By BAKANG MOKOTO
22 September 2025– The Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration (Traditional Affairs, Human Settlements and Water and Sanitation) will this week visit Knysna Local Municipality in the Western Cape. This follows a notice sent by the Western Cape government to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) that it intends to invoke provisions of Section 139 (1) (c) of the Constitution and dissolve the municipal council.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Mxolisi Kaunda said Section 139 of the Constitution authorises the provincial executive to intervene in a municipality when it does not fulfil its executive obligation in terms of legislation. Kaunda said Section 139(3)(b) provides that the dissolution will be effective after 14 days from the date of receipt of the notice by the NCOP unless the relevant cabinet member sets it aside before the expiry of those 14 days.
“The committee viewed it necessary to interact with all relevant internal and external stakeholders to get inputs on the constitutional, procedural and substantive matters related to invoking Section 139 (1) (c) of the Constitution in the municipality. Consultation remains a critical pillar of Parliament’s work.
“The provincial executive cited years of governance and service delivery failures, chronic infrastructure breakdowns, ongoing sewage spillages, and water supply disruptions, which left communities vulnerable to health and safety risks,” he said.
Kaunda further said in undertaking the visit, the committee is guided by the belief that municipalities must be viable and able to achieve the objects of local government as set out in Section 152 of the Constitution. He added that the residents of all municipalities deserve quality services and any decision must be taken with the interest of the people at heart.
“The committee will thoroughly consider the basis for the decision, as required in Section 139(3), which empowers the NCOP to approve or disapprove the dissolution before the expiry of 14 days from the date of receipt of the notice for intervention.
“Some of the stakeholders the committee will interact with include the MEC of the Western Cape Department of Local Government, Environmental Affairs, and Development Planning, political parties represented in the municipal council, organised labour, business forums, and women’s and youth structures. The municipal leadership will also be allowed to share its perspective on the intention to invoke Section 139 by the provincial government,” said Kaunda.
He said the visit will take place at Knysna Local Municipality Offices at 10am on Tuesday.
The Guardian 