Abstract:
This article aims to enhance the understanding of the separation of powers governance
framework in local government. The key objective of this article is to highlight
how the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality established legislative mechanisms
to foster greater oversight and separation of powers within their governance
structures. It demonstrates that the relevance of the available mechanisms in
current legislation can lead to the practical separation of executive and legislative
powers as well as sound oversight within the municipality. The article acknowledges
the conflation of executive and legislative functions in the municipal council as
stipulated in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 section 151(2)
which resulted in a lack of clarity of the roles of office bearers including an oversight
deficiency. The exploration establishes that the use of mechanisms stipulated by the
current legislation can enhance accountability and oversight to ensure checks and
balances in the municipality. The article illustrates the importance of the section
79 committees as an oversight mechanism (established in respect of Section 43 of
the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998 of the municipal council
in relation to the separation of powers governance framework. The separation of
powers governance model was utilised to obviate the concentration of abundant
supremacy of the executive.
