The declaration and publication of financial interests of local councillors in The Netherlands and South Africa

Democracies are built on trust. Citizens must be able to trust that their elected local councillors, members of Parliament and heads of government are honest ...

The declaration and publication of the financial interests of councillors and senior managers: what the law says

In 2021, Julius Malema MP was a director of Mgagao Shamba Pty (Ltd), a farming company. Furthermore, he received two gifts, namely whiskey from Kgantontle ...

The Local Government Ethical Leadership Initiative

The Local Government Ethical Leadership Initiative (LGELI) was launched in December 2020 as a partnership project between the Ethics Institute, the national ...

Court clarifies the interpretation and application of a Municipal Spatial Development Framework

In Choisy-Le-Roi Owners v The Municipality of Stellenbosch the Court addressed the question of how a Municipality’s Spatial Development Framework (‘MSDF’) ...

Court stops Eskom from withdrawing funds from Renosterberg Local Municipality’s bank account

The issue of municipal debt to Eskom is an ongoing concern as noted earlier in the Bulletin. The MEC: Northern Cape Provincial Government: Department of ...

Mines, malls and cellphone masts: how the Constitutional Court confirms the need for municipal approval and government doesn’t seem to want to listen?

In June 2020, the Constitutonal Court handed down an important judgment for local government. In Telkom SA SOC Limited v City of Cape Town and Another, the ...

Municipal Systems Amendment of 2022: Will it depoliticise municipal administration?

In May 2022, Parliament passed the Municipal Systems Amendment Bill which regulates many aspects of municipal administration. The Bill is not new. It was ...

One step forward, two steps back: 2021 local government elections resulted in lower women’s representation than the last few elections

In our previous article on women’s representation in local government, we reported that the numbers of women elected into office for proportional ...

Safeguarding the integrity of councillors and senior managers in local government

On 12 April 2022, the Dullah Omar Insitute (DOI) convened a webinar on 'Safeguarding the integrity of councillors and senior managers in local government'. ...