Coastal and marine management is a potential area of focus for municipalities in their local economic development initiatives. However, the local government sphere currently has limited capacity to carry out this mandate. In addition, the lack of general capacity in government, from the national to the local sphere, is a major threat to sustainable coastal management.

A simple google search of South Africa’s railway leads one to pictures and videos of dilapidated railway networks, in sharp contrast of what one would imagine when told ‘South Africa has the best railway system on the continent [of Africa]’. The dilapidated Goerge Goch station has even become a popular meme on [South African] twitter, often used to express shock at anything but the horrifying state of one of many railway stations in South Africa. Behind the ‘thixo wase Goerge Goch’ phrase, lies the sad reality that the once mighty railway lines of South Africa are quickly becoming no more.

In Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality v Erastyle (Pty) Ltd, the Court had to decide whether Erastyle (Pty) Ltd (Erastyle, the first defendant of eight defendants) was lawfully appointed to provide a service to Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (the Metro). Secondly, whether the payments received by Erastyle from the Metro amount to irregular expenditure in terms of section 32 of the Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).

The right to protest is essential to South Africa’s constitutional order. Protests played an important role in South Africa’s transition from apartheid to the current democratic dispensation. Protests continue to play a vital role in enabling citizens to hold the government accountable. It then goes without saying that the right to protest, as provided for in section 17 of the Constitution, should not be limited unjustifiably. In Right2Know Campaign v City Manager of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, the Court confirmed the importance of the right to protest in South Africa.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) must prosecute corruption at all levels of government. While much of the focus has been on the capture of national government and national state-owned enterprises (SOEs), there has also been widespread corruption in municipalities.

In Govan Mbeki Local Municipality and Another v Glencore Operations South Africa (Pty) Ltd and Others, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) had to determine the constitutionality of section 76 of the Govan Mbeki Spatial Planning and Land Use Management By-law of 2016, and section 86 of the Emalahleni Municipal By-law on Spatial Planning and Land Use Management of 2016 (SPLUMA) which imposed restrictions on the transfer of property in these municipalities. The constitutionality of these provisions was challenged in Court on the basis that they exceeded local government powers in terms of section 156 of the Constitution read with Schedule 4B. The SCA agreed with the High Court's decision that the provisions were unconstitutional and therefore invalid.

A reflection of the impact of disasters in the local government sector provides a good platform for a discussion on the need to implement business continuity plans for municipalities. A business continuity plan refers to the processes and procedures a municipality must implement to ensure that mission-critical functions can continue during and after a disaster or crisis.