Ramaphosa boosts municipalities to build capable state, says presidency

President Cyril Ramaphosa has assented to the Municipal Systems Amendment Bill of 2022 to build state capacity, the presidency said on Saturday.

“A capable, ethical state requires a strong foundation at local level, and the new law will go a long way to building communities’ confidence in local government and enabling stronger partnerships and co-operation between municipalities and the communities they serve,” said Ramaphosa.

Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the new legislation is an important element in improving the performance of local government, preventing the abuse of public resources and stamping out the sheltering of officials who move from municipality to municipality after wrongdoing.

“The president has enacted legal provisions directed at improving the capacity and ethical standards of local government through, among other things, the way senior appointments are made and by preventing high-ranking officials from holding political office in political parties,” said Magwenya.

The law enables municipalities to conduct recruitment searches nationally to widen the pool of talent they can attract.

Among its far-reaching interventions, Magwenya said the new legislation provides for minister of co-operative governance and traditional affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to make regulations relating to the duties, remuneration, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment of municipal managers and managers directly accountable to municipal managers.

“The law requires that a vacant post of municipal manager be advertised nationally to attract as wide as possible a pool of candidates. A person may be selected for appointment as municipal manager only from this pool of candidates.

“If the pool of candidates is insufficient, the municipal council may re-advertise the post. Provision is, however, made for the minister to exempt a municipal council from these strict appointment requirements if the municipal council is unable to attract a suitable candidate, which may happen especially in the rural areas.”

Magwenya said the legislative amendments bar municipal managers and managers directly accountable to them from holding political office in political parties.

“Political office refers to the position of chairperson, deputy chairperson, secretary, deputy secretary or treasurer of a political party nationally or in any province, region or other area in which the party operates. Other political rights of senior managers are unaffected by the amendment and they remain entitled to enjoy and exercise these rights freely.”

In a different area, Magwenya said the law now directs that any staff member of any municipality who has been dismissed for misconduct may only be re-employed in a municipality after the expiry of a prescribed period.

“A staff member dismissed for financial misconduct contemplated in the Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003 (Act No 56 of 2003), corruption or fraud, may not be re-employed for a period of five years.”

Municipalities are now required to maintain a record of disciplinary proceedings of staff members dismissed for misconduct and forward it to the provincial member of the executive council for local government, who must forward it to the minister to keep and make available to municipalities as prescribed.

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