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Regional Services Councils Act, 1985 (Act No. 109 of 1985)

4. Powers and duties of council

 

(1) Subject to the provisions of—
(a) this Act and any other law, a council shall have all the powers and duties of a local authority or an officer in the employment of any local authority in terms of the laws which apply in the province where the seat of the council is situated in relation to such functions or any part of a function which the Administrator entrusts to it by notice referred to in section 3 (1), but a council shall not have the power to levy any rates on immovable property;
(b) paragraph (a), all other laws applicable to or in respect of a local authority in the province where the seat of a council is situated, shall mutatis mutandis apply to or in respect of the council in its region with regard to any of the regional functions of that council.

 

(1A)

(a) When a function or any part of a function has in terms of section 3 (1) (b) been identified as a regional function and entrusted to a council, the Administrator may by notice in the Official Gazette declare that any law relating to such function or any part thereof and which has been enacted by the local body within the area of jurisdiction of which the seat of that council is situated, shall be deemed to be a law made by the council in terms of subsection (1) (a) in respect of the region of that council.
(b) A council may by notice in the Official Gazette of the province where the seat of the council is situated, amend any law referred to in paragraph (a) in order to give effect to the provisions of that paragraph.

 

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the provisions of laws relating to the transfer of employees and the transfer or devolution of assets, powers, duties, rights and obligations in the case of the combining of local authorities in the province where the seat of a council is situated, shall mutatis mutandis apply in any case where officers or employees are transferred or seconded to or their services are placed at the disposal of a council under section 3 (2) (b) and in the case where a body, board or corporation is relieved from a duty in terms of section 3 (2) (a): Provided that the Administrator may, subject to the provisions of section 2 (2) (a) and (b), make any other arrangement in regard to such transfer or devolution—
(a) in order to provide for matters for which no provision has been made by the provisions of such laws;
(b) in order to obtain a result which in the opinion of the Administrator is fair to all concerned; and
(c) in order to solve administrative difficulties caused by such transfer or devolution:

Provided further that in the event of the transfer of an employee to the employment of a council, such employee shall be employed on such terms and enjoy such rights and privileges as are not less favourable than those applicable to him at the time of such transfer.

 

(2A) Any arrangement referred to in the first proviso to subsection (2) may provide that the assets, powers, duties, rights and obligations in question shall only in part be transferred or devolve.

 

(3)
(a) A council may, subject to the provisions of paragraph (b), enter into an agreement with a local body or any other person or institution irrespective of whether the area of jurisdiction of that body, person or institution is situated within or outside the region of that council, or within or outside the Republic, in terms of which—
(i) that council undertakes on behalf of that local body, person or institution to exercise a power or perform a duty which that local body, person or institution may exercise or is obliged to perform;
(ii) that local body, person or institution undertakes to exercise or perform any regional function or part thereof on behalf of the council and may claim a levy contemplated in section 12 (1) (a)on behalf of the council; and
(iii) that council undertakes on behalf of such local body, person or institution, if the area of jurisdiction of that local body, person or institution is situated outside the Republic or within the area of a legislative assembly or a self-governing territory referred to in section 38 of the National States Constitution Act, 1971 (Act 21 of 1971), to perform—
(aa) any regional function; or
(bb) any other function of the council in terms of this Act,

within the area of jurisdiction of such local body, person or institution, in which event such area shall on the conditions specified in the agreement be deemed to form part of the region and such local body, person or institution may be represented on the council.

(b) Any agreement referred to in paragraph (a) which is entered into with a local body, person or institution whose area of jurisdiction is situated outside the Republic, shall only be concluded with the approval of the Administrator and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

 

(4) No compensation shall be payable in respect of any asset or right which in terms of this section is transferred to or devolves upon a council: Provided that the Administrator may, in order to obtain a result which in his opinion is fair to all parties concerned, subject to the provisions of section 2 (2) (a) and (b) direct otherwise.

 

(5) For the purposes of the Labour Relations Act, 1956 (Act 28 of 1956), a council shall be deemed to be a local authority.

 

(6) The Administrator may by notice in the Official Gazette declare that a reference to a local authority in a law, excluding the Eskom Act, 1987 (Act 40 of 1987), and the Electricity Act, 1987 (Act 41 of 1987), specified in the notice shall be construed as a reference also to a council.