ATC231121: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on the Independent Municipal Demarcation Authority Bill [B14-2022], Dated 21 November 2023

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

Report of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on the Independent Municipal Demarcation Authority Bill [B14-2022], Dated 21 November 2023

 

The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs having considered the objects of the Independent Municipal Demarcation Authority Bill [14-2022] (National Assembly – Section 76), referred to it, and classified by the Joint Tagging Mechanism as a section 76 Bill, reports as follows:

 

1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

 

1.1 The Independent Municipal Demarcation Authority Bill [B14 – 2022] was prepared by the National Executive for introduction into the National Assembly (NA) in accordance with Section 85(2)(d) of the Constitution. It presents a series of amendments to the provisions of the current Municipal Demarcation Act (1998), as to address several demarcation related problems, including the well-known issue of non-viable municipal amalgamations, which the Portfolio Committee has previously deliberated on in much detail.

1.2 The Bill was tabled in the National Assembly and referred to the Portfolio Committee on 21 June 2022, as per ATC No. 95 of the same date. In terms of Rule 227(1)(a) of the National Assembly Rules, a Portfolio Committee must deal with Bills and other matters falling within its portfolio as are referred to it in terms of the Constitution, legislation, National Assembly Rules, and Joint Rules. The Bill is classified or tagged as an Ordinary Bill affecting provinces in accordance with the procedure set out in Section 76 of the Constitution.

1.3 This is because its provisions fall, in substantial measure, within the functional areas listed in Schedule 4A of the Constitution, which provides for matters pertaining to concurrent national and provincial competence. The relevant matters in this case are regional planning and development, and municipal planning. The NA Rules also enjoin the Portfolio Committee to invite the public to comment on the Bill. Based on the public inputs, the Committee will then deliberate and report back to the NA on its decision on the Bill. The Committee may recommend approval or rejection of the Bill or present with its report an amended Bill or a redraft of the Bill, provided that the conditions for the submission of a redraft have been adhered to

 

2. COMMITTEE PROCESS

 

2.1 On 30 August 2022, the Department of Cooperative Governance briefed the Portfolio Committee on the Bill’s content. Following this preliminary engagement, the Committee invited the public to submit written inputs on the Bill. For this purpose, the Bill was published in the various official languages, in various media platforms, and the public was afforded the statutory opportunity to submit written inputs up to 29 August 2023. The Committee received seven written submissions.

2.2 Following the call for written submissions, Parliament embarked on a public education drive to sensitize communities about the legislation in preparation for the Portfolio Committee’s public hearing process. Thereafter, the Committee conducted public hearings across the nine provinces, starting in the Eastern Cape and followed by Northern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, North-West, Limpopo and the Western Cape

2.3 n the Eastern Cape, public hearings were convened in Umtata, East London, and Port Elizabeth, from 23 to 25 June 2023. The Northern Cape and Free State public hearings took place in Upington, De Aar, Edenburg and Botshabelo from 06 to 09 July 2023. KwaZulu-Natal public hearing took place Richards Bay, Port Shepstone, and Durban from 21 to 23 July 2023. Mpumalanga and Gauteng public hearings took place from 03 to 06 August 2023 in Nelspruit, Delmas, and Soweto

2.4 Public hearings in the North-West were convened in Brits and Potchefstroom from 18 to 19 August 2023. From 25 to 26 August 2023 public hearings took place in Limpopo at Thulamela and Mogalakwena respectively. The final public hearings were convened in the Drakenstein and the City of Cape Town municipal areas in the Western Cape from 20 to 21 October 2023.

2.5 On 24 October 2023, the Portfolio Committee received oral submissions from the Economic Freedom Fighters, the South African Local Government Association, and the Democratic Alliance. The EFF and SALGA submissions were identical to the written submissions as captured in the previous section.

 

3. COMMITTEE DELIBERATIONS

 

3.1 Having considered the inputs from the public and stakeholders, the Committee sat on 7 November for final deliberations on the Bill. The Committee sitting consisted of the following members: Mr F D Xasa (Chairperson – ANC), Mr GG Mpumza (ANC), Ms P Xaba-Ntshaba (ANC), Mr B M Hadebe (ANC), Ms D Direko (ANC), Mr X Msimango (ANC), Mr J Smalle (DA) Ms E Spies (DA) and Ms G Opperman (DA), Ms H O Mkhalipi (EFF) and Mr M I Groenewald (FFP).

 

3.2 Having been thus constituted, the Committee considered and agreed to the following amendments:

AMENDMENT
CLAUSE 7 On page 6, in line 26, after “(a)” to insert “broadly” and after “reflect the” to omit “broad”.
CLAUSE 9 On page 6, in line 42, after “necessary” to insert “relevant”; to omit “or” and to substitute “and”.
CLAUSE 16 On page 9, in line 52, after “member of the Board” to insert “and the criteria as set out in section 9(2) apply equally to the appointment of members of a committee”. On page 9, in line 56, to omit “or”. On page 10, in line 3, to omit “full stop” and to substitute “semi colon”; after “semi colon” to insert “and” On page 10, after line 3, to add the following paragraph:
CLAUSE 23 On page 12, from line 17, to omit paragraph “(c)” and to renumber paragraphs (d) and (e) accordingly.
CLAUSE 30 On page 16, from line 41, after “procedures” to insert “as stipulated in section 17 of the Municipal Systems Act”.
CLAUSE 32 On page 17, in line 28, to omit “six” and to substitute “nine”.
CLAUSE 48 On page 22, after line 42, to add the following paragraph: “(c)       The Minister must submit regulations to be made to Parliament for parliamentary scrutiny at least 30 days before their promulgation.”

 

 

4. Minority views were expressed on the following aspects of the Bill:

 

The Democratic Alliance did not support the Bill and expressed a concern on Clause 10(1)(b) Appointment of Board members – the DA is of the view that the proposed selection panel composition presents potential for harmful political interference. They propose that an alternative selection process for the Board may be followed. This process may follow a Parliamentary selection process where nominated persons are interviewed by a committee of the National Assembly with the incorporation of public participation opportunities. It could also be mandated that the positions of the Board be occupied by specific categories of persons, or persons who hold specific qualifications as prerequisite requirements. 

 

Clause 38 – Establishment and constitution of Appeals Authority - the current appointment process of the Appeals Authority is inadequate. At present, the Minister is empowered to draw up a list of names for the President to appoint from in response to a public call for nominations. A more comprehensive appointment and interview procedure would be preferable.

 

The Freedom Front Plus did not support the Bill and agreed to the views expressed by the Democratic Alliance.

 

5. CONSIDERATION OF THE AMENDMENT BILL

The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs having deliberated on and considered the objects of the Independent Municipal Demarcation Authority Bill [B14-2022] (National Assembly – Section 76), referred to it, and classified by the Joint Tagging Mechanism as a section 76 Bill, reports that it has agreed to the Bill with proposed amendments [B14A-2022].

 

Report to be considered.