Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB)

The mission of the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) is to deepen democracy and to facilitate the socio-economic transformation of the country for the benefit of its citizens by: enabling and facilitating a system of developmental local government, through the determination of municipal and ward boundaries, that enhances the quality of life of communities; providing advisory services, in municipal boundaries matters, to state entities and other stakeholders; being a spatia knowledge hub on all municipal and ward boundary matters.

The Board is an independent authority responsible for the determination of municipal boundaries. The Board’s status as an independent authority is also protected by Section 3 of The Local Government: Municipal Demarcation Act of 1998, and various judgements by the Constitutional Court. In addition to the determinations and redeterminations of municipal boundaries, the Board is also mandated by legislation to declare the district management areas, delimit wards for local elections, and assess the capacity of municipalities to perform their functions.

The legislation provides for the following functions of the Board: determination and redetermination of municipal boundaries; delimitation of wards for local elections; assessment of the capacity of district and local municipalities to perform their functions as provided for in the Constitution and the Structures Act; and the declaration and withdrawal of the declaration of district management areas. In addition, Cabinet approved a leading role for the Board in assisting government departments in aligning their functional service delivery boundaries to municipal boundaries.