Exploring possible interventions into dysfunctional local government in Gauteng

This Provocation explores possible legal interventions into the deep-rooted dysfunction afflicting several municipalities in Gauteng.

Local government constitutes the heartbeat of South Africa’s constitutional and democratic structure. It is critical that municipalities deliver on their essential development and service provision mandate. But many Gauteng municipalities are experiencing persistent service delivery failures, financial distress and governance breakdowns.

This Provocation was originally commissioned as a Rapid Research Paper to inform discussions around how to address the crisis in Johannesburg. It draws on legislative frameworks, case law and recent empirical data to analyse three intervention options aimed at providing relief, individually and cumulatively, to persistent dysfunction in Gauteng municipalities. The three options are:

1. Adjusting the executive system of governance
2. Implementing an intervention in terms of Section 139 of the Constitution, and
3. Dissolving a municipal council.

The analysis evaluates the feasibility, strengths and challenges of each intervention option and considers how it might contribute to restoring effective governance. The work ends by briefly contemplating alternative, less invasive, intervention mechanisms. This Provocation therefore provides a timely, critical resource for policy-makers, practitioners and scholars concerned with the performance and sustainability of local government – in Gauteng and across the country.