Yet, in practice, the “Community” often remains a marginal partner; recognised on paper but not always taken seriously. This disconnect raises a critical question: how can local government succeed in service delivery and development when the community’s voice is sidelined?

Civil Society Organisations and Community Based Organisations are the natural bridge in this gap. However, their effectiveness is frequently hampered by a lack of technical knowledge and resources. The legislative framework for local government is complex at times and understanding these complexities is critical in a competitive and often highly politicised environment.  To address this, the Multilevel Government and Africa Criminal Justice Reform projects of the Dullah Omar Institute launched the “Building the Capacity of Civil Society to Participate in Local Government” Programme with support from the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives.

The intervention: Knowledge as power

Implemented between October 2025 and March 2026, the programme targeted community activists and representatives of Community-Based Organisations and local Civil Society Organisations in the West Coast District, Cape Winelands District, and the City of Cape Town. Through three-day, in-person workshops, we delivered five core modules:

• how local government is structured and what the law requires;
• how IDPs and budgets are developed and how spending can be tracked;
• how to monitor basic services
• community safety; and
• how procurement works and integrity promoted.

The demand for the programme was overwhelming. We received inquiries from as far as Gauteng and Mpumalanga, signalling a national “literacy gap” at the local level that government, academia and development partners need to urgently address, as discussed elsewhere in the Bulletin.

Key insights: What we learned from the ground

During the workshops, several systemic challenges emerged that define the current state of local government:

1. The complexity barrier

The local government legislative environment remains opaque to the average citizen. Participants struggled to distinguish between the specific roles of political office bearers versus administrative staff, what local municipalities do in comparison to their district municipalities, and separating the mandates of local from those of provincial and national governments. Without understanding who is responsible for what, accountability becomes difficult to attain.

2. The service delivery deficit

Frustration is high, but it is not limited to municipal competencies. Communities view "the government" as a single entity; participants expressed frustration over electricity, sanitation, roads, water, refuse removal (local competencies) alongside education and housing, which are provincial and national competencies. The economic reality underscores this: participants indicated many households lack access to regular and sufficient income, hence the prevalence of poverty. Communities are looking to local government for economic survival, a mandate that often exceeds municipal budgets.

3. The crisis of community safety

Community safety was the most contentious theme. There is a profound loss of confidence in the “security cluster” – SAPS, municipal law enforcement, and the National Prosecuting Authority. From petty theft to organised crime, participants expressed that they no longer feel the state is sufficiently present to keep them safe and secure. The participants indicated that the need for safety is deep and that they often have to “provide for themselves”. An example is escorting children to schools, since without such escorts, the children often fall victim to robberies and other forms of violent crime.

4. The persistence of apartheid spatiality

Perhaps most concerning is the slow pace of transformation. Participants noted that the spatial landscape remains stubbornly divided. Historical inequities endure: while formal urban areas often see high service levels, informal settlements and historically “non-white” areas still grapple with access to even the basic levels of services. Service delivery backlogs are a common feature in the latter, raising questions about how developmental is local government today. The integration of diversities remains stalled. As noted by some of the participants, the disparity in service quality and access is often so stark it can be measured by simply crossing a single street or bridge.

5. Call for community mobilisation

Local government must be everybody’s business. If it does not work well, as it is in many corners of South Africa, we all suffer the consequences, whether you are ordinary rate payer or you run a business. Hence, the clarion call from the participants for the renewal of community activism and mobilisation. There are many CSOs, CBOs and NGOs doing wonderful work in local communities. We need to amplify their voices.

Moving forward

By equipping Civil Society Organisations with knowledge and technical skills, we move beyond the theory of good local governance toward “informed participation”. We extend our sincere gratitude to the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, managed by the High Commission of Canada in South Africa, for supporting this project.

True local democracy and development local government requires that the “community” is not just a definition in an Act, but a recognised, powerful, informed, and influential partner in local governance.

By Tinashe C Chigwata