De Visser and Steytler criticise new criteria for metros
According to the two professors, the Municipal Structures Amendment contains proposals to make it easier for the Municipal Demarcation Board to proclaim new metropolitan municipalities. In this submission to Parliament, Jaap de Visser and Nico Steytler, both professors at the Dullah Omar Institute, critique this new definition for undermining the categorisation of municipalities and damaging the creditworthiness of current metros. They suggest an alternative that leaves the definition of metros intact and adds a definition for "urban municipalities".
The Steytler and De Visser hope that Clause 2 of the Municipal Structures Amendment Bill, 2016 will be revisited and they welcome an opportunity to engage on ways to ensure it supports the implementation of the Integrated Urban Development Framework and other crucial strategies related to the future of our cities.