Parliament, Friday, 26 September 2025 – The Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration (Traditional Affairs, Human Settlements and Water & Sanitation) has recommended to the National Council of Provinces to disapprove the invocation of section 139 (1) (c) of the Constitution in Knysna Local Municipality by the Western Cape Provincial Executive.
The decision not to support the dissolution was taken in accordance with Section 139 (3) which states that the dissolution takes effect 14 days from the date of receipt of the notice by the Council unless set aside by that Cabinet member or the Council before the expiry of those 14 days. The committee was of the view that there are no exceptional circumstances to warrant such an intervention.
Following the committee’s visit to Knysna and its interaction with internal and external stakeholders, most of its members were of the view that there is strong stability at both administrative and governance levels of the Municipality.
“Most stakeholders highlighted their disapproval of the invocation of Section 139 (1)(c) of the Constitution as the new administration has made meaningful strides in stabilising the administration and accountability ecosystem within the municipality. It is on this basis that the committee’s recommendation to the House is anchored,” said Mr Mxolisi Kaunda, the Chairperson of the committee.
Some of the indicators that convinced the committee included the passing of a funded budget, filling of all vacant senior management positions, and functionality of ward and council committees. Furthermore, the committee was informed that the council can make decisions in line with the law. The committee was also not convinced that all mitigating interventions have been implemented before the decision to invoke section 139 (1)(c), which should be a last resort.
Apart from this, the committee was informed about water and sanitation challenge that is currently facing the municipality. The committee recommended that the municipality must table a workable plan to alleviate the challenge within 14 days to it. The committee also recommended that the Western Cape Provincial government must boost its support to the municipality as per Section 154 of the Constitution.
In the spirit of cooperative governance, the committee recommended that the Minister of the Department of Water and Sanitation should provide systemic and structured support in terms of section 63 of the Water Service Act to enable Knysna Local Municipality to deal with challenges related to water, sanitation and aging infrastructure.
The committee agreed with the representative of the South African Local Government Association that a development of early warning system through the utilisation of statutory and periodic reports such as the AG reports, MFMA section 71 reports, MFMA section 72 reports, MFMA section 73 reports, MSA section 106 reports, quarterly performance reports and identification of targeted support in agreement with municipality on support requirements in terms of section 46; section 47 and section 48 reports as required by local government; and Municipal System Act of 2000 are critical to ensure functional municipalities.
The committee has always argued for strong, sustained support and that section 154 of the Constitution should be elevated as the primary tool of cooperative governance and section 139, be reserved solely for extraordinary cases.
For its part, the committee committed that during the 2026 parliamentary second term programme, it will conduct proactive oversight to Knysna Local Municipality to assess the state of the municipality in terms of good governance, service delivery, revenue and financial management, local economic development, public participation and cross cutting matters related to water, sanitation human settlements and support provided in terms of section 154 of the Constitution.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, MR MXOLISI KAUNDA.
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