MUNICIPAL STRUCTURES ACT: DA CALLS FOR AMENDMENT PROPOSALS

The DA’s Siviwe Gwarube has announced her intention to prepare a Local Government: Municipal Structures Amendment Bill for tabling in Parliament. With that in mind, she has called for proposals on its contents.

Once drafted, the Bill will seek to amend the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998, by inserting ‘an electoral threshold into the calculation and allocation of seats in councils so that parties … (are required) to obtain the number of the votes equal to the seat quota +1 before … (being) considered for seat calculations and allocations’. In Gwarube’s view, this will address the unworkability of local level coalition governments comprising as many as ten (or more) ‘smaller parties’. Apparently, they are ‘continuously’ lobbied by larger parties in a coalition to ‘retract … in exchange for positions or favour’.

Unfortunately, the backdated Government Gazette notice concerned (through no fault of Gwarube’s) appears to be missing at least one page. As a result, no deadline for input has been provided.

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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