LOCAL GOVERNMENT: DA ANNOUNCES INTENTION TO TABLE SECOND MUNICIPAL STRUCTURES AMENDMENT BILL

LOCAL GOVERNMENT: DA ANNOUNCES INTENTION TO TABLE SECOND MUNICIPAL STRUCTURES AMENDMENT BILL

• 04 November 2023
• Local Government
• SA Legal Academy

Democratic Alliance MP Siviwe Gwarube has called for input by 3 December 2023 on a draft Local Government: Municipal Structures Second Amendment Bill, which was published as part of the composite National Government Gazette on 4 November 2023 but backdated to the previous day. It should not be confused with a draft Local Government: Municipal Structures Amendment Bill gazetted on 20 October 2023 for public comment, and on which SA Legal Academy reported at the time.

The draft Local Government: Municipal Structures Second Amendment Bill seeks to limit the potential for dysfunctionality when a local level coalition government comprises as many as ten or more smaller parties. The draft Bill builds on proposals in an explanatory memorandum gazetted in April 2023 from which at least one page was missing, as SA Legal Academy also reported at the time.

According to the latest version’s accompanying notice, timeframes are now proposed within which a local council should be required to appoint district council representatives.

The draft Local Government: Municipal Structures Amendment Bill released in October for comment seeks to regulate the process of removing a speaker, whip, mayor or deputy mayor from office using a motion of no confidence. At least one page is missing from this document, too – as SA Legal Academy has already reported.

Both pieces of draft legislation are private members’ Bills. Their shared overarching objective is to mitigate the potential for certain provisions in the principal statute to be abused by parties to a coalition government, thus making it unworkable.

This noble intention notwithstanding, over the years not one DA private member’s Bill has survived the desirability vote, which is a mandatory procedure applicable to all new legislation at National Assembly committee level. Some may nevertheless have influenced the thinking behind Bills later tabled by the executive.

• draft Local Government: Municipal Structures Second Amendment Bill (gazetted on 4 November 2023)
• draft Local Government: Municipal Structures Amendment Bill (gazetted on 20 October 2023)
• SA Legal academy article on the draft Local Government: Municipal Structures Amendment Bill

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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