Bill to stabilise local government could harm democracy, says MVC

Civil society organisation My Vote Counts (MVC) has rejected parts of a stringent bill seeking to stabilise the local government sector, saying the proposed amendments would diminish political rights and undermine democracy by removing key checks and balances of accountability in councils.

The Local Government: Municipal Structures Amendment Bill of 2023, which was published in the Government Gazette for public comment in May, calls for a raft of reforms in the governance of the country's 257 municipalities. 

The bill seeks to strengthen hung local councils by calling for written and “binding coalition agreements” between parties; that the election or removal from office of municipal office bearers be conducted by a show of hands rather than secret ballot; and that political parties should obtain a minimum 1% of the valid votes cast in an election to qualify for a seat in the council, among other proposals. 

The bill comes as several councils, including some Gauteng metros, have been rocked by fiscal challenges, corruption, a lack of expert human capital, and political instability, with the frequent changes of municipal office bearers causing a breakdown in the delivery of basic services to communities. 

According to the proposed legislation, a municipal council, by resolution taken by a show of hands, may remove its executive mayor, deputy executive mayor, whip, speaker, one or all members of the executive mayoral committee, “provided that two years have passed” since their election.  

The council, however, may remove the office bearers from office at any time on the grounds of “a serious violation of the constitution or the law, serious misconduct or inability to perform the functions of office”, the bill reads. 

In its submission to the national department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs, MVC senior researcher Joel Bregman said the organisation rejected the “limiting of motions of no confidence and processes to remove key positions in a council, namely the speaker, whip, members of the executive, mayor and deputy mayor. 

“Limiting bringing such motions to once every two years, despite a mechanism to allow for such motions under certain circumstances, will remove a key check and balance of accountability,” Bregman said. 

He said while the desire for coalition agreements to be binding “is recognised, they are not legally enforceable contracts. 

“The introduction of a 1% electoral threshold ... will exclude smaller parties from representation in local councils, limit political choice, produce more wasted votes, and diminish the rights of voters.” 

Bregman said the development of legislation to assist coalitions should not be an opportunity for those in power to “consolidate and shrink political competition, under the guise of wanting stability. We must ensure that whatever changes are made are in the best interests of democracy, service delivery, and our political rights. 

“We agree that there is a need for some legislation to provide a structure in which coalition governments can operate more effectively. However, this process cannot be used as an opportunity by dominant political parties to cement their power at the expense of voters.  

“While there are several elements of the bill that MVC supports, we strongly reject amendments that will diminish our political rights and mechanisms that provide accountability and undermine democracy,” Bregman said. 

The MVC, however, supported other aspects of the bill, such as voting by show of hands, saying: “This will deepen transparency and accountability and limit corruption and the potential for votes to be bought.” 

The civil society organisation also supports the requirement for coalition agreements: “These agreements will help the public to understand how parties intend to co-govern and what compromises they have made on policy and will serve as a tool for the public to hold the government to account."

mkentanel@businesslive.co.za