District municipalities, having shared authority with local municipalities will be a significant innovation brought by the final phase of local government transformation. It is therefore important to clearly define the role and function of 47 district municipalities that will be established on election day in November.
Volume 2, Issue 3, September 2000
A district municipality covers the same area as the local municipalities within its district. In other words, a number of local municipalities together make up a district municipality.
As from the day of the forthcoming local government elections, local government's legislative and executive powers are going to be squarely based on the Constitution.
The Constitution requires from provinces to monitor, support and, if necessary intervene in a municipality. The new local government dispensation, establishing metropolitan, district and local municipalities, will impact on the way provinces execute their constitutional obligations of monitoring and support. This article examines how provinces should respond to those challenges.
The Board will continue to consider boundary changes but for purposes of the elections the Board is only considering submissions which should clearly be made now.
On 21 September 2000 the National Assembly approved important amendments to the Municipal Structures Act. The National Council of Provinces Approved the bill on 3 October. It is expected that the Local Government Structures Amendment Bill B51B-2000 will become law by middle-October.
The SALGA Elections Strategy comprises two main focus areas. Part one of the strategy relates to the Record of Understanding that SALGA entered into with the IEC. Part two represents SALGA specific issues regarding the elections and the period immediately after elections.
