First and foremost, the paper is delimited to the examination of intergovernmental relations impact on local government with regards to the oversight role of the Portfolio Committee on Local Government and Traditional Affairs. However, there are critical issues raised in the paper that cut across spheres of government and this poses a challenge to Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act, 2005 (Act 13 of 2005). Critical to interrelations and interactions at play, is the role played by Parliament and provincial legislatures in overseeing policy development, implementation, budgeting and reporting across and within the three spheres of government hence the Portfolio Committees oversight functionality. The gist of the oversight functionality matter is to ensure inter alia that public resources are used for public gain. What remains a research inquiry in the whole Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) debate is "to what extent does the