The legal services department aims:

• To provide legal support to Council, management and staff in the discharge of their responsibilities generally;
• To assist in the provision of legal advice and in the formulation of by-laws, policies and procedures to ensure that the municipality complies with all relevant legislation as well as its constitutional mandate;
• To provide a vibrant, effective and professional legal service to the Buffalo City Municipality;
• To co-operate with other spheres of government in developing sound working relations and minimise areas of dispute or potential dispute in the legal context.
• Enhancing organisational efficiency by establishing a corporate governance compliant environment that enables the municipality to achieve its objectives.

• Preparation and submission of general and specialist legal opinions to Council, management and staff;
• Identifying and researching legislation that has relevance to the municipality in order to keep abreast of developments through the use of applicable legislative and related instruments/tools;
• Assist in the drafting of council by-laws, policies and procedures;
• Reviewing and assisting in the drafting of contracts, acknowledgements of debt, resolutions, declarations, etc;
• Providing input and comment on planned national and provincial legislation having a bearing in the Municipal sphere;
• Reviewing and assisting in the drafting of by-laws to ensure compliance with constitutional and other legislative requirements;
• Processing and preparation of by-laws for publication;
• Monitoring and participating in the development of the Municipal Code;
• Appearing on Council's behalf at court in less complex matters;
• Monitoring ongoing litigation by and against council and coordinating interaction between directorates and external legal practitioners engaged by Council;
• Performing administrative and managerial tasks relating to the section and coordinating the activities of the section.

• Rationalisation of all municipal bylaws;
• Improving budgeting systems;
• Developing internal control measures;
• Improving case management systems;
• Address staff challenges and training needs;

• Strategies for aligning legal services with IDP objectives and requirements to address challenges within the organisation;
• Effective budget management in line with operational budget provision;
• Improvement on the quality of delivery targets and interaction with all relevant stakeholders.