Following the 2021 Local Government Elections, all local municipalities in South Africa had until 23 November 2021 to call their first meeting. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency(ANA)
Cape Town - All 25 local councils in the Western Cape, including the City of Cape Town, have been formally constituted with elected representatives in each council duly elected.
Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell has congratulated the various councils on the successful appointments.
“I want to say good luck and all the very best for the next five years. My door is open to every mayor and elected official, and my department is always ready to provide any support that councils may need. I hope we can all work together and in service of all our communities.”
The Western Cape also has five district councils, Cape Winelands, Overberg, Garden Route, Central Karoo and West Coast.
These five districts make up the final five of the 30 councils in the province.
“These five district councils will now hold their first council meetings and elect their representatives.
“I want to wish them the best of luck in finalising the processes before we can all get on with delivering services to our communities.”
Following the 2021 Local Government Elections, all local municipalities in South Africa had fourteen calendar days, from the day which the election is declared to do so, to call their first meeting.
At this meeting, they elect office bearers, including Speakers and Mayors, and elect councillors to represent it on the district council within which it is situated.
District councils will then be required to convene their first meeting after all the members to be appointed by local councils have been appointed.
Local municipalities (referred to as Category B municipalities) form the third sphere of local government and are usually the arm of government closest to the people.
District municipalities (referred to as Category C) administer and make rules for a district, which includes more than one local municipality.
Some district municipalities also include nature reserves and the areas where few people live. These so-called ‘district management areas’ fall directly under the district council and have no local municipality.
District municipalities and local municipalities share the responsibility for local government in their areas in order to ensure that all communities, particularly disadvantaged communities, have equal access to resources and services.
Bredell previously explained that the date is calculated in terms of the Municipal Structures Act.
Section One of the Municipal Structures Act, as amended, defines 'declared elected' to mean the publication of a notice in the Government Gazette reflecting the names of the councillors elected, which councillors are deemed to have been elected to the office on the date of the declaration of the results of an election by the Electoral Commission.
The IEC published the Notice on November 9, 2021. One, therefore, counts 14 calendar days, from November 10 to reach 23 November 2021. Calendar days includes weekends.
Should a municipality not convene with the statutory time periods, the MEC responsible for Local Government will, based on the applicable legal framework and legal advice, implement the necessary measures to ensure that Councils are lawfully convened, including the application of Section 139 of the Constitution, where appropriate.