South African government is organized into three spheres: national, provincial, and local.
The Constitution specifies the responsibilities of each sphere. Each sphere’s government has a political and administrative arm. The political arm produces laws and policies, whereas the administrative arm provides services and puts the laws and policies into action.
Citizens vote for representatives in Parliament, provincial legislatures, and city councils.
National Government: Creates laws and policies for the country, as well as providing services that fit under national competencies (e.g. issuing of ID books).
The three branches of national government are the Legislature, the Executive, and the Judiciary.
Legislature (Parliament): Makes laws and holds the government accountable
National Assembly
Provinces’ National Council (represents the interests of provinces)
The executive (President and Cabinet) is in charge of running the country.
The President
Cabinet
Government departments
The Judiciary (Courts): Enforces the laws.
Constitutional Court
Supreme Court of Appeal
High courts
Magistrate courts
Specific issues (child justice courts; small claims courts; labour courts etc.)
Provincial Government
Provincial Government: According to the Constitution, each province has its own legislature, which consists of 30 to 80 members. The number of members is decided by a formula outlined in national legislation, and they are elected via proportional representation.
A provincial legislature may create a constitution for its province if two-thirds of its members agree, in addition to making provincial laws. The provincial constitution must be in accordance with the federal constitution.
Each province has an executive council made up of a premier and members of the executive council (MECs) in charge of provincial departments. Premiers are chosen by their respective provincial legislatures.
Municipal Government Municipalities’ roles include providing essential services such as water, rubbish collection, and sanitation, as well as promoting a safe and healthy environment and community development.
The Constitution establishes three types of municipalities. South Africa has 278 municipalities, including 8 metropolitan, 44 district, and 226 local municipalities.
What is the government’s role in South Africa?
The government receives revenue (income) from taxes and utilizes it to provide services and infrastructure that improve the lives of all citizens, especially the poor. The South African Constitution establishes the ground rules for how government operates.
What are the government’s services?
People naturally expect state and municipal governments to provide services such as law enforcement, education, roadway construction and maintenance, social programs, and hospital and health care. Taxation is an important source of revenue for these services, as well as many others that are close to home.
Which fundamental services are provided by a country’s government?
These are the basic services provided by the government, such as education, food, health, electricity, sanitation, safe drinking water, shelter, and security.
