DDM: Beating the silos, or adding bureaucracy?

In his Presidency Budget Speech in 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa pointed out that government often operates in silos, and lacks coherence in planning and ...

Why are traditional leaders rejecting the implementation of SPLUMA?

This article is the first instalment in a series of articles that unpack the five main reasons behind the rejection of the Spatial Planning and Land Use ...

Local government, crime, by-laws, and law enforcement

This article discusses some of the highlights of the preliminary report on "The state of local government law enforcement” prepared by the Institute for ...

Rules for the sometimes unruly

The Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs published a Code of Conduct for Councillors on 14 June 2023 (the new code of conduct). This ...

Court prohibits a traditional leader from allocating municipal land

In November 2022, an article which examined the implications of the Lepelle Nkumpi Local Municipality v The Bakgaga Ba Ga-Mphalele Traditional Authority and ...

Local government waste management and the achievement of Commitment 5 of the Green Economy Accord

The article elucidates how technological, human, economic, and social capacity at the local government level have contributed to achieving Commitment 5 of the ...

Externalising services in distressed municipalities – a new solution to a persistent problem? Part 1

In some municipalities, basic service delivery is collapsing. These municipalities struggle with a combination of political instability, governance challenges, ...

Externalising services in distressed municipalities – a new solution to a persistent problem? Part 2

This article is the second in a two-part series about externalising municipal services in response to municipal distress.

The invasion of municipal land: A view from practice

Local government is partially responsible for fulfilling the right to housing. This responsibility is not without challenges.