Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni’s 2019 Budget review urged municipalities to ease their dependence on the national fiscus for infrastructure funding and instead attract private investment and take advantage of incentives that reward good governance.

Spending and budgetary performances may be improving — but there’s still a long way to go.

There’s a clear message to provinces and municipalities in this budget: get your financial house in order or national government will step in and do it for you.

The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) recently told Parliament’s Standing Committee on Appropriations that even though increases in allocations to municipalities were above inflation, they were not enough to pull them out of their various financial quandaries.

The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) recently told Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Energy that the 2018 version of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) was not least-cost based, and that this would have major financial repercussions for municipalities.

In their contribution to the 2018 State of Local Governance publication, Afesis-corplan argues that a big role was crafted for ward committees that went far beyond its primary role of facilitating participatory decision-making. It is possible that while ward committees have dismally failed in this primary role, they may have done well in the other functional areas. Their paper seeks to assess the effectiveness of ward committees in its other functional areas.

Planact's contribution to the 2018 State of Local Governance publication focuses on tools they has developed and implementated to enable genuine and meaningful collaboration and partnership between citizens and the state. Their paper discusses the benefits of citizen participation in local governance processes, and the extent to which shortfalls in citizen participation in local governance can be remedied using these tools.

The African Centre for Citizenship and Democracy (ACCEDE) has rejoined the GGLN as an associate member following a long hiatus.

The Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC), as part of the SA SDI Alliance, has launched a new publication titled Exploring partnerships with local government: A people’s-led approach to informal settlement upgrading.

Mitchells Plain has developed into one of South Africa’s largest suburbs. Yet despite this, it is increasingly viewed as a dormitory town from which people travel to work in prominent central business districts. The community is riddled by an array of social ills including crime, drug abuse, high youth unemployment and gangsterism.

Despite being subject to poverty, inequality, unemployment and sub-standard services, some informal settlement residents have not lost their dream of a better life nor has their agency and innovation become deactivated. They are forging forward to make life better for themselves. What varies is the scale of their interventions.

“When I am here, there is a bucket I use to lift myself to reach the seat. Sometimes when I am alone, I try to get in but I have to come up with a serious plan. This toilet is too small for my wheelchair and this floor is slippery, as you can see,” Bab’Ndlovu murmured as he explained the difficulties he faces.

On 30 November 2018, the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) launched its latest community practice note that examines the Inner City Federation (the Federation).