The legal status of local government in South Africa under the new Constitutional dispensation

• Author: Mbuzeni Mathenjwa
• Pages: 1-14
• Published date: 01 December 2018
• Record Number: sapr1_v33_n2_a1
• DOI: 10.10520/EJC-13bd7359d1
• Date: 01 December 2018

Southern African Public Law

https://doi.org/10.25159/2522-68 00/2952

https://upjournals.co.za/index.php/SAPL

ISSN 2522-6800 (Online)

Volume 33 | Number 2 | 2018 | #2952 | 14 pages

© Unisa Press 2018

Article

The Legal Status of Local Government in South Africa

under the New Constitutional Dispensation

Mbuzeni Mathenjwa*

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5421-7040

Professor of Law, University of South Africa

mathemj1@unisa.ac.za

Abstract

The history of local government in South Africa dates back to a time during the

formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. With regard to the status of

local government, the Union of South Africa Act placed local government under

the jurisdiction of the provinces. The status of local government was not

changed by the formation of the Republic of South Africa in 1961 because local

government was placed under the further jurisdiction of the provinces. Local

government was enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa

arguably for the first time in 1993. Under the interim Constitution local

government was rendered autonomous and empowered to regulate its affairs.

Local government was further enshrined in the final Constitution of 1996, which

commenced on 4 February 1997. The Constitution refers to local government

together with the national and provincial governments as spheres of government

which are distinctive, interdependent and interrelated. This article discusses the

autonomy of local government under the 1996 Constitution. This it does by

analysing case law on the evolution of the status of local government. The

discussion on the powers and functions of local government explains the scheme

by which government powers are allocated, where the 1996 Constitution

distributes powers to the different spheres of government. Finally, a conclusion

is drawn on the legal status of local government within the new constitutional

dispensation.

Keywords: local government; provincial government; jurisdiction of provinces;

constitution; autonomy; subsidiarity