Legislation: Status of municipal systems regulations clarified

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Zweli Mkhize has moved to clarify the status of regulations issued under the 2011 Local Government: Municipal Systems Amendment Act following last month’s Constitutional Court’s decision to dismiss his application for a 12-month extension to the deadline for replacing it with legislation correctly tagged and processed by Parliament. According to yesterday’s media statement, while all regulations issued under the Act became invalid on 9 March, those issued in terms of sections of the principal statute not affected by the amendment Act remain enforceable, reports Pam Saxby for Legalbrief Policy Watch.

Against that backdrop, the statement spells out the functions and procedures for which valid regulations are still in place. They include setting uniform standards for personnel administration; remuneration and other conditions of service; minimum competency levels; performance evaluation; and several matters specific to senior municipal managers and managers directly accountable to them. These deal with remuneration and other conditions of service, the code of conduct, disciplinary measures and procedures, and performance evaluation.

As Legalbrief Today has already reported, a Bill giving effect to the March 2017 Constitutional Court judgment declaring the 2011 amendment Act invalid was tabled in February. It will be processed by SA’s next Parliament.

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