The Speaker of Council, The Speaker is a full time councillor. The functions of the Speaker are set out in Section 37 of the Municipal Structures Act as follows:

• presides at meetings of  the Council;
• performs the duties and exercises the powers delegated to the speaker by the Council
• must ensure that the council meets at least quarterly;
• must maintain order during meetings;
• must ensure compliance in the council and council committees with the Code of Conduct for Councillors as set out in Schedule 1 of the Municipal Systems Act ; and 
• must ensure that council meetings are conducted in accordance with the rules and orders of the council.

In addition to the statutory functions listed above, in the ADM, the Speaker as been assigned further responsibilities and duties which are articulated in the Delegation Policy. A summary of these are listed hereunder:

• encouraging participation of communities and community organisations in the decision making process of the municipality
• developing mechanisms to ensure and monitor participation of communities in the decision making process;
• ensuring that communities and community organizations are educated on their rights and responsibilities to participate and give input to the municipality's policy development processes as well as planning and budget processes;

• ensuring that the Standing Rules of Council are developed and regularly  updated, and in this regard is delegated the authority to establish the Rules Committee and to ensure the functioning of the committee;
• in consultation with the Executive Mayor and the Whip, developing  a schedule of meetings for the Council and  Committees of Council in line with Rule 12 of the Standing Rules;
• ensure that Council and Standing Committees observe the calendar and meet on the dates allocated in the schedule of meetings;
• receiving and considering apologies and leaves of absence from Councillors in relation to meetings that Councillors are required to attend in terms of item 3 of Schedule 1 of the Municipal Systems Act, 2
• After consultation with the Whip, and the chairperson of the committee concerned, advising the chairperson of the committee and the Councillor concerned whether the apology has been accepted or not by no later than 12 hours before the time set for the meeting concerned;
• Reporting  twice yearly to Council on the attendance of Councillors at meetings of Council and Standing Committees;
• investigating any suspected breach of the Code of Conduct for Councillors, and report to Council on the outcome;
• ensuring that reports on investigations into possible breaches of the Code of Conduct for Councillors are submitted to the MEC in line with item 13(3) of  Schedule 1 of the Municipal Systems Act, 2000;
• developing mechanisms to monitor the general conduct and  performance of Councillors and report to Council annually on the conduct and performance of Councillors;.
• after consultation with the Whip, deploying identified Councillors to such  Committees;
• ensuring that traditional leaders are designated to attend and participate in any meetings of Council or any Committees of Council;
• ensuring that Council develops guidelines to determine the manner and level of participation of traditional leaders in Council;
• establishing and co-ordinating a forum to enable the Speakers of local municipalities and the district to cooperate with one another on a sharing and learning basis;
• facilitating the sharing of lessons and experiences on matters peculiar to the local government legislative sector.
• ensuring that  political structures promoting public participation, such as ward committees , are functional and effective;
• co-ordinating  the establishment of a forum to enable structures of civil society to interact with the municipality on issues of service delivery, policy formulation, and social transformation;
• ensuring that such structures of civil society are convened at least once a year to interact with the municipality’s planning process and input on development of policies;
• ensuring that structures of civil society are afforded an opportunity to assess the performance of the municipality in respect of service delivery, within the context of community oversight and accountable governance.
• developing mechanisms to facilitate the review of the annual report and preparation of the oversight report, including the establishment of an oversight committee or any similar structure to give effect to the provisions of the Municipal Finance Management Act,;
• ensuring the involvement of the community and community organizations in the process of reviewing the municipality's performance and the annual report; 
• ensuring the preparation and adoption of the oversight report, within the timeframes specified in the Municipal Finance Management Act.
• ensuring that the public is invited to attend meetings of the Council where the annual report is to be tabled or discussed; 
• providing guidance on mechanisms to enable members of the community and community organizations to make submissions on the annual report;
• ensuring that submissions made by the community and community organizations are considered and responded to during discussions of the annual report;
• performing all functions and responsibilities regarding the Moral Regeneration Program and other related social transformation program.