No final decision has been made about dissolving weak municipalities around the country, Local Government Minister Sicelo Shiceka said on Tuesday.

Although some provinces were “in a rush” for the process to take place, Shiceka said the decision would be based on reports which were expected to be submitted in January next year. These would detail which municipalities should be done away with.

“We can't do away with municipalities before the local government elections (next year),” Shiceka told journalists in Pretoria.

He reiterated his department's intention to “clean up and refashion” the system before 2014.

“South Africa will have new municipalities then.”

Meanwhile, Shiceka said the department had identified over 30 laws and 350 provisions in the Municipal Systems Act to be scrapped, as they hampered service delivery. This would also ensure that by 2014, as per an agreement signed with President Jacob Zuma, “we hit the ground running”.

“The rubber must hit the tar,” he declared.