The promotion of good governance through the eradication of the notion of cross-boundry municipalities

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.