Abstract

When waste disposal services are regionalised, the result is that waste disposal services are not the principal responsibility of local municipalities. Instead, they are shared between local and district municipalities. The regionalisation and regulation of solid waste disposal is a contentious issue and raises numerous questions. These include the issue of whether a district municipality may adopt by-laws to regulate regional waste disposal services, and also whether a local municipality benefiting from the service is bound thereby. A significant challenge for the regionalisation process is the lack of constitutional and legislative guidance on the implementation procedures needed and the overarching nature of the functions and powers of the impacted local and district municipalities. This article claims that district municipal by-laws may standardise the regional waste disposal function and that these by-laws, although not without limitations, should be enforceable on local municipalities, provided that the principles of cooperative governance and public participation are promoted.