By Nolu Hlophoyi
South Africa has long been a nation of delicate balances. Our Constitution, often hailed as one of the most progressive in the world, establishes a governance system that ensures the autonomy of its three spheres of government—national, provincial, and local.
These distinctions are not merely bureaucratic niceties; they are foundational to our democracy.
They ensure that the levels of government closest to the people have the power to respond to their needs.
But in the past decade legislation which centralises power has slowly crept closer which erodes these cornerstones.
The Public Service Commission Bill (PSC Bill) may appear, at first glance, to be a benign administrative reform aimed at professionalising governance. Scratch beneath the surface, however, and a darker truth emerges: this Bill represents a fundamental watering down of the autonomy of local government, one that is not only unconstitutional but also deeply impractical.
Centralising Power in the Name of Oversight
The PSC Bill seeks to expand the powers of the Public Service Commission (PSC) beyond its current mandate of overseeing the national and provincial public service. It proposes extending the PSC’s reach into municipalities, granting it authority to investigate and even issue binding directives to local governments. Proponents argue this is necessary to address the dysfunction that plagues many of our municipalities—crumbling infrastructure, irregular expenditure, and woeful service delivery.
But this reasoning is both disingenuous and dangerously shortsighted. The dysfunction in local government is not the result of a legislative vacuum or insufficient oversight. Quite the opposite: municipalities already operate within one of the most heavily regulated environments in the country. The Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), Municipal Systems Act, Municipal Structures Act, and the oversight of the Auditor-General create a labyrinth of checks and balances.
The real issue is not that municipalities lack guidance but that existing laws are poorly enforced. Accountability is undermined by cadre deployment, a lack of political will, and inadequate capacitation. Adding another layer of oversight through the PSC does not address these root causes; it merely centralises power, shifting accountability away from communities and their elected representatives to a faceless bureaucracy in Pretoria. And as South Africans have learnt the past two decades, theoretical oversight does not equate to actual accountability.
Misunderstanding the Public Service and Public Administration
To justify this overreach, the PSC Bill conflates two distinct concepts: the public service and public administration. The public service, as defined by Section 197 of the Constitution, refers specifically to national and provincial government employees who implement the policies of their respective governments. The public administration, by contrast, is a broader term encompassing all levels of government, including municipalities.
Municipal employees are not part of the public service. They operate under a separate legislative framework and are accountable to their councils, which are elected by local communities. This distinction is not a technicality; it is a constitutional safeguard designed to ensure that local government remains responsive to the needs of its constituents.
By attempting to extend the PSC’s jurisdiction to municipalities, the Bill ignores this constitutional distinction. Worse, it undermines the principle of subsidiarity—the idea that decisions should be made at the lowest effective level of governance. Municipalities are not subservient outposts of the national government; they are independent spheres with their own powers and responsibilities.
The Fiscal Autonomy of Local Government
A central pillar of municipal autonomy is fiscal independence. Unlike provinces, which rely almost entirely on national allocations, municipalities generate significant portions of their revenue through property rates, service charges, and other means. This financial model ties municipalities directly to their communities, creating a unique form of accountability.
The Constitution protects this fiscal autonomy, and it is further codified in the Local Government: Municipal Property Rates Act (MPRA). In City of Johannesburg v Zibi (2021), the Supreme Court of Appeal affirmed a municipality’s right to impose property rates as part of its constitutionally protected mandate. This case underscores the discretion municipalities have in managing their finances and highlights how their governance is distinct from that of provinces or national departments.
The PSC Bill threatens this autonomy by empowering the PSC to interfere in municipal financial and administrative decisions. Such centralisation not only risks undermining the financial viability of municipalities but also disrupts their ability to respond to local challenges effectively.
Regulation Without Enforcement is Futile
It is tempting, particularly in a country with as much dysfunction as South Africa, to believe that the solution to poor governance lies in more regulation. But South Africa is not suffering from a shortage of laws. The MFMA, for instance, is a meticulously crafted piece of legislation designed to ensure transparency, accountability, and good governance in municipalities. Yet, year after year, the Auditor-General reports widespread non-compliance.
Why? Because laws, no matter how well-written, are only as effective as the systems that enforce them. The real challenge is not a lack of oversight mechanisms but a lack of consequences for those who flout them. Municipal managers who ignore audit findings, politicians who shield corrupt officials, and national leaders who fail to capacitate municipalities are the true culprits.
Centralising oversight under the PSC does nothing to address these systemic failures. Instead, it risks creating overlapping mandates, bureaucratic bottlenecks, and confusion about accountability.
The DA’s Position: A Crisis of Consistency
The Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa’s former official opposition, has long opposed the idea of a single public administration. Rightly so. A single public administration risks homogenising governance across vastly different contexts, undermining the very diversity that makes local government effective. Yet, in this instance, the DA appears to be wavering, with some members supporting the PSC Bill.
This is a dangerous inconsistency. The DA’s own Public Administration Laws General Amendment Bill (2021), introduced as an alternative to national government reforms, focused exclusively on professionalising the national and provincial public service. It did not propose extending PSC oversight to municipalities—a tacit acknowledgment of their unique constitutional status.
To support the PSC Bill now would not only betray the DA’s historic position but also undermine its credibility as a party that champions local government autonomy.
The Way Forward
South Africa’s municipalities are in crisis, but the PSC Bill is not the solution. Instead of centralising power, we need to strengthen existing mechanisms: capacitate municipal administrations, enforce compliance with the MFMA, and hold corrupt officials accountable.
The solution to local government dysfunction lies in decentralisation, not centralisation. Municipalities must be empowered, not stripped of their autonomy. Their councils must be strengthened, not bypassed.
The PSC Bill, for all its well-meaning intentions, is a sledgehammer where a scalpel is needed. It risks dismantling the very foundation of local governance, leaving communities even more disempowered and disconnected from decision-making.
South Africa’s Constitution envisions a government that is close to the people, responsive to their needs, and accountable for its actions. The PSC Bill moves us further away from that vision. It should be opposed, not just by municipalities but by all South Africans who value the principles of autonomy, accountability, and democracy.
As citizens, we must remain vigilant. The erosion of local governance may not happen overnight, but if we allow it, the South African dream of a government by the people, for the people, will slip further from our grasp.
Nolu Hlophoyi is from the Foundation for Rights of Expression and Equality (FreeSA).