The third level of government in South Africa is called "local government".  Local government is made up of municipalities. These are headed by councils who make decisions.  They are also made up of municipal staff and officials who do the actual work of municipalities.

Elected municipal members form Councils whose main jobs are those of setting new by-laws or policies in place. Councils also have to work within a budget which they pass every year. They also decide how to develop municipal areas and achieve service delivery.

Councils are lead by an elected Mayor. Mayors are either assisted in their jobs by an Executive Committee which is made up of elected council members or by a Mayoral Committee who is selected by the Mayor themselves. The Mayor and their committee manage the different department heads. In the case of very small municipalities, there is no mayor and the council is in charge. In this case, the council is known as the "Plenary Executive".

There are three kinds of municipalities:

• Metropolitan municipalities
• Local Municipalities
• District municipalities

Metropolitan municipalities

Metropolitan municipalities are found in the six biggest cities in the country (Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth and Ekhuruleni). These municipalities usually have more than 500 000 voters and have to organise service delivery across the entire area. Metropolitan "municipalities" are divided into wards. Councilors are elected by voters while ward councilors are elected by residents in each ward.

Local municipalities

Local municipalities are areas that fall outside the six metropolitan areas. There are 231 local municipalities and these are also divided into wards. Ward councilors represent the residents of wards. People who live in areas with small populations do not form part of local municipalities. These areas are called district management areas (DMAs) and form part of district municipalities.

District municipalities

District municipalities are made up of smaller, usually between three and six, local municipalities that fall under one district area. There are 47 district municipalities throughout the country. Nature reserves form part of district municipalities but they do not have local councils. District municipalities manage service-delivery within the entire area that it controls. This is more important in areas where municipalities have a larger area to control. District municipalities have their own staff (administration).

The councils of district municipalities have two types of councilors.

• The first of these are elected councilors. These councilors are elected for the district council by all the voters in the municipal area. They make up 40% of the district councilors.
• The second type is local councilors. These councilors are meant to represent the district council. They make up 60% of the district councilors.

Local municipalities share responsibilities like area development and service delivery with district municipalities. In rural areas, district municipalities play a more important role in terms of service delivery.

Municipalities have the following responsibilities:

• Electricity and water delivery for domestic use.
• Sanitation of storm water systems
• Sewage management
• Waste removal
• Fire fighting services
• Recreational areas, like parks
• Roads and public transport
• Health services
• Land management
• Tourism
• Libraries and other public facilities

Click here for the official City of Cape Town website.

Last Update: 04 May 2011