Hologram project: role of district municipalities

The relationship between district-level and local-level municipalities has changed significantly since the introduction of Regional Services Councils in 1984. Since December 2000, additional issues and arguments have been heard, which may potentially change the face of municipal government quite profoundly. Consequently, it is necessary to review the past and current practices, to assess the strengths of these practices, and to make proposals for future types of district-local relationships. In this paper, the background to the debate on powers and functions were "unpacked". Subsequently, six case studies were conducted. The paper draws two far-reaching conclusions. Firstly, District Municipalities are performing far more implicit and explicit functions than originally envisaged. Secondly, District Municipalities would be more effective if they are re-cast as district field offices of Provincial Governments, rather than fully-fledged municipal governments.