structures not demolished, was a shop belonging to the Surtees outfitters. It is now the Fietas Museum. 1980 to 1989 Midrand was established as a municipality in 1981 (in an area known as Halfway House, after its position between Pretoria and Johannesburg), but ceased to be an independent town in the restructuring of local government that followed the end of apartheid in 1994. It was incorporated in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in 2000. In 1982 Parliament passed the Black Local Authorities Act, No. 102 of 1982. In terms of this Act the City Council of Soweto came into being. 1990 to 1994 The New South Africa The establishment of metropolitan municipalities took a long time. In 1989 the Central Witwatersrand Metropolitan Chamber came into being to show the way for local government transition across the country. In 1993 the Local Government Transition Act, No. 203 of 1993, recognised the importance of negotiation and formalised the Greater Johannesburg Local Negotiating Forum. The Act provided for a two-tier system of government with strong local councils and a weaker metro tier playing a coordinating role. The first fully democratic local government elections were held in November 1995. It gave birth to a Greater Johannesburg Transitional Metropolitan Council and four Transitional Metropolitan Local Councils. Unfortunately this arrangement led to a very serious financial crisis, mainly because the local councils were not obliged to balance their budgets. In the meantime Chapter 7 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, dealt with local government. In terms of section 155(1)(a) a category A municipality is one that has exclusive municipal executive and legislative authority in its area. In the Municipal Structures Act (Act 117 of 1998) it is laid down that this type of local government is to be used for conurbations, i.e. "centre[s] of economic activity", areas "for which integrated development planning is desirable", and areas with "strong interdependent social and economic linkages". Johannesburg is such a municipality and these are called Metropolitan Municipalities. Eleven local authorities were to be joined together in 2000 to form the new Johannesburg metropolitan municipality. These included Roodepoort, Randburg, Sandton, Johannesburg, Soweto, Diepmeadow, Dobsonville, Lenasia and Midrand. See also Timeline of Johannesburg References Further reading Charles van Onselen, New Babylon new Nineveh, Jonathan Ball Publishers, Johannesburg and Cape Town, 1982. Felix Stark, Seventy Golden Years, 1886–1956, Municipal Public Relations Bureau, 1956. Trewhella Cameron (general editor),