“When local government fails, the impact is felt by communities, businesses and households. When local government works well, villages, towns and cities become engines of opportunity and growth.”

Those were the words of President Cyril Ramaphosa in this week’s letter to the nation, in which he said with the local government elections looming, it was an opportunity for stakeholders to not campaign for the ballot but to renew the local government promise to citizens.

“The progress being made in eThekwini to rebuild capacity and restore accountability shows how municipalities can achieve a turnaround with political will and the involvement of stakeholders and residents,” he said.

Ramaphosa met with stakeholders of the Presidential eThekwini Working Group, last week – which was created in 2024, following residents and businesses' concern about the state of the city – and he noted progress in stabilising the eThekwini municipality, which was plagued by a lack of service delivery, crumbling infrastructure and declining business and investor confidence.

“The Durban Business Confidence Index is at its highest level since it was established. In the manufacturing sector, confidence has risen by nearly 16% quarter-on-quarter, a significant development for a city with a major port and a strong industrial base. Tourism has also rebounded strongly, with more than 1.2-million visitors to the metro during the recent festive season. In addition, key infrastructure projects are underway and we are seeing improvements in safety and security coordination across the metro,” Ramaphosa pointed out.

He said while there were still areas for improvement, eThekwini was a “viable model” showing that partnerships can be replicated in other metros to improve service delivery.

He pointed to the success of basing the turnaround on the District Development Model, as well as a Partnerships Framework, approved in 2025, and based on public-private cooperation on infrastructure and catalytic projects.

Ramaphosa said lessons from eThekwini were taken to Johannesburg, with the establishment of the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group. He also said the review of the White Paper on Local Government would result in a “far-reaching overhaul” of South Africa’s local government system.

“While working groups can contribute to stabilising municipalities, sustained progress depends on strengthening institutional capacity across the entire local government system. Municipalities must be able to deliver on their constitutional mandates without the need for national intervention,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Ramaphosa stated that poor revenue management and rising municipal debt were still major challenges for municipalities, noting that audits revealed two-thirds of them were in financial distress.

As a result, over the next three years R27.7-billion has been allocated for metros to reform water, sanitation, solid waste and electricity services.

“The progress being made in eThekwini and other municipalities is part of a broader programme of reforms that are contributing to better economic growth and improved business confidence. The reforms we are undertaking in the energy, water, telecommunications and logistics sectors are already making an impact on the efficiency and competitiveness of our economy,” Ramaphosa said.