VAN DER WESTHUIZEN J being constitutionally challenged.47 This Court has also joined other spheres and organs of state in cases where they were not responsible for the conduct.48 [45] In view of the intertwined responsibilities of the national, provincial and local spheres of government with regard to housing, it would generally be preferable for all of them to be involved in complex legal proceedings regarding eviction and access to adequate housing. Indeed, joinder might often be essential and a failure to join fatal. Whether it is necessary to join a sphere in legal proceedings will however depend on the circumstances and nature of the dispute in every specific case. In this matter the absence of the provincial government is not fatal. The obligations and conduct of the City have to be considered. The joinder of the City as the main point of contact with the community is essential. [46] The constitutional and legal framework set out in [16] to [29] above demonstrates that local government has an important role to play in the provision of housing.49 The City does not deny that it has a role to play in this regard. It submits, 47 Rule 5 of the Rules of the Constitutional Court. 48 For example, in Nokotyana and Others v Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality and Others [2009] ZACC 33; 2010 (4) BCLR 312 (CC), dealing with the need for people in an informal settlement for lighting and toilets, the Court joined the provincial Member of the Executive Council for Local Government and Housing. Because the delay by the province to take a decision on an application to upgrade the status of the settlement under the National Housing Code was unjustified and unacceptable, it was ordered to make a decision within a stipulated time. The Court also ordered the province to pay the costs of the applicants, as its conduct had contributed to their dilemma. See paras 36, 55 and 62. 49 The primary duties placed on national and provincial governments do not absolve local governments. The Constitution places a duty on local governments to ensure that services are provided in a sustainable manner to the communities they govern: see section 152(1)(b), read with sections 152(2) and 153(a) of the Constitution, discussed at [22] above. A municipality must be attentive to housing problems in the community, plan, budget appropriately and co-ordinate and engage with other spheres of government to ensure that the needs of its community are met. Its duty is not simply to implement the state‘s housing programme at a local level. It must plan and carry some of the costs, as is shown below. See section 9 of the Housing Act and sections 4, 8(2), 22