This article explores long-term trends in the South African municipal operating and financial environment which will have significant impacts on the appropriateness of the current local government fiscal framework, and which necessitate a fundamental review of its structure.

This article explores the adequacy of the Local Government Equitable Share intergovernmental grant received annually by municipalities, in the main to fund the provision of basic services, as external cost pressures which lie outside the control of individual municipalities intensify, and revenue bases are eroded in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The School for Public Leadership at Stellenbosch University in partnership with the Hanns Seidel Foundation conducted a research study on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on municipal fiscal sustainability in the Western Cape (WC) province, which was completed in April 2021.

The School for Public Leadership at Stellenbosch University in partnership with the Hanns Seidel Foundation conducted a research study on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on municipal fiscal sustainability in the Western Cape (WC) province, which was completed in April 2021. The district municipalities (DMs) in the sample included Central Karoo, West Coast and Cape Winelands. This article aims to distil the key findings relating to DMs from that study. A previous Local Government Bulletin article dealt with sampled WC local municipalities.

The School for Public Leadership at Stellenbosch University in partnership with the Hanns Seidel Foundation conducted a research study on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on municipal fiscal sustainability in the Western Cape (WC) province, which completed in April 2021. The local municipalities (LMs) in the sample included Stellenbosch, Drakenstein (large municipalities), Bergrivier, Hessequa (medium sized municipalities) and Swellendam, Kannaland and Laingsburg (small municipalities). This article aims to distil the key findings from that study.

The School for Public Leadership at Stellenbosch University in partnership with the Hanns Seidel Foundation conducted a research study on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on municipal fiscal sustainability in the Western Cape (WC) province, which was completed in April 2021. The local municipalities in the sample included Stellenbosch, Drakenstein (large municipalities), Bergrivier, Hessequa (medium-sized municipalities) and Swellendam, Kannaland and Laingsburg (small municipalities).