A by-law is a law that is passed by the Council of a municipality to regulate the affairs and the services it provides within its area of jurisdiction. They must be passed by a majority vote of a municipal council.

In terms of the Constitution the executive and legislative authority of a municipality is exercised by the municipal council', and one of the methods by which this is done is by passing by-laws. A municipality may only make by-laws on matters that it has the right to administer. These matters are set out in Schedules 4B and SB of the Constitution.

Section 43 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa states inter alia: “That thelegislative authority of the local sphere of government is vested in the municipal councils.” This simply means that the power of municipal councils to make law is protected in the constitution.

It is against this background that the proposed set of draft by-laws were presented to council and subsequently the public participation process led by the Honourable Speaker’s Office was embarked upon. This process culminated in the gazetting and promulgation of the current set of 15 by-laws dealing with the following areas: