EDITORIALS
Editorial 2003 (2) | ||
With the adoption of South Africa's 1996 Constitution, local government was given a new status as a distinctive, interdependent and interrelated sphere of government. As the closest sphere of government to the people, an elaborate legal framework was constructed to give effect to its developmental role. Although success is... |
REFEREED ARTICLES
A perspective on local government's role in realising the right to housing and the answer of the Grootboom judgment | ||
| De Visser, Jaap | ||
Jaap de Visser examines the responsibilities of the three spheres of government with regard to implementing the right of access to housing and, in particular, the responsibility of local government. Local authorities are obliged, just as much as national and provincial government, to protect basic rights and advance their... |
District municipalities: Giving effect to shared authority in local government | ||
| Steytler, Nico | ||
Nico Steytler focuses on the of 47new district municipalities established in December 2000, which share legislative and administrative powers with local municipalities in their areas. As shared authority in local government in non-metropolitan areas is new to South Africa, it poses a number of problems. The article notes the... |
Indigenous peoples, corporate power and the knowledge economy: The law and politics of knowledge protection | ||
| Magaisa, Alex Tawanda | ||
Alex Tawanda Magaisa argues that knowledge has always been contested territory but, as the centrality of knowledge or information systems increases in the global economy, so have the contests over its ownership. Exploring the struggles over indigenous knowledge systems, he focuses particularly on medical knowledge systems. The article notes... |
Provincial-municipal relations: A few challenges | ||
| Mettler, Johann | ||
Johann Mettler notes that the status of local government has changed radically: it has become an autonomous sphere of government with powers derived from the Constitution, no longer delegated by national or provincial government. The Constitution further provides for the monitoring, support, regulation and supervision of municipalities by provinces. ... |
Traditional leadership and its future role in local governance | ||
| Rugege, Sam | ||
Sam Rugege discusses the role of traditional leadership in the context of the democratic dispensation in which elected local government has been established throughout South Africa. He traces the instution from its pre-colonial form to its distortion under colonialism and apartheid and notes the considerable powers and functions enjoyed... |
The quest for financial discipline at local government level: The regulation of municipal borrowing and financial emergencies | ||
| Wandrag, Riekie | ||
Before the passing of the Municipal Finance Management Bill of 2003, Riekie Wandrag explains, local government confronted a number of issues, including lack of a coherent legislative regulation of municipal borrowing powers, a policy shift from national government guarantees to local responsibility for debt and stagnation of the municipal... |