Section 139 of the Constitution allows a provincial executive to intervene when a municipality cannot or does not fulfil an executive obligation. It is the formal mechanism for dealing with municipal failure, and it is used regularly.

The forms an intervention can take

  • A directive. The province issues a directive to the council setting out the obligation and what must be done. This is the mildest form.
  • Assumption of responsibility. The province takes over the relevant obligation itself, to the extent necessary to maintain essential national standards or prevent prejudicial action.
  • Dissolution of the council. In serious cases the council is dissolved and an administrator appointed until a new council is elected.
  • Financial recovery. Where a municipality is in serious financial trouble, a mandatory intervention imposes a financial recovery plan.

What triggers one

Typically a combination of persistent service delivery failure, a collapse in financial management, inability to pay creditors such as Eskom or a water board, repeated adverse or disclaimed audits, and governance breakdown in the council itself. Interventions rarely follow a single event.

What it means in practice

An administrator or intervention team takes over defined functions. The council usually remains in place unless dissolved. Progress is reported to the provincial legislature and to the National Council of Provinces, which must approve certain interventions.

Does it work

The record is mixed. Interventions have stabilised finances in some municipalities and been repeated with little effect in others. Where the underlying problem is structural, for instance a municipality with almost no property base attempting to serve a large, dispersed population, an administrator cannot fix it, because the problem is not principally administrative.

The financial indicators that typically precede an intervention are visible well in advance: repeated disclaimers, a current ratio far below 1.0, and less than a month of cash cover. All three appear on every municipality profile on this site.

Common questions

Who appoints the administrator?

The provincial executive responsible for local government, usually the MEC, subject to the notification and approval requirements in section 139.

Can national government intervene directly?

Section 139 places the power with the provincial executive. National government may intervene where a province cannot or does not exercise it, and the National Council of Provinces has an oversight role.

Does an intervention cancel elections?

No. If a council is dissolved, an election must be held to elect a new one. Interventions do not suspend the electoral cycle.

Figures on this page come from National Treasury, Statistics South Africa and the Auditor-General, as set out in the sources and methodology. Read the methodology