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ActionSA notes that the review of the 1998 White Paper on Local Government, launched today, appears set to become yet another talk shop that merely pays lip service to the President’s commitment, made in his State of the Nation Address, to reimagine local government.

It is impossible to ignore that this review takes place after the tabling of the Municipal Structures Amendment Bill last year, National Treasury’s initiation of a review of the Municipal Finance Management Act, and the commencement of municipal trading services reform under Operation Vulindlela.

In this context, it would appear that the horse has already bolted on local government reform, leaving the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa, to preside over what seems to be a largely academic process.

It is difficult to view the launch of this White Paper as anything other than another initiative that may produce worthwhile ideas, only for them to be ignored by national, provincial and local governments due to a lack of political will to confront the real issues. These include a bloated public wage bill, entrenched tender corruption, and persistent political interference in administrations. This concern is all the more credible given that the three largest parties in the Government of National Unity (GNU) collectively govern 98 percent of municipalities in South Africa and are, therefore, collectively responsible for the collapse of local government.

This same GNU, under which the review is taking place, allocated a mere 7% of the national budget to local government in the most recently tabled budget -- a decline compared to previous years. This signals the GNU’s apparent disregard for local government at a time when municipalities are struggling to finance the resolution of ever-growing infrastructure backlogs.

To highlight the incoherence that is likely to undermine the review, it is worth noting that the Democratic Alliance () has already submitted two private members’ bills proposing amendments to the Municipal Structures Act. As a result, this White Paper review is occurring in a legislative environment where GNU partners are already pursuing separate reform agendas, even before the White Paper identifies what legislative changes are needed.

The review also appears set to continue the failures of the 1998 document, which has underpinned our system of local government, by once again relegating traditional leaders to the role of mere spectators. In many rural communities, traditional leaders play a vital role in securing land rights, and there is an urgent need to align traditional and local governance structures in a way that allows them to complement one another.

Of additional concern is the implied intent of provincial COGTA departments and National Treasury to interfere in the functioning of local government. While this is framed as an effort to address failing municipalities, the language of the White Paper suggests it will be applied across the board, regardless of a municipality’s actual performance. Given the dismal track record of national and provincial administrative involvement in local governance, there is legitimate concern that GNU parties may seek to exercise illegitimate control over municipalities through the back door, with scant regard for the constitutional requirement that local government remains independent.

It is, regrettably, no surprise that the White Paper discussion document makes no reference to the enormous financial burden that municipalities, especially those in urban centres, bear due to the national illegal immigration crisis. The continued silence on the consequences of porous borders, which have led to millions of undocumented foreign nationals settling in municipal areas where the Constitution requires the provision of services to all residents, indicates that this pressing challenge is not on the radar of those tasked with reforming local government.

ActionSA remains convinced that meaningful improvements to local government can emerge from a White Paper review that focuses squarely on the core challenges undermining the system’s effectiveness. However, such outcomes can only be achieved through a process that goes beyond paying lip service to the notion of reform.

In this regard, ActionSA will closely monitor the development of the White Paper ahead of its scheduled tabling in Parliament in March 2026. We will not only make submissions into the process, but will also write to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to insist on the withdrawal of all pending legislative amendments to the Municipal Structures Act and the Municipal Finance Management Act until the White Paper’s development is complete.

The dysfunction in municipalities across our country has left an increasing number of communities grappling with converging crises of infrastructure collapse, political instability and financial failure. This is precisely why a serious and credible process of reviewing the local government framework is needed—one that does not dash the hopes of South Africans with yet another talk shop.

Issued by ActionSA National Chairperson Michael Beaumont