future of local government in Zimbabwe: A policy dialogue in Harare, Zimbabwe.The launch was attended by the Deputy Minister for Local Government, Rural and Urban Development, Sesel Zvidzai, MP; the mayor of Harare, Muchadeyi Masunda; and other dignitaries. Zemelak Ayele summarises the book’s content.
The Future of Local Government: According To The ANC.
The ANC’s National General Council (NGC) is a forum at which the organisation’s progress and challenges are reviewed between national conferences. It is the highest body of the ANC, after the national congress, and convenes every five years. The third NGC, which sought to review the ANC’s performance against policies adopted by the Polokwane conference, was held in Durban in September. Its important outcome for the local governance sector is that there will soon be a summit on local government.
Review of the Local Government Fiscal Framework.
In 2009, SALGA recommended to the Local Government Budget Forum that there should be a review of many aspects of fiscal policies in relation to municipal finances. This year SALGA proposed a comprehensive review of the local government fiscal framework (LGFF). While there have been some ad hoc policy changes over the past few years, many remain incomplete or unattended to. In SALGA’s view, the review of the LGFF should address the fundamental structural challenges, rather than introducing minor ad hoc adjustments, if it is to improve operational efficiency in the short and long term.
Leadership Matters: Professionalising Political Leadership.
Moves are afoot to professionalise the administrative arm of local government. First, the National Treasury has prescribed a competency framework for municipal officials at senior and middle management levels. All senior and middle managers must have acquired the prescribed competencies by 1 January 2013, after which no candidate without the requisite competencies can be appointed. These regulations also make it necessary for current employees to attain these competencies by 31 December 2012.
From the Courts: Power to terminate services for unpaid rates.
Body Corporate Croftdene Mall v eThekwini Municipality (16977/2009) [2010] ZAKZDHC 20 (1 May 2010)
Consequences of Failing to Adopt a Budget by 30 June.
Political disagreements in a municipal council sometimes lead to stalemates on important matters such as the adoption of a municipal budget. Failure to adopt a budget by 30 June triggers the question: must the provincial government intervene, and, if so, how? This matter was the subject of a recent ruling of the Western Cape High Court. In this case, the High Court for the first time addressed the mandatory provisions of section 139(4) of the Constitution.
Conflict of Interest in Property Valuation: Keeping It Above Board.
How do conflicts of interest affect the implementation of the Municipal Property Rates Act (MPRA) and what can municipalities do to lessen their impact?
Woman's Employment Equity in Local Government.
Gender equity is a key objective of government policy, as seen in national government’s target of 50:50 gender representation in senior management by March 2009. However, recent research shows that this target is far from being met.
The Toilet War.
The City of Cape Town built unenclosed toilets in Makhaza, an informal settlement in Ward 95 of Khayelitsha. It did so on the understanding that the community would erect their own enclosures. This led to a public outcry, protests by the ANC Youth League (ANCYL), an investigation by the Human Rights Commission and even a court challenge. The media has dubbed the dispute ‘the toilet war.
Quality of Political Leadership is Crucial for Effective Service Delivery.
The Centre for Policy Studies recently completed a study on the role of elected local councillors, particularly ward councillors, in service delivery in South Africa. Currently the public do not see local councillors playing an active role in service delivery. Much of the commentary on service delivery protests appears to focus on the role of municipal technocrats and administrators, as well as contracted service providers.
Limitations of Section 62 Appeal Procedure.
Section 62 of the Municipal Systems Act provides that any person ‘whose rights are affected by a decision taken by a political structure, political office bearer, councillor or staff memberof a municipality in terms of a power or duty delegated or sub-delegated by a delegating authority to the political structure, political office bearer, councillor or staff member, may appeal against that decision by giving written notice of the appeal and reasons to themunicipal manager within 21 days of the date of the notification of the decision.
From the Courts: The cart before the horse? An award of tender contracts before legal compliance?
Diggers Development (Pty) Ltd v City of Matlosana and Isago@N12 (Pty) Ltd (47201/09) [2010] ZAGPPHC 15.
Effective Service Delivery
The Legal Resources Centre (LRC), in conjunction with the Trust for Community Outreach and Education (TCOE), has produced a booklet on municipal commonages. As not much has been written on the subject in South Africa, it aims to educate the public on what municipal commonages are, their history and how to go about acquiring municipal commonage through state funds.
Towards a Professionalised Management at Local Government
The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) has published proposed amendments to the Municipal Systems Act which will do much to promote a more professional administration by way of better-qualified senior management, more impartiality and greater efficiency.
The Budget Vote for Local Government.
On 22 April 2010, the Minister for CooperativeGovernance and Traditional Affairs, Sicelo Shiceka, presented Parliament with his department’s budget vote for the 2010/11 financial year. The significance of this particular budget vote is that it is the first for CoGTA since the launch of the Local Government Turnaround Strategy (LGTAS) in December 2009.
Resolution of SAMWU Strike by SALGA Commendable.
The recent strike by the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) centred on two key issues: inequity in wage curves (the income bands according to which workers are categorised) and the disciplinary bargaining collective agreement which governs the union.
Property Rates Latest Development.
Property rates, as a form of tax imposed on the market value of land and buildings, are the key source of revenue for municipalities. The framework for the imposition of property rates is carefully regulated by the Municipal Property Rates Act (Act 6 of 2004) (MPRA), which provides municipalities with a measure of discretion in determining and levying property rates in a localised context. The imposition of property rates is, however, subject to national limits or maximums. This article discusses some recent developments with regard to these maximums (ratios), as well as the suggested amendments to the MPRA.
Municipal Duties to Occupiers Facing Evictions From Private Land.
While a number of recent judgments have confirmed the duty of municipalities to ‘meaningfully engage’ with unlawful occupiers before seeking to evict them from municipal land, they did not clearly establish the duties of municipalities to occupiers who face eviction from private land.
Local Government in Kenya
Like most post-colonial states in Africa, Kenya inherited its local government structure from the colonial government. The City of Nairobi was created by royal charter in 1950 and a local government ordinance was passed in 1960 to regulate local government. Local government in the colonial era was primarily meant to serve the growing white settler community in Nairobi and other areas.
