Khanyisa / Logical Steps newsletter on the

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The first democratic municipal elections on 5 December 2000 will mark the introduction of a wall-to-wall local government system to ensure that the level of service delivery to all communities (especially rural) is improved. While the present, interim stage of municipal governance is more democratic than previous municipal governments', it is still racially-based, particularly as there are equal numbers of African and White/coloured/Indian wards in each transitional municipality. At the same time, many rural South Africans have no municipal government serving their needs locally.

Given the complexity and rigidity of the system of apartheid local governance found (and in the case of rural areas not found) in South Africa, the Local Government Transitional Act provided for the democratisation of local government in three phases:

The pre-interim phase (1994-1996) led to the establishment of local government structures through combining the existing apartheid councils (statutory bodies) with opposition formations (non-statutory structures). A nominated form of local government was created.

The interim phase (1996-2000) began after the local government elections in 1995/1996. However, the formerly Indian, Coloured and White areas still had the same number of ward councillors as formerly African areas although their respective populations differed quite considerably. The Interim local governments tried simply to de-racialise the country through combining urban African areas with urban white, coloured and Indian areas.

The final phase will be ushered in by the municipal elections. Although the municipalities have been established in terms of the Constitution and legislation, programmes of meaningful rural development will require the redistribution of resources on a massive scale.

The new municipal system aims to ensure there are:

* More functional economic, financial and administrative bases (through the Municipal Demarcation Act);

* More representative and focused political structures which have significant powers (through the

Municipal Structures Act);

* Better administrative systems allowing for greater participatory democracy (through the Municipal

Systems Bill);

* More equitable, efficient and effective financial arrangements (through the Financial Management and

Property Rating Bills).

Municipalities will no longer divide people in terms of settlements (urban versus rural) or race (African, coloured, Indian and White) or population density/size (cities, towns, villages, etc.). The country will now simply be divided into municipalities, which will operate as a sphere of government with constitutional functions assigned to them.

The Municipal Demarcation Act requires the Municipal Demarcation Board to cover the whole territory of SA with municipalities; and consider a range of objectives and factors dealing with social and economic functionality, viability and ability to deliver services.In demarcating municipalities, the Board took into consideration the boundaries of traditional authorities, even though:

i) No complete record of all recognised traditional authority areas exists

ii) There are difficulties around the legal description of each traditional authority;

iii) Some traditional communities extending into 'state' and 'privately-held' land; and

iv) Some traditional authorities consist of separate pieces of land.

Huge developmental challenges exist in rural areas and specifically areas of traditional rural communities. The extent of all backlogs in water, electricity, telephones, sanitation in traditional authority areas as a percentage of total provincial backlogs is: Eastern Cape (50-60%); KwaZulu-Natal (60-80%); Northern Province (70-90%); Mpumalanga (40-60%); North-West (40-60%); Free State (20-30%).Whilst the Board has tried to ensure that the outer boundaries of municipalities do not divide traditional authorities, there are local disputes over land that are not related to demarcation. The decision to combine rural and urban areas was based on the rationale that traditional rural communities cannot be islands of poverty in a sea of development. New Municipal System

The new municipalities were established through provincial proclamations to ensure that the assets, liabilities and existing programmes of local government are carried through into the new system. In terms of the number of registered voters, the ward system will ensure that wards within each municipality are approximately equal.

Cross-boundary municipalities are areas, which display inter-dependence, but also straddle more than one province. In these cases, the MEC's of Local Government in each affected province will deal jointly with local government matters for the CBM but the municipalities themselves will operate as single entities exactly like municipalities wholly in one province.

District Management Areas (DMA's) have been created in areas where municipal government could not be established to achieve the objectives outlined in the Constitution. Desert and semi-desert areas; and State-managed conservation areas are defined as DMA's. Services for these areas will be provided by the district municipalities.

Whilst it is necessary to respect the role and powers of traditional authorities under the new local government structures, there is also the vision of improving service delivery to all South Africans. It would therefore, not make sense to exclude or isolate areas of traditional authority in the demarcation process. The new municipal model means that the influence of traditional communities has been significantly broadened into the bases of economic and political power. There are not many overlaps between Municipal Powers and Traditional Leaders/Authorities but it is no different from Municipalities, the state and large-scale private landowners. Therefore, there must be effective conflict resolution.

The demarcation process is trying to ensure that service delivery boundaries are aligned properly. Presently, you may live in one municipality, go to a school in a different municipality, go to a magistrate's court in another municipality, etc. Now, the national government can plan one-stop service centres to provide governmental assistance. Hopefully, organs of civil society (such as sport, business, trades unions, political parties, etc.) will also align their districts with the new municipalities.

Concerns raised by traditional leaders about their role, status, functions and powers are being addressed. The municipal establishment process is underway with some of the major problem areas being the definition of functions and powers; assignment of particularly fiscal powers; and issues of staff transfer. It is clear that longer-term capacity building programmes are going to be required.

The new municipal system of local governance is only just beginning to be implemented and in the short-term, there will be many teething problems while the system takes shape. Coupled with the serious shortfalls of capacity throughout the country and the existing spatial inequalities in resource provision, the transformation process will require intensive monitoring and adjustments. Short-term matters will have to be addressed by appointing new CEO's who can guide the development of the new municipal administrative system.

Dr Michael Sutcliffe is the Chairperson of the Municipal Demarcation Board.

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CATEGORY A:

The six metropolitan areas are Johannesburg, Tshwane (Pretoria), East Rand, Nelson Mandela (Port Elizabeth), Durban and Cape Town. The six metropolitan areas, combined, have 6.6 million voters and 1052 councilors (527 will be ward councilors). Four of the six metropolitan areas (Johannesburg, Tshwane, East Rand and Nelson Mandela) will have Executive Mayoral systems. The remaining two metropolitan areas (Durban and Cape Town) will have Executive Committee systems.

CATEGORY B:

There will be 231 Local Municipalities (a majority of these will be Executive Mayoral systems) with 11.7 million voters and 6376 councilors (3227 ward councilors).

CATEGORY C:

There will be 47 District Municipalities with 1518 councilors. Of these councilors, 609 will be directly elected and the remainder will be nominated by their respective local municipalities.

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The final phase of the transformation of local government will begin on December 05, 2000 with the Local Government elections. These elections not only mark a new era for local government in the country but are also the first truly democratic local government elections. Wards have been re-drawn to allow for similar population densities and will then result in those areas that have more people having more representation in a municipality. There will be new structures, new political systems, institutional systems, a revamped local government financial system as well as new property taxing arrangements.

Category A municipalities have been established for metropolitan areas. These types of municipalities have exclusive executive and legislative authority in its area of jurisdiction. There are six metropolitan areas that have been determined (see Michael Sutcliffe, New Municipalities). Category B and C municipalities share executive and legislative authority but Category C municipalities have more than one category B municipalities in its area. Category B municipalities have been established for local areas. Category C municipalities have been established as secondary municipalities for district areas overarching a number of local areas falling outside metropolitan areas.

The Municipal Structures Act provides for three types of political or executive systems and two participatory systems for the different categories of municipalities. These are executive systems that a municipality may have in order for it to best perform its functions and powers. Only one executive system can apply to a municipality.

Plenary Executive

This type is best for small councils. The council elects a Mayor as its chair.

Collective executive

The Council elects a Speaker as its chair and elects an executive committee to exercise executive power on its behalf with a mayor as the chair of the executive committee.

Mayoral Executive

The Council elects a Speaker as its chair council and elects a Mayor. The Mayor can appoint a Mayoral Committee only if the council has more than nine members to exercise executive power on its behalf. In addition to the executive system, a council may choose to have a participatory system:

Ward Committee

A Ward Committee is an advisory body that a council may choose to establish and delegate some authority to. Only local councils and metropolitan councils may have ward committees. By definition, only municipalities with wards may have ward committees. A ward committee consists of the councillor who represents that ward in the municipality and up to 10 other people from the ward.

Sub-council

Because they cover large areas, only metropolitan municipalities may establish sub-councils by passing a by-law. Sub-councils are made up of ward councillors and councillors appointed by the metropolitan councils. Sub-councils cover more than one ward and may range from being consultative structures to having powers for service delivery. However, they do not replace the existing metropolitan local councils.

Participatory systems cannot be used on their own. The different categories of municipalities may combine the executive and participatory systems differently. Metropolitan municipalities (Category A) may have either a collective executive or a mayoral executive system and may combine each with either the ward committee or sub-council participatory systems or both. Local municipalities (Category B) may choose one of the executive systems and they may establish ward committees – the sub-councils may be established only for metropolitan councils.

District municipalities (Category C) are secondary structures, do not have wards, and therefore may not combine their executive systems with the two participatory systems available to municipalities. This does not mean that district municipalities should not encourage citizen participation. The recently passed Municipal Systems Act provides that municipalities must establish appropriate mechanisms, processes and procedures to allow for citizen participation in the affairs of the municipality.

Lindiwe Ndlela is the manager of IDASA's Local Government Information Centre (LOGIC) Programme in Pretoria.

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Local government, as the site of governance closest to the community has undeniably an important role to play in improving the quality of life of women and men, especially in poor communities. Despite the fact that women are the main users of municipal services primarily because of their role at home, in the community and in society, local government has remained gender blind in its structure, planning and service provision.

According to legislation, the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, No 117 of 1998, recommends that political parties ensure that every alternate candidate on its PR list is a woman. However, the real challenge for political parties is not whether there will be sufficient women to fill the candidate positions, but how to deal with the resistance that these women representatives will face from their male counterparts.

Another challenge related to women's representation is to ensure that the current number of women ward councillors is not reduced dramatically by 'shifting' them to political representation (PR) lists by political parties who want to be seen to adhere to the provision in the Municipal Structures Act, whilst claiming 'independence' or 'objectivity' when it comes to ward candidates. As current Gender Advocacy Programme statistics show, the level of representation of women is much lower at ward level (11% of all ward candidates) than at PR level (28% of all PR candidates). The threat of a reduction of women ward councillors is problematic, especially in a context where there is competition between PR and ward councillors - public opinion holds that ward councillors are more 'legitimate' and accountable than PR councillors.

The workplace is not always conducive for women - there is often no childcare facility; and they are confronted with sexist and racist attitudes which attempt to undermine their professional capacity. The Council has to take responsibility for creating an enabling environment for women councillors and officials.

Women are affected by all decisions and implementations of local government, even if there is no specific focus on women and they are important consumers of local government services. Most women work to earn an income, whether they work in formal employment or in the informal sector. If basic services like water, sanitation and health care are delivered, women who are responsible for looking after the home and the children will spend less time trying to perform these tasks.

The high unemployment rate among poor women can be alleviated by providing jobs and promoting economic development especially by promoting the employment of women in the administration of local municipalities.

In facilitating community participation, local government can make sure that the voices and experiences of women are heard and that they participate in decision-making. Women have been marginalised in the past and that gender equality still exists in the community, in the home and in the workplace. Women themselves need to put pressure on their municipality so that it starts to make its contribution to creating greater gender equality in the community.

Women have a good understanding of the needs in the community because if adequate services or facilities are lacking in the community, women organise them - care for the sick, aged or children; or the provision of water or other services is often seen as a 'women's responsibility.' Despite the intimate understanding of the community's needs, women are under-represented in community leadership positions.

An important tool for developmental local government is Integrated Development Planning (IDP) but its not just a planning tool, it is closely linked to resource allocations (budgets and financial plans) and institutional transformation. IDP's can be a useful starting point to transform local government into a more gender sensitive sphere. These are three critical areas that municipalities need to focus on to eradicate poverty and to ensure equitable service delivery:

a) A gendered poverty eradication strategy: Poverty affects both women and men, but women (in both rural and urban areas) are more vulnerable to poverty. Currently, the majority of the poor are women - often single mothers. An effective poverty eradication strategy needs to be very specific in who it targets, who will benefit, how, when and where. It should not just speak of 'the poor' as a homogeneous group.

b) A gendered service delivery strategy: Because of the role and responsibilities of women in the home and the community, they have a particular interest in the provision of local government services - municipalities need to take into account the needs of women.

c) A transport policy that prioritises poor women: Transportpolicies should address the needs of poor women: affordability, mobility (quick and easy travel between work, home, school, community services, etc.), security (so that women do not have to use unsafe public transport or be vulnerable to attacks whilst walking) and economic development (accessible work places or markets).

It is obvious that the process of developing and implementing an IDP must be based on consultation and community participation. It is important that women are not ignored or further marginalised in this process. There can never be transformation if there are not enough resources to implement the planned changes. Community participation is an important element in deciding how resources are allocated to implement the IDP. A gender budget, which means a budget that specifies how men and women will benefit from every allocation, can be a useful tool to measure the contribution of a municipality to gender equality and empowerment. An annual budget has to be informed by a long-term (5-10 years) financial strategy, which aims to build local infrastructure and eradicate poverty. Through its Local Economic Development (LED) strategies, municipalities can play an important role in addressing poverty and promoting the economic development of poor women.

The Gender Advocacy Programme is a non-governmental organisation based in Cape Town.

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The municipal elections on December 05, 2000 will be the founding elections for the new local government dispensation and mark the final stage in the democratic transformation of South Africa. After the completion of the demarcation process, by the Municipal Demarcation Board, there are six metropolitan areas, 231 local councils and 47 district councils. The new local government structure consists of 3 754 wards in 284 municipalities. Altogether 16 cross-boundary municipalities have been established. Since the new electoral system is guided by structures and not by boundaries, cross-boundary municipalities will have no influence on the voting process.

The voting system for the new local government structures is based on a mix of a Proportional Representation (PR) system and a First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system as described in the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, No 117 of 1998. The system was structured to ensure equal representation of ward and party (PR) candidates. The ward system ensures that the ward candidates are held accountable to their wards, while the PR system ensures that there is sound representation.

The Municipal Structures Act makes provision for three types of municipalities. Category A municipalities consist of metropolitan councils and voters will have two ballot papers to mark. One for the Ward candidate, which carries 50% representation on the metropolitan council and the second ballot paper for the PR candidate also carries 50 % representation on the council. Ward candidates can be independent or nominated by a political party while PR candidates appear on a party list.

Category B municipalities are made up of local councils with wards and councils without wards. Those voters, who live in cities or towns big enough to have a council with wards, will be given three ballot papers. One vote for the PR candidate to represent voters on the local council and a second vote for the Ward candidate. Local councils with wards will consist of 50% ward candidates and 50% PR candidates. Voters in these councils will, however, also have and a third vote for a PR candidate to represent them on the district council.

Voters who live in local councils without wards (councils with less than seven councillors) will have two ballot papers. Since there are no wards in these councils, there will be no ward candidates and therefore no ward elections, only the PR system will be used. One vote will be for the PR candidate to represent voters on the local council and the other vote will be for a PR candidate to represent voters on the district council.

Category C municipalities are district councils and they incorporate several local councils. They do not have wards. District councils will have a 40/60 split. Forty percent of the district councillors will be elected directly by voters based on the PR system. The remaining sixty-percent of the councillors will consist of representatives from the local councils and PR list candidates from the District Management Areas (DMA's).

District councils may also have District Management Areas (DMA's). These are areas, which do not have the resources of a high enough population to form a viable municipality. They are found in sparsely populated rural areas, e.g. Kruger National Park. Voters in DMA's will be given two ballot papers. One vote for the PR candidate to represent voters in the District Management Area and another one for the PR candidate who will represent voters in the District Council.

Ballot papers will be colour-coded to assist voters in identifying the different types of ballots for the various candidates:

* Yellow for the PR candidate in a specific council (eg. metro & local councils);

* White for the Ward candidate;

* Green for the PR candidate in a district council;

* Pink for the PR candidate in a DMA.

On Election Day, voters will visit the voting station where they are registered and present their Identity Document (ID) or a valid Temporary Identity Certificate (TIC):

Your name will be checked and marked off the voters' roll;

Your thumbnail will be marked with visible indelible ink (this is compulsory);

You will be issued with two or more ballot papers;

You will mark your ballot papers in secret in the voting booth;

You will then place your marked ballot papers in the ballot box.

The Local Government: Municipal Electoral Act, No 27 of 2000, does not make provision for special votes. Only votes cast on December 5, 2000 will be counted. Blind voters are allowed to bring a companion to assist them with voting. No witnesses are necessary. Illiterate voters will be assisted by voting officers who will be monitored by party agents and observers.

It is important for people to know that a new dispensation in local government structures will be implemented following the municipal elections on December 05, 2000. These elections are not about electing new faces to the old offices, but it is about creating new offices with new responsibilities and new authorities.Public participation in municipal elections is low because the people do not fully comprehend the role and importance of local government. Local government needs to fulfil its obligations to ensure sustainable, effective and efficient municipal services; promote social and economic development; and encourage a safe and healthy environment for communities.

Lydia Young works in the Directorate of Media Relations at the Independent Electoral Commission. She is based in Pretoria.

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Junaid Seedat

Rural communities in South Africa are increasingly faced with the growing effects of an urban biased electorate. This trend is highly visible when one considers the input rural communities have made into the decisions of the elected representatives when they sit in parliament.

The view of most rural communities is that they interact with their representatives only during election periods. This unavailability of the elected representatives gives rise to a lack of confidence in the electoral system, and hence a loss of confidence in the politics of rural South Africa. For many elected officials the mandate given by the electorate is viewed as a 'blank cheque' for all decisions taken affecting their constituents. This has led to major upheavals in communities, who demand that the elected officials consult with them before taking any decisions. A point in case is the Mpumalanga Township in KZN. This loss of confidence in the electoral process stems from the inability of the rural electorate to see any marked difference in their state of living pre-1994 to today. For many, the situation today is far worse than that during the days of apartheid. This is further exacerbated by the fact that the visible changes they identify are increases in the living standards of the elected officials. For many, the elections do nothing but assist elite members of the community to achieve a higher economic status.

Much policy passes through the corridors of Parliament on an annual basis. Much of this information, whilst impacting directly on the lives of rural communities, is not effectively transferred to rural South Africans. Our fascination with the implementation of the GEAR policy has necessitated that cuts to the budget are made where the least vocal section of society is affected. In the case of South Africa this section of society are the Rural Poor. For years the rural communities have been silenced and used as a cheap labour pool for the captains of the apartheid capitalist industry. Once the struggle had been "won" in 1994, the election promises of the state and the promises of the RDP ensured that the rural people, again, placed their weight behind their liberators. Those promises soon faded into the background, with token projects being touted as successes of the state, with the reality reflecting that most projects that affected rural communities were lying in a shambles, people were losing their jobs, their homes, their dignity, and their hope. The rural electorate witnessed the development and creation of a class of politicians that resembled the politicians of the past. The promises continued to fade, and with that came the dire consequences of poverty. Water access, free during the apartheid regime, suddenly was stopped. Rates and services shot up to levels that were out of reach of an even a greater proportion of the South African rural community.

For many rural communities, the first evidence of these changes in policies was visible in the accounts that they were sent, demanding the payment on these exorbitant service fees. This points to the stark problem of rural communities not being informed timeously around these changes to policy. The current problem faced by rural communities around the water issue, is that whilst government is proclaiming to provide free water to people, most rural communities are still faced with cut-offs and lack of a basic water lifeline supply. This points to the failure of the elected officials to ensure that their constituents are kept updated on the developments in policy as it effects their lives.

Take for example the deepening of poverty levels within rural KZN serves as a perfect example to the failure of rural communities to be kept updated on changes that affect their lives directly. Since the 1996 Local Government elections, the communities previously served with basic services under the KZN Proclamation R293, have now found themselves in a position where, with minimal consultation, they have been saddled with the burden of a 50 fold increase in their basic services bills.

A further example that highlights the problems concerning the rural electorate is their lack of awareness around issues of national importance.

The difference between the realities faced daily by rural communities, differs markedly from the uttering of the officials on the election trail. A point in case is the about-turn in the government policy around the issues of cost recovery for the provision of basic services. In September, the ANC announced that it would provide basic services free to all poor South Africans. The reality faced by the communities affected with the Cholera outbreak in KZN is that because of their inability to pay for basic services, they were left with no option but to draw water from cholera infected water sources. The promises of job creation in rural areas have been realised with the closure of factories that sustained entire villages.

The concern of many rural activists is the intolerance of traditional leadership for differing political views. This, for an electorate, that is for the most part dependent on the traditional authority for land, and access to services. The obvious options open to such an electorate is to ensure that they tow the line of the traditional authority, thus ensuring access to their rights. The unspoken threats of eviction from the traditional authority land is a real fear that must be addressed in order that the rural electorate are offered a chance at free choice of political representation. Further demands that the rural electorate is placing involve the development of a leadership base from within the rural sector. Noting that rural youth are marginalised from development planning and activities, and from meaningful interaction with the government; and unemployment and lack of facilities have negative effects on the youth, there is a need for a break with the traditional forms of leadership, to one that encapsulates the struggles of the communities themselves. Whilst this does not call for the abolishing of traditional authorities, it does raise the question of how these forms of authority can better serve their constituents.

At a national Rural Development Initiative conference in April 1999, in excess of 600 rural communities gathered to debate the problems faced in their areas. The culmination of the conference saw the adoption of a Rural People's Charter that demanded, on the issues of Local Government, the following. Noting that, Rural development planning is not co-ordinated;

Rural local government lacks the capacity to carry out its constitutionally defined tasks, and lacks support and resources from central government;

Local councillors account to political parties before the communities who elected them, and political favouritism and nepotism are resulting in an unfair distribution of resources;

In practice, proportional representation favours political parties over communities;

There is too little consultation between local government, consultants and communities;

Women are under-represented in community and local government structures, and are excluded from decision-making; There are no clear targets for delivery;

The role of traditional leaders is not clearly defined. The Rural People's Charter demanded,

Integrated rural development must be given an institutional home in government, and provincial legislatures should establish rural development ministries;

The capacity of rural local government must be built by central government through an adequate increase in the transfer of resources from central government to rural local government, and clear legislation supporting this;

The local government transformation programme needs to be speeded up and implemented firstly in the rural areas;

Information on all legislation that affects rural communities in South Africa should be made available in all languages and be easily accessible to the poor rural majority;

Local councillors must put the interests of the electorate ahead of party-political interests and favouritism and nepotism must be rooted out, with all rural people having equal access to government resources;

The ward system applies to rural areas, with rural councils playing an active part in demarcation decisions;

Equal representation and participation of women in local government and community decision-making structures is actively supported and encouraged;

That for every project initiated, there are clear targets, time-frames and budget allocations; The role of traditional leaders is clarified urgently, in consultation with rural communities; Sufficient consultation, participation of rural communities in planning, and governance is prioritised, and government creates the conditions enabling the active participation of rural women and youth in particular.The above clearly demonstrates the frustration faced by rural communities, and the need to address these demands if we are to ensure that there is governance by the people, for the people. In conclusion, it would seem clear that the problems faced by the rural electorate are based on the ineffective communication between the elected officials and the electorate.

Junaid Seedat is responsible for Media and Communication at the Rural Development Services Network (RDSN) based in Johannesburg. RDSN is a network of independent rural development NGO's.

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Municipal Electoral Act: The upcoming elections will be regulated by the Municipal Electoral Act 27 of 2000. This legislation had to be passed because the electoral system for local government is different from that of national and provincial government.

Independent Electoral Commission: An independent commission with exclusive authority to direct, supervise and control elections in a fair and impartial manner.

Election Irregularity: Acts of inadvertence by election officers - for example, a failure by an election officer to stamp a ballot paper with the official mark before handing it over to a voter, or a deliberate attempt by an election official to influence a voter in the choice of candidate or party.

Electoral System - local government: The method used to elect in order to translate votes received by a candidate or political party into an allocation of seats in parliament i.e. A decision as to who has won the election. For local government, South Africa uses a mix of proportional representation and ward/constituency systems.

First-past-the-post System: An electoral system in which the candidate with the largest number of votes in each constituency is declared elected.

Candidate: A person who contests and election. Such a person should be legally fit to be a candidate, for instance: a foreigner, a minor or an insane person may not be allowed to stand for election.

PR candidate: A person standing representing a political party and thus appearing on the list of a political party.

Ward candidate: A person standing representing a political party or as an independent for ward elections.

Independent candidate: A person standing as a politically non-aligned candidate for ward elections.

Coalition: A temporary and strategic alliance between two or more political parties around election time in order to combine and get more votes than an individual party could have among them.

Party List: A list of names of candidates, in order of preference, that a political party prepares to represent it in a municipality.

Party Manifesto: A comprehensive statement of a political parties policies and promises, issued typically during an election campaign. It indicates how the party proposes to govern the country if elected to power.

Polling Area: The voting station including an area around it in which no campaigning should happen on the day of election.

Proportional Representation: An electoral system in which a political party draws a list of its candidates in an order of preference that will represent it in a municipality when it wins seats.

Ballot paper: The paper that will be given to a voter to cast his or her vote. Due to the complexity of the municipal elections, these papers will be colour-coded.

Rejected Ballot Papers: A ballot paper that has been handed by a presiding officer to a person to cast his/her vote which at the close of the poll has been found in the ballot box either unmarked or so improperly marked that it cannot be counted.

Spoilt Ballot Paper: A ballot paper which has been spoilt in marking by the voter and has been handed back to the presiding officer and exchanged for another.

Voters' Roll: A list of all people who are registered to vote in an election. People who have not registered will not appear on the voters' roll and will therefore not be able to vote for a municipality.

Local Government: A sphere of government that is closer to people than provincial and local government. Local government is made up of municipalities whose primary function is to provide basic services to the local communities.

Municipalities or Councils: Structures of local government made up of elected representatives and appointed officials governing local communities. There will be 284 municiplaities in the entire country

Categories of municipalities: The Constitution provides for system of local government that has three categories of municipalities. Category A is established for metropolitan municipalities, category B for local municipalities and category C for district municipalities.

Metropolitan municipalities (Category A): Municipalities established for big cities of Johannesburg, Pretoria, East Rand, Port Elizabeth, Durban and Cape Town. Each of these municipalities will have a single tier structure with exclusive legislative and executive authority.

District municipality (Category C): Municipalities that are established for areas outside metropolitan areas. District municipalities are the secondary structures and overarching and, sharing executive authority with several local municipalities.

Local municipality (Category B): Municipalities that share their legislative and executive authority with district municipalities within whose area they fall.

Cross-boundary municipality: A municipality that is a single entity but straddles more than one province. MECs for Local Government in provinces affected will deal jointly with local government matters such as provincial policy regarding local government.

District Management Areas (DMA): Areas such desert, semi-desert areas and state-managed conservation areas, where municipalities could not be established because there are not enough people are referred to as district management areas. Services in such areas will be provided by the responsible district municipalities.

Councillor: An elected member of council.

Official: An appointed member of council employed to carry out council policy.

Sub-council: A consultative or administrative structure made up of councillors covering more than one ward that may be established by passing a by-law by metropolitan municipalities only.

Ward Committee: An advisory body headed by a ward councillor that may be established by municipalities that have wards. A ward committee is also constituted by up to 10 other people form the ward.

Type of municipality: The different political or executive systems in which municipalities can be organised to effectively perform their powers and functions.

Executive Mayor: An elected member of council who exercises executive authority on behalf of the entire council. She or he appoints a mayoral committee to work with.

Executive Committee: A group of elected members of council that exercises executive authority on behalf of the entire council.

Plenary executive system: All elected members of council exercise executive authority instead of the council electing an executive mayor or executive committee.

Ward: The division of a municipality into smaller electoral entities.

Municipal Demarcation Board: An independent body tasked with, among others, the process of redrawing of municipal outer and inner boundaries and all the activities that come with such a process. The Board works very closely with the other institutions responsible for the elections and stakeholders.

Demarcation: A process of drawing the outer boundaries of municipalities.

Delimitation: A process of drawing inner/ward boundaries of municipalities.

Section 12 Notice: A notice in accordance with section 12 of the Municipal Structures Act establishing a new municipality containing category, name, type, boundaries of a municipality. This notice also contains the number of councillors among others.

Jurisdiction: The area of responsibility and authority.

Lindiwe Ndlela is the manager of IDASA's Local Government Information Centre (LOGIC) Programme in Pretoria.

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As the municipal elections on December 05, 2000 approaches, there is increased pressure on Government to clarify the role and responsibilities in the new municipal dispensation. The Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, No 117 of 1998 provides for the participation of traditional leaders in local councils but how this takes place will depend largely on the determination of the MEC for local government in that province.

Traditional leaders have expressed concern that the new municipal boundaries will result in their losing control over various functions traditionally performed by them. This has led to a shift in the date of the local government elections several times.

The decrease in the number of municipalities clearly has an impact on the powers of traditional leaders. The demarcation of municipal areas and wards has reduced the number of municipalities from 843 to 284, cutting across rural districts and tribal land. This creates more powerful local governments that have more administrative control over their areas. The Municipal Demarcation Board aimed through the new boundaries to bring together areas with functional linkage and those municipalities which are dysfunctional. The aim was to promote resource sharing and better service delivery and to ensure financial sustainability.

This demarcation process met with resistance from traditional leaders, which in some instances even led to litigation, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. In some cases, the new municipal boundaries cut across traditional tribal land. Traditional authorities had always exercised local government powers before 1994 and the creation of local municipalities in areas traditionally ruled by chiefs would amount to removing those powers from traditional leaders (especially on land allocation). Traditional leaders feared that the new boundaries would undermine their powers and they demanded compensation in several ways: ie. More representation of traditional leaders on local government structures, no sharing of resources with councils and no municipalities to be set up in areas falling under traditional jurisdiction.

The Local Government: Municipal Structures Act No. 117 of 1998 made the following provisions for traditional authorities:

Traditional leaders will have a maximum 10% of seats in a municipal council that falls within their area. Currently, all traditional leaders are ex-officio members of the council. Under the new arrangement, the MEC will have to consult with the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders in appointing traditional leaders that will occupy the 10% allocation of seats in the council. This means that those leaders who have been appointed will have an obligation to seek mandates and report back to their constituencies, namely, other traditional leaders whom they represent;

The MEC may regulate the participation of traditional leaders in the proceedings and prescribe their role in the affairs of a local or district council;

Before a district council or local council takes a decision on any matter regarding the area of a traditional authority, the council must give the leader of that authority the opportunity to address the council on that matter.

On September 28, 2000, representatives of the traditional leaders met with President Thabo Mbeki, Deputy President Jacob Zuma and Minister of Provincial and Local Government, Sydney Mufamadi, in an attempt to reconcile the divergence of opinions regarding the demarcation process.

Consequently, a nine-person technical committee was appointed to investigate the concerns of traditional leaders, who feared that their authority would be undermined by the new municipal dispensation. It's mandate was to investigate whether the powers of traditional leaders would be diminished after the elections and, if so, to ascertain what could be done about it. On October 9, 2000 the committee completed its task and presented a report to Government the next day.

While it has been noted by the Minister of Provincial and Local Government that it is too late to make a constitutional amendment, government tabled a second set of interim amendments to the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, No 117 of 1998 (MSA) to accommodate traditional leaders. It formed the first phase of a consultative process to define the role of traditional leadership.

According to interim amendment, in addition to the afore-metioned, the role of traditional authorities have been expanded:

Traditional leaders will now have a maximum 20% of seats in a local council that falls within the area of traditional leaders in comparison to the initial allocation of 10% of seats. The rest of the provision will follow the guidelines set out in Section 181 of the MSA as outlined above;

The MEC may regulate the participation of traditional leaders in the proceedings and prescribe their role in the affairs of a local or district council;

Before a district council or local council takes a decision on any matter regarding the area of a traditional authority, the council must give the leader of that authority the opportunity to address the council on that matter.

To collect and administer all fees and charges, which are, according to custom, payable to the traditional authorities in their respective areas;

to receive fines and fees collected with regard to the exercise of customary law;

to administer funding allocated to it from any source;

to make recommendations in connection with the appointment of headmen;

to perform functions delegated to it by a municipal council;

to carry out orders given to it by competent authorities;

to make known the requirements of any new laws to the community;

promote the interest and well-being of residents in its traditional area;

officiating at the opening and closing of municipal councils;

liaison with communities on behalf of the municipal councils especially with regard to make known the requirements of any new laws;

The premise of the second set of amendments propose that municipal councilors delegate tasks to traditional leaders. This falls short of the traditional leaders key demand of powers equal to those of councilors - which is a call for a fourth tier of local government: traditional leaders.

The leaders have made it clear that the amendments proposed in the MSA to address their concerns were unacceptable. While traditional leaders have played down fears of disrupting the municipal election, they have not ruled out calling for a postponement of the polls if the latest stand-off with the government was not resolved.

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Please note that there is a directory of services also included in the issue. It is basically contact details for the people and organisations that have written in the issue. Details below.

Directory of ServicesRural Development Services Network

185 Smit Street, Braamfontein, Gauteng, 2017

T: (+27)(+11) 403-7324

F: (+27)(+11) 403-7109

IDASA's Local Government Information Centre

Cnr Visagie and Prinsloo Streets, Pretoria, 0001

T: (+27)(+12) 320-3280

F: (+27)(+12) 320-2414

Gender Advocacy Programme

7th Floor, Ruskin House, 2 Roeland Street, Cape Town, 8001

T: (+27)(+21) 465-0197

F: (+27)(+21) 465-0089

Independent Electoral Commission

Election House, 260 Walkers Street, Sunnyside, Pretoria, 0001

T: (+27)(+12) 428-5700

F: (+27)(+12) 341-1961

Municipal Demarcation Board

IParoli, Block B2, Ground Floor, 1166 Park Street, Hatfield, Pretoria,

0028

T: (+27)(+12) 342-2480

F: (+27)(+12) 342-2480/8

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