Abstract:
In terms of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1993 provincial
boundaries were formed by using the erstwhile magisterial districts, which were
created in terms of the Magistrates’ Courts Act, 1944 (Act No. 32 of 1944), as
building blocks. There were 843 municipalities that were created in terms of that
dispensation, and suffice to say, these municipal areas that were formed were based
on, amongst other things, skewed settlement patterns, and great spatial separations
and disparities between towns, townships and urban sprawl.
The first democratically held municipal elections in South Africa on 5 December
2000 brought to an end the interim system of local government and ushered in a
democratic and developmental system based on the Constitution of the Republic
of South Africa, 1996. The process of demarcation of municipal boundaries
had subsequently resulted in the establishment of 284 municipalities, with 16
cross-boundary municipalities affecting five provinces. Since the establishment of
the cross-boundary areas, numerous problems were experienced in administering
these municipalities, such as the implementation of differing legislation pertaining
to health and traffic; the co-ordination of housing and infrastructure projects; the
finalisation of integrated development plans; and differing financial management
systems, significantly compromising good governance. Also, the problems
pertaining to provincial boundaries were not limited to the cross-boundary
municipalities, and most notable, were the problems around the Eastern Cape
/ KwaZulu-Natal provincial boundary. Consequently, legislative amendments
had to be effected to resolve this challenge, and eradicate the notion of cross-boundary municipalities.
