South Africa 

Key facts

POPULATION (Census 2001): 44,819,781
AREA: 1,221,037 sq km
CAPITAL: Pretoria
LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTION TO GDP: 7.7%
CURRENCY: rand (ZAR)
HEAD OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT: President Jacob Zuma
FORM OF GOVERNMENT: democratic republic
PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM: bicameral
STATE STRUCTURE: unitary
LANGUAGES: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu (official)
NATIONAL ELECTIONS: last: 2008; turnout: next: 2013
LOCAL ELECTIONS: last: 2006 turnout: - next: 2011

Summary

South Africa is a democratic republic with three spheres of government: national, provincial and local. Local government is enshrined within the constitution, which also outlines the various functions and resource distributions between the spheres of government, additionally there are numerous Acts governing various aspects of local government activity. The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs is responsible for supporting provinces and local government in fulfilling their constitutional and legal obligations. There are three types of municipality: six urban metropolitan municipalities and double-tier rural authorities, of which there are 46 first-tier district municipalities and 231 second-tier local municipalities. Service charges, followed by government grants, are the largest source of operating revenue for local authorities, whose responsibilities range from public health and utility provision to transportation and waste management. Partnerships are encouraged and promoted between municipalities and traditional councils.

Download full profile of South Africa (  137K PDF) 

Related links

Commonwealth Local Government Good Practice Scheme in South Africa

See also

• Research report: Local government service partnerships
• South African Local Government Association
• Council partners in the Eastern Cape (pdf)

• Crime and safety partnerships give communities confidence (pdf)

Additional information since publication

18th May 2011 - Municipal elections. Results can be viewed from the Independant Election Commission www.elections.org.za/content/Pages/LGE_NPE_Reports/reports.aspx?lEEtypeID=3&id=1427&name=Elections