Overview of legal services for South African local government

Local Government in South Africa, as an autonomous sphere of government mandated by the Constitution (Chapter 7), faces immense legal and governance challenges in fulfilling its developmental and service delivery roles. Our firm provides specialized legal services to municipalities, municipal entities, and provincial/national departments involved in local governance, focusing on compliance, risk mitigation, and strategic support.

Services are underpinned by expertise in key legislation, including the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000, the Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998, and the Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003 (MFMA).

Statutory compliance and governance

Ensuring that all municipal actions, decisions, and structures are legally compliant is essential to prevent successful legal challenges and interventions.

• Legislative Drafting and Review: Drafting, reviewing, and amending by-laws (municipal legislation) and internal policies (e.g., credit control, tariff, and anti-corruption policies) to ensure alignment with national and provincial legislation.
• Constitutional and Administrative Law Advice: Providing opinions on the scope of municipal powers and functions, the validity of Council resolutions, and adherence to the principles of just administrative action (Promotion of Administrative Justice Act – PAJA).
• Access to Information (PAIA/POPIA): Advising on the proper handling of requests under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) and compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
• Intervention Advice: Advising the municipality or the Provincial Executive on the legal requirements and procedures relating to Section 139 Interventions (when a province takes over a struggling municipality’s function).

Public finance and procurement

Financial management and the awarding of tenders are high-risk areas requiring strict adherence to the MFMA and associated regulations.

• Supply Chain Management (SCM) Litigation: Representing the municipality in disputes related to the tender process, including urgent interdict applications to stop tender awards, review applications against decisions, and general contract disputes arising from procurement.
• MFMA Compliance: Providing advice on budget processes, irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure, and the roles and responsibilities of the Municipal Manager (as Accounting Officer) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
• Revenue Collection and Debt Management: Legal assistance with implementing and enforcing credit control and debt collection policies, including litigation to recover arrears on municipal services and property rates.

Litigation and dispute resolution

We manage high-stakes litigation, protecting the municipality from liability and upholding its constitutional mandate.

• Constitutional and Public Interest Litigation: Defending the municipality against challenges to service delivery, environmental decisions, town planning schemes, and other public interest matters, often involving fundamental constitutional rights.
• Contractual Disputes: Handling disputes arising from service delivery agreements, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), and bulk water/electricity supply contracts.
• Tort/Delict Claims: Defending the municipality against claims for damages arising from alleged negligence (e.g., potholes, faulty infrastructure, wrongful arrests by municipal police).
• Labour and Employment Law: Representing the municipality in internal disciplinary hearings, arbitration, and litigation at the CCMA and Labour Courts.

Property, planning, and land use

• Town Planning Appeals: Representing the municipality in appeals related to zoning, sub-division, and land use applications.
• Property Rates: Advising on valuations, objections, and litigation arising from the Municipal Property Rates Act.
• Expropriation and Servitudes: Handling legal aspects of land acquisition for public purposes (expropriation) and drafting servitude agreements for infrastructure.

Would the municipality benefit from a training session focused on PAJA compliance in decision-making or MFMA SCM risk areas?