Focus shifts to constituting municipal councils

Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Dr Namane Dickson Masemola, has assured South Africans that the department will work with provincial governments to constitute all municipal councils following the 2026 Local Government Elections.

Masemola spoke to the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) on the sidelines of the Electoral Commission’s (IEC) announcement of the local government election results on Sunday at the National Results Operations Centre (ROC) at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Gauteng.

With the elections having been held on 4 November and the results announced, attention now turns to constituting municipal councils within the prescribed 14-day period.

“Now that we are over with the electoral process, legally, after the elections have been declared free and fair and the whole process closed, the law then dictates that within a period of 14 days, we’ve got to work very hard to ensure that formal municipal councils are convened and these councils are constituted legally as governing bodies of those 257 municipalities. 

“This means that from [Monday]…COGTA, working with provinces, will have to work flat out to make sure that all those councils are formally constituted where they will elect mayors, speakers, [and] they will elect executive committees where executive mayors will be elected depending on the type of municipality.

“In 14 days, the law says we must now work hard to constitute those municipalities,” Masemola explained.

The Deputy Minister acknowledged the challenges posed by hung councils where coalition negotiations are needed to form stable local governments.

“There is a detailed timetable, but when you are managing a political situation, that timetable might work or might not work. 

“For instance, these results are pointing to a very extraordinary phenomenon which has now become permanent in our municipal electoral democracy of hung councils, which necessitates coalition municipalities. Within this period, those political discussions ought to take place among various political parties to agree on how they are going to work together and constitute those municipal councils.

“Therefore, the timetable might be impacted, but whatever happens – notwithstanding these realities – within 14 days, these parties would have to agree on the proper ways and means of how they’re going to work together.”

Transition framework
Masemola also outlined a transition framework to help incoming municipal leaders take office and ensure operational continuity.

Before the elections, municipalities were advised to prepare political and administrative reports, along with information packages for incoming councillors.

“Part of the work is to make sure that once the councils are constituted, there is a process to hand over the reports from the previous leadership so that they account to the incoming leadership.

“They will have to make sure that administrative reports are handed over to the incoming leadership for them to know what is expected, and the third aspect would be what we called a very comprehensive package, which must then contain a lot of issues like budgets, audit plans, Integrated Development Plans (IDPs), service delivery budget implementation plans, codes of conduct, and audit reports.

“Everything that goes with the state of the municipality so that the incoming leadership will be able to know where to start from here in terms of the budget, project implementation, outstanding decisions, appointment of staff, assessment of municipal managers, including to the extent that communities are supposed to be informed about the developments of these municipalities,” Masemola explained.

Continuation
He reassured the public that key municipal operations would continue during the transition, while newly elected councils convened to elect their leadership.

“Communities have voted and done all that was expected. Therefore, we in government, working with provinces and these newly elected councillors, in the next 14 days, communities must expect formal meetings, elections of mayors and speakers, and elections of executive committees. Communities must be settled,” the Deputy Minister said.

Masemola also sought to dispel misinformation about the post-election process and reassure communities about the transition.

“We need to clear this confusion. There are those who are peddling misinformation about the actual processes after these elections. Communities must be at ease that the processes are in good hands; there is no confusion,” Masemola stated.

He urged newly elected councillors to put citizens first and help build functional municipalities that support service delivery and economic growth.

“For South Africa’s economy to work, it needs functional municipalities, it needs decisive leadership, it needs well-oiled administrative capacity. Therefore, our theme is: Every Municipality Must Work. It is our theme for the next five years.

“If every municipality can work, it means people will have services and the economy will grow,” Masemola said. – SAnews.gov.za

 

Source: Original report at SAnews.gov.za.