Reflections from our Senior Associate Thokwadi Seabela on the recently promulgated Local Government: Municipal Systems Amendment Act, 2022

As Motsoeneng Bill Attorneys Inc., and legal representatives at large, we welcome the amendments provided for in the Amendment Act as they are intended to cure the ills that we often encounter within municipalities.

One of the adverse consequences of appointing unqualified individuals as public officials, is that it results in municipalities spending hundreds of thousands of rands on legal costs when we, as legal representatives, have to intervene and apply for these public officials’ appointments to be reviewed and set aside. This leads to the accumulation of wasteful expenditure that could have been avoided by diligently complying with the provisions of the Act.

The Amendment Act now provides the HR functionaries with legislation that they can rely on to fulfil their duties and responsibilities impartially and without fear, favour or prejudice. This definitely outweighs the cost of oppressing the HR functions within
municipalities.

Lastly, the regulation of remuneration will have the effect of preventing the common cases we have faced of senior public officials unilaterally increasing their salaries.

The introduction of the Amendment Act will aid us, and other legal representatives, in properly advising municipalities in the manner in which they ought to deal with the above-mentioned issues.

Questions & Answer Session

When posed with the question “what our part in is creating a better South Africa, linked to the proper and effective use of professional bodies?”, Ms Seabela emphasised our responsibility to uphold ethics in our respective professions within or outside of municipalities.

In instances where a public official commits an infraction and has been charged with misconduct, it is our responsibility, alongside the municipalities, to lodge a complaint with the professional body against such an individual.

The above echoes what was shared by Michael Motsoeneng Bill, Managing Partner of MBA Incorporated, in that we all have a part to play in ensuring our municipalities are run with a high regard for their constitutional mandate and a strong ethical code.