ABSTRACT
The Gauteng City Region (GCR), a conglomeration of cities and towns around the City of Johannesburg is a major contributor to the economy of South Africa and the African continent. The population of the GCR is growing fast and its economy is vibrant. However, spatial and institutional fragmentation among the various levels of government in the GCR is hampering development. This chapter discusses the constitutional and legal options for closer multilevel collaboration with a specific focus on the provincial and municipal organs of state in Gauteng. It locates this debate in the international normative framework on decentralisation. It discusses legal options, ranging from the most intrusive (such as merging institutions) to the least intrusive (intergovernmental collaboration). It concludes that the legal framework places a high premium on the protection of municipal autonomy but also offers a range of mechanisms to facilitate collaboration across jurisdictional boundaries.
