Cogta minister Nkadimeng clamps down on misbehaving councillors

Co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Thembi Nkadimeng has cracked the whip on municipal councillors, introducing new rules to restore order and clamp down on instability plaguing municipalities.

The regulations, issued in terms of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Amendment Act, stipulate that unlawful conduct by councillors will be prosecuted. This includes but is not limited to:

• councillors who disrupt municipalities;
• those who incite communities to participate in violent protest; and
• those who stage walkouts from council meetings.

The newly announced code of conduct prohibits councillors from sabotaging meetings by staging walkouts, including portfolio committees. 

“Walkouts do not serve the interests of communities and councillors have a constitutional responsibility to ensure service must be prioritised,” reads the Cogta code of conduct TimesLive has seen.

However, in the event of a walkout and there is a quorum, the meeting is to proceed.

Nkadimeng said it had become a common occurrence in municipal councils that proceedings were disrupted – and worse, came to a complete halt – which was at great expense to municipal coffers and compromised the delivery of services.

She said councillors ought to declare in writing to the municipal manager all gifts received that are above the prescribed amount of R1,000, and where the value of gifts received from a single source in a calendar year exceeds R1,000.

“A councillor accepting a gift must also make the person or organisation providing the gift aware that their details will be included in the council’s gift register, subject to the provisions of the Protection of Personal Information Act.

“Failure to declare a gift(s) in terms of sub-regulation (1) qualifies as a breach of the code.”

In addition, regulation 5 provides that a councillor is in breach of the code if he or she votes in favour of or agrees with a proposed resolution which conflicts with any legislation applicable to local government.

Nkadimeng said the regulations were developed having due regard to relevant case law with the view to ensuring good governance, ethical leadership and accountability were restored in council operations in instances where this had been compromised.

“The draft regulations were consulted with all relevant stakeholders, including MECs responsible for local government, the South African Local Government Association and National Treasury.

“Should councillors find themselves in breach of a provision of this code, the council affected may issue a formal warning to the councillor, reprimand or fine the councillor, request the MEC for local government in the province to suspend the councillor for a certain period and even to completely remove them from office.”

- TimesLIVE