Volume 4, Issue 3, September 2002

Easing Interventions in Local Government: The Proposed Constitutional Amendment

The proposed amendment to section 139 (2) of the Constitution, tabled in Parliament in August, creates new grounds on which a province may intervene in a municipality, obliges a province to intervene in certain circumstances and waters down the supervision function of the National Council of Provinces. In short, it eases provincial intervention in local government.

From SALGA: Local Democracy at Risk?

The Justice and Constitutional Development Portfolio Committee held public hearings on the Third Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2002, at Parliament on 5 and 6 December 2002.

Terms of Reference for Political Structures and Political Office Bearers

Every municipal council has the right to to determine its internal procedures. This right is protected by section 160 of the Constitution, which allows a municipality to decide how to structure its internal operations and what kind of mandate/area of responsibility it assigns to political structures, office-bearers and municipal manager.