By-laws are laws that are passed by the council of a municipality to regulate the affairs and the services the municipality provides in its area of jurisdiction. A municipality derives the power to pass a by-law from the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, which gives specified powers and competencies to local government as set out in Part B of Schedule 4 and Part B of Schedule 5. The main function of the City of Tshwane’s by-laws is to ensure that Tshwane is an orderly city to live and work in.​