District municipalities : giving effect to shared authority in local government

A new feature of local government outside metropolitan areas is the establishment of 47 district municipalities in December 2000. They share legislative and administrative powers with local municipalities in their area. Overlapping local government structures is not unknown in South Africa or elsewhere in the world. During South Africa's interim phase of local government transformation between 1995 and 2000, a two tier metropolitan system was established where both the metropolitan councils and a number of metropolitan sub-councils enjoyed jurisdiction in the same metropolitan area. Two-tier local government is also a feature in countries such as the United States, India, Germany and Spain