Johannesburg -
Gauteng looks set to get its fifth metropolitan council on the West Rand if the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) endorses the call by Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Gordhan wrote a letter to the board’s chairwoman Jane Thupana on January 13, asking her to merge several municipalities in the Eastern Cape, North West, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, Free State and Gauteng.
The ANC on the West Rand is upbeat about the move.
Notable in his letter is the quest for the board to consider merging all the West Rand municipalities of Mogale City in Krugersdorp, Merafong City in Carletonville, Randfontein and Westonaria municipalities into a metro council.
The latest development came after Thupana’s predecessor Landiwe Mahlangu had already recommended that Randfontein and Westonaria be merged ahead of the 2016 local government elections.
Mahlangu also recommended the merger of Midvaal and Emfuleni municipalities in the Vaal into a metro council prior to the elections next year.
The proposed merger of the West Rand municipalities would result in all Gauteng municipalities being classified Category A metro councils.
Three days after Gordhan’s letter, Thupana wrote letters to inform the various municipalities and government ministers to alert them to Gordhan’s circular on the re-determination of the municipal boundaries.
She also wrote to the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC), the South African Local Government Association and all magistrates in the country.
According to Thupana, the demarcation board has already started to hold public meetings in the wards that are not affected by the minister’s request.
Residents and other interested parties in the affected areas have until the end of the month to make public submissions.
Those opposed to the move will have 30 days to do so in April.
In June, the demarcation board will publish its final decision on the re-determination of municipal boundaries in terms of Section 21.
“The board will provide the MECs, the IEC and the finance minister with copies of the Section 21 notices for attention in terms of Section 23 of the MDB, and to the affected municipalities in terms of Section 12 of the Municipal Systems Act. The IEC will then be expected to divide the national common voters roll into municipal segments for the new municipalities.”
Public meetings in the affected municipal areas are expected to be held between June and July.
The MDB is expected to pass its final decision in October.
ANC West Rand spokesman Mzi Khumalo said his party believed that the creation of the metro on the West Rand would produce economic and infrastructural growth in the region.
Gauteng DA’s spokesman on local government, Fred Nel, said his party was sceptical about the move, but added they would take part in the public hearings.
“We are also not convinced that by merging municipalities you improve their performance, which seems to be the motivation for the minister’s request.
“If you merge bad-performing municipalities, you only create a larger non-performing municipality,” Nel pointed out.
The Star