Volume 8, Issue 5, November 2006.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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?

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.

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?