This article explores the law on councillor candidacy, particularly as it relates to municipal, provincial and national employees. Officials employed by the government may stand as councillor candidates, in the fifth democratic local government elections, to be held on 1 November 2021. However, there are certain rules that apply.
Ever since the first intervention under the 1996 Constitution in the then Butterworth Transitional Local Council (Eastern Cape) in 1998, it has remained largely unclear when and how provincial and national governments should exercise interventions powers provided under section 139 of the Constitution.
In the Economic Freedom Fighters v City of Cape Town and Another, the court dealt with a case brought by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) against the City of Cape Town. The EFF challenged the constitutionality of the City’s By-law that regulates the general display of posters and banners. The By-law prohibited the display of banners for the purpose of electioneering. The Court ruled that the City should not remove the EFF’s political banners even though their display contravened the City’s by-law. The Court reached this decision based on the value that our constitutional democracy places on the freedom of political parties to campaign for an election.
The demands posed by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and Covid-19 pandemic necessitated the introduction of e-services by municipalities globally. Just like globalisation, the 4IR needs to be accepted and coupled with a pragmatic shift in policies and structures of administration. In fact, research points to the potential benefits the 4IR has to offer, which include the strengthening of service delivery. The purpose of this article is to share some insights into the impact and use of e-service delivery in local government.
The rapid spread of the Covid-19 virus is wreaking havoc on human lives and government processes. Like any other government institutions, municipal councils under the lockdown regulations first introduced on 25 March 2020 were initially prohibited from hosting council meetings in person to reduce the spread of the virus. They were instead directed to identify creative ways of undertaking their legislative obligations, such as hosting council sessions virtually in order to adopt municipal budgets.
After celebrating 20 years of democratic local government, we stand on the cusp of our sixth municipal elections on 1 November 2021. Once again local councillors will be elected for the 257 municipalities across the country. The burning question is, what will this election hold for women’s representation and how will this impact women’s access to improved service delivery. The article explores how women are faring in their representation and participation at the local level.
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