Metropolitan municipalities (category A) exist in the six biggest cities in SA: Johannesburg, Cape Town, Ethekwini (Durban), Tshwane (Pretoria), Port Elizabeth and Ekhuruleni (East Rand).
Local municipalities (category B) are areas that fall outside the six metropolitan municipal areas and are divided into local municipalities. These municipalities are broken up into wards with a ward councillor representing residents in each ward. People who live in low population areas, like game parks, do not fall under a local municipality but under the district municipality.
District municipalities (category C) are made up of a number of local municipalities that fall in one district and some district municipalities include nature reserves and areas where few people live. A district municipality plays a stronger role in areas where a local municipality lacks capacity to deliver and has to co-ordinate development and delivery in the whole district.
Some of a district municipality’s functions include the supply of bulk infrastructure such as water, roads, electricity and sewage disposal. A local municipality facilitates the distribution of water to households, provides fire-fighting services, refuse removal and street trading among others.
(See next week’s Highvelder for the naming of municipalities in the newspaper’s readership area.)
