CoGTA MINISTER CLARIFIES STATUS OF PROPOSED NEW LEGISLATION

CoGTA MINISTER CLARIFIES STATUS OF PROPOSED NEW LEGISLATION

• 17 July 2024
• Parliament
• SA Legal Academy

Newly appointed Co-operative Governance & Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa’s budget vote speech has provided much-needed insight into the status of a raft of pieces of proposed new legislation inherited from the previous administration. His is the first to have done so in the level of detail required.

The Independent Municipal Demarcation Authority Bill’s ‘B’ version will be revived for continued processing by the NCOP committee concerned. Tabled in 2022, once passed, enacted and operationalised it will repeal and replace the Local Government: Municipal Demarcation Act, 1998. According to the Minister, its provisions are ‘informed by inputs from previous Boards, lessons learned from past redeterminations and ward delimitation processes, litigation outcomes, and contributions from various stakeholders’.

The draft Local Government: General Laws Amendment Bill is still open for public comment. According to the Minister, it follows ‘a comprehensive review of legislation impacting local government, including the Structures Act, Systems Act, and the Property Rates Act’. Its overarching objective is to ‘consolidate good practices and address challenges holistically’.

The draft Local Government: Municipal Structures Amendment Bill is also still open for public comment. According to the Minister, it seeks ‘to address the complexities of coalition governments within local governance … (and) responds to public calls for structured guidelines and legislation for coalition governance’.

The Intergovernmental Monitoring, Support & Interventions Bill released in July 2023 for public comment has been revised to incorporate some of the input received. According to the Minister, the Bill ‘was developed to respond to the requirements of Sections 100(3) and 139(8) of the Constitution, which call for legislation to guide interventions in provinces and municipalities’. Approved by Cabinet on 27 March 2024 for tabling in Parliament, it is now being subjected to a ‘final vetting ‘ by the Office of the Chief State Law Adviser.

Draft regulations under the Inter-Governmental Relations Framework Act, 2005, will be released soon for public comment. According to the Minister, once finalised and in force they will ‘enable all three spheres of government to strengthen their relations through the lens of the district development model’ – ensuring that the model is ‘institutionalised within the existing (legislative) framework … but also mak(ing) provision for establishing … (the necessary) technical structures at national, provincial and district levels’.

The Traditional & Khoi-San Leadership Act, 2019, having been declared unconstitutional, according to the Minister ‘a new Bill has been drafted and all … (related) administrative processes have been finalised’ in anticipation of seeking Cabinet approval for its introduction in Parliament.

Draft regulations under the Traditional Courts Act, 2022, are being finalised ‘in collaboration with the Department of Justice’. According to the Minister, among other things they provide for ‘assessing existing traditional courts, training leaders, and ensuring adequate resources for effective operation’.

• Minister’s speech
• Independent Municipal Demarcation Authority Bill’s ‘B’ version
• draft Local Government: General Laws Amendment Bill
• draft Local Government: Municipal Structures Amendment Bill

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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