Page:Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Amendment Act 1998 from Government Gazette.djvu/2



To amend the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, so as to extend the term of Municipal Councils; to provide for the designation of alternates in respect of certain members of the Judicial Service Commission; to amend the name of the Human Rights Commission; to adjust the powers of the Public Service Commission; and to extend and modify the application of transitional arrangements in respect of local government; and to provide for matters connected therewith.

(English text signed by the President.) (Assented to 28 September 1998.)

E IT ENACTED by the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, as follows:—

Amendment of section 159 of Act 108 of 1996

1. The following section is hereby substituted for section 159 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act): “Terms of Municipal Councils

159. (1) The term of a Municipal Council may be no more than [four] five years, as determined by national legislation.

(2) If a Municipal Council is dissolved in terms of national legislation, or when its term expires, an election must be held within 90 days of the date that Council was dissolved or its term expired.

(3) A Municipal Council, other than a Council that has been dissolved following an intervention in terms of section 139, remains competent to function from the time it is dissolved or its term expires, until the newly elected Council has been declared elected. ”.

Amendment of section 178 of Act 108 of 1996

2. Section 178 of the principal Act is hereby amended—

by the substitution for paragraph (k) of subsection (1) of the following paragraph:

when considering matters specifically relating to a provincial or local division of the High Court, the Judge President of that division