African National Congress and Another v Minister of Local Government and Housing, KwaZulu-Natal and Others

The African National Congress and Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma appealed to the Constitutional Court against a judgment of the Natal High Court which upheld Proclamation No. 54 of 1996 issued by the KwaZulu-Natal Minister of Local Government and Housing. The proclamation established seven regional (district) councils in the province and provided that traditional leaders identified in terms of section 182 of the interim Constitution would be ex officio members of those councils. The appellants contended that these regional councils were not the type of elected local government contemplated by section 182 of the interim Constitution, and that traditional leaders were therefore not entitled to ex officio membership.

The appeal was dismissed. Proclamation No. 54 of 1996 was upheld as valid, and traditional leaders were confirmed to be entitled to ex officio membership of the regional (district) councils in KwaZulu-Natal.

The case is significant for clarifying the constitutional status of traditional leaders during South Africa’s transition to democratic local government. It confirms that traditional leaders are constitutionally entitled to representation in transitional local government structures and affirms a purposive, contextual approach to interpreting the interim Constitution. The judgment also recognises the legitimacy of differentiated and multi-tier forms of local government during the transition.