Despite their potential to advise, support and strengthen local government in its response to HIV and AIDS epidemic, many local and district AIDS council are struggling to fulfil this role. This article reflects on a recent event, aimed at looking at the effectiveness of AIDS councils and ways of strengthening their performance. It is also a follow-up to the article on AIDS councils in the August 2007 issue of the Bulletin.
Who is liable to pay the municipal accounts of defaulting tenants?
The Department of Land Affairs has tabled the long-awaited Land Use Management Bill, No 27 of 2008 (the Bill). The Bill, scheduled to be passed this year, attempts to give effect to the 2001 White Paper on Spatial Planning and Land Use Management by establishing a coherent regulatory framework for land use management across the country. It is designed to clarify land use management roles among different spheres of government and establish a uniform structure and set of principles for reviewing and deciding development applications.
The Department of Provincial and Local Government recently announced draft Guidelines for Implementing Multilingualism in Local Government. The draft Guidelines attempt to provide for more systematic arrangements in meeting the linguistic needs of those who lack proficiency in English, or who are illiterate or disabled.
Section 56 of the Municipal Structures Act provides that the Executive Mayor is obliged to perform duties and exercise such powers as the council may delegate in terms of section 59 of the Municipal Systems Act. Section 55 of the Systems Act deals with the obligations of municipal managers and provides that the municipal manager is accountable only to the municipal council.
The recent electricity hikes have affected everyone from government to the private sector, and not least of all, the ordinary man on the street. As organs of state, municipalities, Eskom, the National Energy Regulator and the Minister of Finance may not act outside of the law. This article raises concerns about the legality of the electricity increases and the implications it has for local government.
How does a municipality make its decision-making procedures clear and legally sound? How does it ensure that every councillor participate meaningfully in council meetings? How does it keep council and committee meetings orderly and prevent councillors from abusing their freedom of Expression? This article explores these questions in detail and postulates solutions on how to ensure that the Rules and Orders of council are respected and achieve their intended purpose.
The DPLG's policy review process was kicked off with "65 questions for public engagements". Among the listed 65 questions, it asked: "What role should district municipalities play and how they should be structured?" A key problem has been the governance structure of districts: the uncomfortable combination of district-wide and local council representatives has not resulted in an integrated system of district government.
At independence in 1980, Zimbabwe inherited a racially divided system of local government that was highly centralised. The current legal and administrative structures of local government are a product of both the colonial history and post-colonial reconstruction of the relations between central government and local authorities.
The Department of Public Service and administration has published for comment a draft Public Administration Management Bill aimed at creating a single public service. The long-waited Bill is being promoted as the magic bullet for addressing capacity shortages and streaming service delivery. The intention is that the Bill will be submitted to Parliament in June and passed this year. We outline key aspects of the Bill and raise a number of concerns.
Local AIDS Councils: New Developments Toward Better Functioning.