City Targets Discriminatory By-Laws
The City is embarking on a process to vet and draft new by-laws to ensure local legislation remains alive to the ideals of the Constitution of the country and its social cohesion aspirations.
The process focuses on several by-laws that are offensive to the morality, current laws and the spirit of the Constitution. These include, but not limited to, by-laws on bus transportation, parks, cemeteries and use of public facilities.
This by-law review process will also fast-track the City’s pursuit to become a single city by addressing disparities found in what is known as different towns of the City.
Currently, different by-laws of former town councils that make up the City lack uniformity in terms of land and public spaces, building control, public transport use and public behaviour, amongst others. These disparities provide a negative impact on how the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) enforces these by-laws.
The City assures residents that public participations process will be undertaken to ensure that residents have an opportunity to contribute to the new by-laws.
This review comes shortly after the City rolled out a process to name and rename several landmark features in the City with names that significantly bring honour and pride to the residents. Both these processes seek to redress the apartheid legacy and promote social cohesion in efforts to create a national democratic society.
The imminent by-law changes augurs well as the City of Ekurhuleni is gearing up to celebrate 20 years of its formation in 2020, following abolishment of the erstwhile nine town councils.
Editor’s Note:
- The by-law is the local level legislation that is used in the administration and governance of the City.
- By-laws derive their content from enabling national and provincial legislation and are approved and passed by the Council as provided for in the Constitution of the Republic, and the Municipal Systems Act.
- Key requirements in the process to approve by-laws are the following:
- The power to consider and approve a by-law is vested in the Council only;
- Before approval, a by-law must be published for comments by the public; only once all procedural requirements set out in chapter three of the Municipal Systems Act, read with the Rationalization of Local Government
- Affairs Act (Gauteng) and the Standing Orders of CoE, can the Council approve and pass a by-law;
- Such by-law to be approved by Council within 12 months of such approval for public comment.
- The former nine councils are: Brakpan, Springs, Nigel, Germiston, Kempton Park, Alberton, Boksburg, Benoni and Edenvale.
