About 300 sections of different laws are possible blockages to service delivery at local government level, NCOP chairman Mninwa Mahlangu said on Thursday.
He said Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Richard Baloyi was tackling the problem.
“He has already formed a task team looking at all the legislation in conflict with each other, and which is making delivery difficult.”
Mahlangu was speaking after a National Council of Provinces (NCOP) seminar, organised to bring the different spheres of government together to tackle the challenges facing municipalities.
SA Local Government Association (Salga) CEO Xolile George said a prime example of problematic laws were those dealing with the environment.
He cited the need for municipalities to wait for an environmental impact assessment (EIA), before it could use land for a specific purpose, like housing people.
“There might be a need to speed up the resettlement of people in an area, but the EIA laws might be putting in place an elaborate process that might go beyond a financial year,” said George.
The seminar will culminate in a debate on local government in the NCOP on Friday morning.
The NCOP would also monitor the co-operative governance and traditional affairs department to ensure it followed through on its plan to amend laws which were slowing down service delivery. - Sapa