Tag Archives: The Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration (Traditional Affairs

The committee to visit North West

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By BAKANG MOKOTO

23 October 2025- The Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration (Traditional Affairs, Human Settlements and Water & Sanitation) said it will over the next two days, visit Madibeng Local Municipality, and Kgetlengrivier Local Municipality, after the invocation of Section 106(4) of the Municipal Systems Act and Section 139(5) of the Constitution in both municipalities. The committee said it views municipalities as critical spheres to deliver quality services to the people.

The Chairperson of the Committee, Mxolisi Kaunda said unfortunately, many municipalities have not met the standard performance as demanded by Section 152 of the Constitution. Kaunda said their visit is to solicit opinions of internal and external stakeholders on the interventions invoked by the North West Provincial Executive.

“In the Madibeng Local Municipality, the MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, instituted an investigation motivated by a whistleblower in terms of the Protected Disclosures Act ranging from maladministration, supply chain irregularities, alleged fraudulent activities and failure by the municipal council and its governance structures to process compliance items as prescribed by law.

“Section 106 of the South African Municipal Systems Act empowers the provincial Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for local government to investigate allegations of maladministration, fraud, corruption, or other serious malpractice in a municipality,” he said.

Kaunda further said the committee hopes to receive a status update on the investigation and an update on the state of the municipality. He added that during the 6th Administration, the North West Provincial Executive invoked Section 139 (5) of the Constitution in Kgetlengrivier Local Municipality. Section 139(5) of the South African Constitution empowers the provincial executive to intervene in a municipality when it is in a financial crisis, unable to meet its financial obligations, or provide basic services.

“This intervention mandates the province to impose a financial recovery plan to correct the situation, and if necessary, the council can be dissolved and an administrator appointed.

“As a result, the committee decided to visit the municipality to assess the impact of the intervention and engage internal and external stakeholders on the state of the municipality,” said Kaunda.

He said as part of the visit, the committee will visit human settlements and water and sanitation projects in both municipalities.

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Committee on COGTA to visit dissolved municipality

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Picture: The Chairperson of the Committee, Mxolisi Kaunda

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.

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Section 139 (1) invoked on embattled municipality

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By BAKANG MOKOTO

3 October 2024 – The Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration (Traditional Affairs, Human Settlements and Water & Sanitation) said it welcomes the decision by the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), to approve the decision by the Limpopo Provincial Executive to invoke provisions of Section 139 (1) (c) of the Constitution to dissolve the Thabazimbi Local Municipality Council as per the recommendation of the committee.

All nine provinces voted in favour of the motion to approve the intervention.

The Chairperson of Portfolio Committee, Mxolisi Kaunda said, following the extensive engagement with both internal and external stakeholders of the municipality, the committee is convinced that the municipality is unable to achieve the objects of local government as set out in Section 152 of the Constitution.

“The committee is convinced following engagements with both internal and external stakeholders, that there are exceptional circumstances that warrant the dissolution of the municipality as it has proven that it is unable to function and achieve its constitutional obligation in terms of Section 152 of the Constitution.

“This intervention is necessary to bring stability to the municipality and enable better service delivery to the people. Some of the reasons the committee cited as reasons for its recommendation, include the inability of the council to sit and take critical resolutions that enable service delivery,” he said.

Kaunda further said this includes the inability of critical committees such as the Municipal Public Accounts Committee and Municipal Executive Committee to sit, non-functional ward committees which undermines participatory democracy, council’s inability to sit and pass the 2024/25 Integrated Development Planning (IDP).

He added there were also inability to enforce the Code of Conduct against councillors for prolonged and unjustified absence from lawful council meetings and parallel political and administrative structures made it impossible for the municipality to function.

“These and many other reasons are behind the committee’s recommendations, now adopted by the house, that the municipality is dysfunctional and requires a reset that will ensure better and quality service delivery than what they are getting currently,”

“The committee is hopeful that the invocation of Section 139 (1)(c) will put the municipality on the path of recovery and progress. To ensure this, the committee has recommended that the Limpopo MEC of the Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs should furnish the Committee with Terms of Reference of the administrator to ensure that they are geared towards achievement of a viable municipality,” said Kaunda.

He said, also, the committee has called for the administrator to undertake lifestyle audits of senior and middle managers within the municipality and also conduct a skills audit to ensure that the municipality has the right skills.

Kaunda said to ensure accountability and openness, the committee also recommended that the MEC must consider instituting a full forensic investigation in terms of Section 106 of the Municipal Systems Act to investigate all allegations of financial mismanagement, fraud and corruption within the municipality.

“But, most important to the committee is the need to ensure strong oversight over the municipality to ensure that the intervention yields the desired results. It is on this basis that, we have committed and will also engage other committees in the NCOP and National Assembly to conduct post intervention assessment to monitor progress of the municipality after the intervention,” he said.

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