University of South Africa Universiteit van Suid-Afrika
College of Law Department of Public, Constitutional & International Law
⋄ ⋄
LGL3702
Local Government Law
Assignment 1 Service Delivery and Disaster Response
⋄ ⋄
Module: LGL3702 Local Government Law
Assignment: Assignment 1
Semester: Semester 1, 2026
Due Date: 20 March 2026
Topic: Service Delivery & Disaster Response:
Giyani Floods
Institution: University of South Africa (UNISA)
Department: College of Law
Citation Style: APA 7th Edition
Submitted in partial ful
lment of the requirements for LGL3702 University of South Africa
,UNISA | LGL3702 Local Government Law Assignment 1 Semester 1, 2026
Contents
1 Introduction: The Giyani Flood Crisis and Local Government's Role 2
2 Constitutional Framework: Local Government and Service Delivery 3
2.1 2.1 The Constitutional Basis for Municipal Service Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 2.2 Section 153: Developmental Duties of Municipalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.3 2.3 Schedule 4B and 5B: Municipal Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3 The Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002: Primary Legislative Response 5
3.1 3.1 Overview and Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2 3.2 Disaster Management Centres and Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.3 3.3 Immediate Obligations Under the DMA Following the Floods . . . . . . . . . 6
3.4 3.4 Application to Speci
c Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4 The Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000: Service Delivery Obligations 8
4.1 4.1 Overview and Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.2 4.2 Integrated Development Planning (IDP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.3 4.3 Service Delivery and the Right to Basic Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.4 4.4 Community Participation and Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.5 4.5 Service Delivery Agreements and External Providers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5 The Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998: Roles and Responsibilities 11
5.1 5.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.2 5.2 The Giyani Local Municipality and Mopani District Municipality . . . . . . . 11
5.3 5.3 The Municipal Council's Governance Obligations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6 The MFMA 56 of 2003: Emergency Expenditure and Financial Obligations 13
6.1 6.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6.2 6.2 Emergency Procurement and Expenditure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6.3 6.3 Supply Chain Management During Disasters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6.4 6.4 National Disaster Grants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
7 Education, Agricultural Losses, and Infrastructure: Speci
c Legal Obligations 15
7.1 7.1 Children Not Attending School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
7.2 7.2 Agricultural Losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Page 1 of 23
, UNISA | LGL3702 Local Government Law Assignment 1 Semester 1, 2026
7.3 7.3 Infrastructure Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
8 Cooperative Governance: The Role of National and Provincial Government 17
8.1 8.1 The Principle of Cooperative Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
8.2 8.2 National and Provincial Departments Involved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
8.3 8.3 Provincial Oversight and Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
9 Residents' Rights and How to Enforce Them 19
9.1 9.1 Constitutional Rights at Stake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
9.2 9.2 How Residents Can Hold the Municipality Accountable . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
10 Summary and Conclusion 21
Reference List 23
Page 2 of 23
College of Law Department of Public, Constitutional & International Law
⋄ ⋄
LGL3702
Local Government Law
Assignment 1 Service Delivery and Disaster Response
⋄ ⋄
Module: LGL3702 Local Government Law
Assignment: Assignment 1
Semester: Semester 1, 2026
Due Date: 20 March 2026
Topic: Service Delivery & Disaster Response:
Giyani Floods
Institution: University of South Africa (UNISA)
Department: College of Law
Citation Style: APA 7th Edition
Submitted in partial ful
lment of the requirements for LGL3702 University of South Africa
,UNISA | LGL3702 Local Government Law Assignment 1 Semester 1, 2026
Contents
1 Introduction: The Giyani Flood Crisis and Local Government's Role 2
2 Constitutional Framework: Local Government and Service Delivery 3
2.1 2.1 The Constitutional Basis for Municipal Service Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 2.2 Section 153: Developmental Duties of Municipalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.3 2.3 Schedule 4B and 5B: Municipal Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3 The Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002: Primary Legislative Response 5
3.1 3.1 Overview and Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2 3.2 Disaster Management Centres and Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.3 3.3 Immediate Obligations Under the DMA Following the Floods . . . . . . . . . 6
3.4 3.4 Application to Speci
c Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4 The Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000: Service Delivery Obligations 8
4.1 4.1 Overview and Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.2 4.2 Integrated Development Planning (IDP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.3 4.3 Service Delivery and the Right to Basic Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.4 4.4 Community Participation and Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.5 4.5 Service Delivery Agreements and External Providers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5 The Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998: Roles and Responsibilities 11
5.1 5.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.2 5.2 The Giyani Local Municipality and Mopani District Municipality . . . . . . . 11
5.3 5.3 The Municipal Council's Governance Obligations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6 The MFMA 56 of 2003: Emergency Expenditure and Financial Obligations 13
6.1 6.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6.2 6.2 Emergency Procurement and Expenditure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6.3 6.3 Supply Chain Management During Disasters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6.4 6.4 National Disaster Grants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
7 Education, Agricultural Losses, and Infrastructure: Speci
c Legal Obligations 15
7.1 7.1 Children Not Attending School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
7.2 7.2 Agricultural Losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Page 1 of 23
, UNISA | LGL3702 Local Government Law Assignment 1 Semester 1, 2026
7.3 7.3 Infrastructure Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
8 Cooperative Governance: The Role of National and Provincial Government 17
8.1 8.1 The Principle of Cooperative Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
8.2 8.2 National and Provincial Departments Involved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
8.3 8.3 Provincial Oversight and Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
9 Residents' Rights and How to Enforce Them 19
9.1 9.1 Constitutional Rights at Stake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
9.2 9.2 How Residents Can Hold the Municipality Accountable . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
10 Summary and Conclusion 21
Reference List 23
Page 2 of 23
