Health services are essential to the well-being and sustainability of every community in South Africa. Municipal health services, in keeping with the development mandate of local government, are listed as a Schedule 4B function in the Constitution. It follows that local government has full executive and legislative authority over this function.

The duty to create and maintain a sound supply chain management system is an essential component of the good governance of any municipality. While the Municipal Finance Management Act clearly outlines the type of relationship that should exist between the municipality and those bidding to supply services, it is difficult at times to determine how acts of bribery, for example should be dealt with and the appropriate procedures to be followed when these matters.

As from 1 July, all municipalities must implement the Municipal Property Rates Act. This requires all municipalities to have a proper rates policy, which is in turn implemented in a by-law and a rates resolution. Among the municipalities that have implemented the Act thus far there is great confusion about the exact content of the policy and by-law. The danger in this uncertainty is that if the policy and the by-law do not correctly implement the Act, a municipality's ability to enforce payment of rates may be fatally flawed.

This article outlines the rules dealing with the expulsion and resignation of councillors from their political parties. Central to these rules is the principle that a councillor must vacate office as a councillor when he or she ceases to be a member of the political party.

Can an employment contract be valid if a performance agreement has not been concluded?

On 30 June 2008 three important Bills proposing the abolition of the practice of floor-crossing. If passed, the bills will see an end to this much-debated practice and the legislation enables it. They represent the response to a growing chorus of discontent from politicians and members of the public about the impact of floor-crossing.

In the 2008 Local Government Budgets and Expenditure Review, the National Treasury analyses how municipalities have been funded since 2003/2004 and how they will be funded until 2009/2010. It does the same for the expenditure patterns of municipalities. This article highlights just a few important issues from a comprehensive review.

Ward committees were introduced after the December 2000 municipal elections to supplement the role of elected councillors. As such, they were intended to create a bridge between communities and the political and administrative structures of municipalities. Many observers argue, however, that ward committees are not functioning as intended and that instead of enhancing the environment of participatory governance, these structures have actually undermined it by displacing many other channels for public participation.

On 11 June 2008, the Cape High Court handed down a judgment that set an important precedent about councillors’ individual liability for taking or supporting illegal decisions.

Energy experts agree that the installation of domestic solar water heaters (SWHs) could significantly reduce the demand for electricity. The figures suggest that a roll-out of SWHs could eliminate the need for one large coal power station (and thus significantly reduce CO2 emissions).

Generally, a municipality may only levy taxes (other than property rates) in terms of empowering legislation. The Municipal Fiscal Powers and Functions Act (Act 12 of 2007) outlines a procedure whereby a municipality may apply to the National Treasury for approval to impose new taxes.

The powers and functions shared between provincial and local government have traditionally been a source of great confusion and concern for municipalities. Ill-defined powers and functions have often led to duplication, inefficiencies and arguably even deterioration in the delivery of services to communities.

Over the past weeks, the impact of the leadership change in the African National Congress on government has become patently visible. The most important change was obviously manifested in the resignation of the President, three provincial premiers and a number of national Cabinet members, including the Minister for Provincial and Local Government.

The Children’s Amendment Act (Act 41 of 2007) was signed into law on 18 March this year. The Act, together with draft regulations recently published for public comment, represents the final step in the arduous, ten-year journey of reviewing the Child Care Act.

The Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) recently confirmed that Msunduzi, Mangaung and Buffalo City municipalities are to become category A (metropolitan) municipalities, bringing the total number of metropolitan municipalities to nine.

The Constitution provides that “everyone has a right to administrative action that is lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair”. This entitlement extends to municipal employees and must therefore be reflected in municipal labour and administrative practices.

Municipalities are key institutions in bringing about sustainable human settlements that respond adequately to the challenges and implications of the HIV and AIDS epidemic.

The recent electricity hikes have affected everyone from government to the private sector, and not least of all, the ordinary man on the street. As organs of state, municipalities, Eskom, the National Energy Regulator and the Minister of Finance may not act outside of the law. This article raises concerns about the legality of the electricity increases and the implications it has for local government.

Section 56 of the Municipal Structures Act provides that the Executive Mayor is obliged to perform duties and exercise such powers as the council may delegate in terms of section 59 of the Municipal Systems Act. Section 55 of the Systems Act deals with the obligations of municipal managers and provides that the municipal manager is accountable only to the municipal council.

The Department of Provincial and Local Government recently announced draft Guidelines for Implementing Multilingualism in Local Government. The draft Guidelines attempt to provide for more systematic arrangements in meeting the linguistic needs of those who lack proficiency in English, or who are illiterate or disabled.

The Department of Land Affairs has tabled the long-awaited Land Use Management Bill, No 27 of 2008 (the Bill). The Bill, scheduled to be passed this year, attempts to give effect to the 2001 White Paper on Spatial Planning and Land Use Management by establishing a coherent regulatory framework for land use management across the country. It is designed to clarify land use management roles among different spheres of government and establish a uniform structure and set of principles for reviewing and deciding development applications.

Who is liable to pay the municipal accounts of defaulting tenants?

Despite their potential to advise, support and strengthen local government in its response to HIV and AIDS epidemic, many local and district AIDS council are struggling to fulfil this role. This article reflects on a recent event, aimed at looking at the effectiveness of AIDS councils and ways of strengthening their performance. It is also a follow-up to the article on AIDS councils in the August 2007 issue of the Bulletin.

In post-independence Zambia, governments have sought to design and implement decentralised democratic local governance to facilitate wider participation by the citizentry and service delivery. This article provides an overview of the constitutional and legislative framework for local government in Zambia.

In the last decade we have seen a shift in the way local government is conceived-socially, politically and in the legal context. The changes status of local government has been evident in the courts and the increased judicial scrutiny of the activities by the institutions of local government.

Parliament has nearly completed its work on the local Government Laws Amendment Bill which was tabled towards the end of 2007. Many of its provisions are technical in nature and serve to clarify local government laws. However, some provisions are very important from a policy perspective. The most significant changes are discussed in this article.

According to the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, "Water is life, sanitation is dignity" Water, as a human right, is essential to sustain life, development and the environment. In Mazibuko and Others v City of Johannesburg and Others the fundamental right to have access to sufficient water and the right to human dignity were tested.

The Gauteng province took a policy decision in 2007 to promote municipal public accounts committees (MPACs) in municipalities in the province. Although these committees are structurally different from the standing committees on public accounts, (SCOPAs) they are to resemble SCOPA's. The main purpose of MPACs is to create a process of accounting that is more transparent, effective and efficient , thus enhancing political oversight and accountability in the use of municipal financial resources. MPACs are section 79 committees and fall within the domain of the speaker, who acts as the link between the MPAC and other municipal committees and structures.

The accountability of the executive to the council is a cardinal principle of good governance. Information flow is essential to holding it accountable for its decisions and performance in delivering services and meeting locally prioritised outcomes. A prerequsite for information flow is transparency in the manner in which the executive carries out its tasks, and this begs the question: are there fault lines in the design of the local government system that have given rise to a lack of accountability and responsiveness.

The Department of Public Service and administration has published for comment a draft Public Administration Management Bill aimed at creating a single public service. The long-waited Bill is being promoted as the magic bullet for addressing capacity shortages and streaming service delivery. The intention is that the Bill will be submitted to Parliament in June and passed this year. We outline key aspects of the Bill and raise a number of concerns.

At independence in 1980, Zimbabwe inherited a racially divided system of local government that was highly centralised. The current legal and administrative structures of local government are a product of both the colonial history and post-colonial reconstruction of the relations between central government and local authorities.

The DPLG's policy review process was kicked off with "65 questions for public engagements". Among the listed 65 questions, it asked: "What role should district municipalities play and how they should be structured?" A key problem has been the governance structure of districts: the uncomfortable combination of district-wide and local council representatives has not resulted in an integrated system of district government.

How does a municipality make its decision-making procedures clear and legally sound? How does it ensure that every councillor participate meaningfully in council meetings? How does it keep council and committee meetings orderly and prevent councillors from abusing their freedom of Expression? This article explores these questions in detail and postulates solutions on how to ensure that the Rules and Orders of council are respected and achieve their intended purpose.