You’ve Got 4 Days Left to Be Heard!

Early responses from our survey on fixing municipalities show broken trust and clear demands. Government is still listening, but not for long.

Jun 25, 2025

Last weekend, I told readers that we do not have to accept that our municipalities are falling apart, that things are bad, will always be bad, and that’s it forever. I said we could just wake up and decide to be better residents, to play our part in creating the change that we want to live in in our municipalities and just…do it. I said we could just fight for the better we believe in.

And so, thereafter, amazing South Africans have responded in kind, and we’re doing just that. From eThekwini, to Matlosana. From Ekurhuleni to Msunduzi, South Africans have chosen to speak up and be heard. What an amazing thing to be part of.

But now, we only have four more days before our chance to make a generational change to our municipalities passes us by. Today’s edition is for both those who have not yet taken our Public Survey on Fixing Municipalities (so you can get a taste of what you’re missing) and for those who have (so we can “give you your flowers”, as the youths say).

Today, I want to share some things I’ve found interesting in the responses received so far. A detailed report back will follow in a few days.

Let’s explore.

For The Uninitiated:

If you haven’t heard, Government, through the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (“COGTA”), is trying to fix our municipalities. They are doing so by reviewing the White Paper on Local Government. Simply put, this is a government policy instrument that provides the overarching framework through which a sector or issue is to be addressed. Once developed, it becomes the instrument with which legislation, policy or regulation must align to enable the government of the day to achieve its strategic objectives.

When I say this is a chance to make a “generational change”, I do not hyperbolise. This is the first time government is doing this since 1998, when it passed the outgoing White Paper. Thus, when this process is done, the new White Paper will likely be in place for a generation.

As part of the legislated process, they have invited our input as the public into the development of the new White Paper. Thus, the Survey we are running is part of enabling that. It seeks to make it easy for residents to speak directly to our government about what matters to us, in our own names. It is to help us play our part in building better municipalities.

Last Saturday’s edition goes into more detail, and you’re free to read it at your leisure here.

Housekeeping:

In guiding our participation, COGTA asks us to answer 21 questions across three sections. They span nine interconnected priority areas that the Department has identified. Thus, to make it easier for fellow citizens and residents, to play their part, I’ve structured the survey as follows;

I’ve lifted all the questions directly from COGTA and proposed multiple-choice options for participants to consider.
Participants can select any or all of the solutions they agree with, and the majority of questions include several answer options, though five are single-choice only.
The aforesaid notwithstanding, all questions include a further comment option in case participants want to add anything that is not covered by the options, or to simply explain their rationale.

Four Interesting Insights:

As I’ve been going through responses received, I’ve been reminded that indeed, abahlali are the ones who know best what they need done. I think far too often, politicians and officials in government have an infantilising and paternalistic mindset about the solutions that residents want or need. I will expand more on any other day. For today, here’s what you have said (with a little commentary) from me;

When asked how municipal regulatory and financial arrangements can incentivise improved service delivery and operations, and maintenance of infrastructure, most participants said that municipal funding must be linked to delivery and performance, just shy of two-thirds of participants say…

This suggests, amongst others, that residents are growing impatient with the non-delivery of infrastructure when they pay so much money in rates in taxes. They are not seeing their money go where they believe it should, and they want it better managed. There is a latent issue about the funding model for municipalities, as well as the absence of consequences for underperformance.

When asked whether or not there should be stricter requirements for prospective council candidates, an overwhelming number of participants said yes, there should be.

It would seem participants see technocratic competence in leadership as particularly important and, paradoxically, that they have already lost, or are currently losing, confidence in the capacity of incumbent or former leaders. Disaster awaits some incumbent leaders, but not all. I am keen to do a further survey on just this question, lest I misdirect myself. Another day.

The regulation of party-political affairs, including the management of coalitions, is very popular amongst participants. Over two-thirds support managing political parties a little more than we currently do.
The question asked was: “Could additional regulation of the behaviour of political parties contribute to an improvement in the governance space?”

This, too, is an issue that requires further analysis, but if I must hazard a guess (because the COGTA drafters of the questions did not explore the point further), I’m inclined to suspect that, without undermining participants’ inputs, a few things coincided.

It is possible that some participants who answered “yes” may have done so because one or more of the issues in the proposed answer met their requirement, and there was no further question that developed the general idea of political regulation. So, someone may want the regulation of governing coalitions broadly, but not necessarily want to externally regulate internal party business. But these answers could not be extracted from them. Thus, they select the composite option.

That notwithstanding, it is very possible that those who answered yes want everything captured in their selected answer.

This is a good lesson for me in how we develop further surveys, particularly the answers we might propose participants consider.

Lastly, over two-thirds of participants believe a minimum threshold in order to win a seat in a municipal council would go some way in stabilising municipalities, at least at the political level. Thus, they support the amending of the formula for calculating council seats post an election. This point is in the same neighbourhood as the preceding one, vis-à-vis regulating party politics at close range.

Riveting stuff, right? I know. But wait, there’s more. There are seventeen other questions, and let me tell you, if these highlights get you going, make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss out on the detailed analysis of all the responses once we’ve submitted. It will blow your mind.

What Is Left To Be Done?

If you’re still reading, I am assuming that you are seriously considering taking the Survey. If you’re not, stick around anyway. Maybe I’ll change your mind.

On top of everything I mentioned in the previous section, note that you’ll need to devote no less than 5 minutes to complete the survey. However, if you seriously apply yourself, you will likely spend 15 minutes or thereabouts.

Once done, you will input the biographical details that you are comfortable sharing (so that COGTA can tell you are a real person) and click submit. Your responses will be delivered instantly to me, and I will package these and send them to COGTA in time to meet their deadline.

If you do participate or even if you don’t but you know others who might be keen to, please share the survey with them, or as many others as you know. Let’s work together to create the change we want to live in. The more inputs we can get, the weightier our collective contributions and the harder we are to ignore.

COGTA’s deadline for public comments is next Monday, 30 June 2025. However, we have a self-imposed deadline of Sunday, 29 June 2025. This is so that I have sufficient time to properly collate all inputs received and make the submission on behalf of everybody who participated in time.

A big word of gratitude goes to everybody who has taken the time to participate in the survey so far, including by sharing it with others so they can participate. Thank you for affirming my conviction that “ordinary” South Africans want to participate in public processes; they are simply dissuaded from doing so by poor communication and cumbersome systems. This is an invaluable affirmation which I will forever cherish.

Those who want to read COGTA’s 69-page Discussion Document can find it here.

To complete our Public Survey on Fixing Municipalities (please do), click here.

Alternatively, copy and paste the following link in your web browser: https://forms.gle/9FMyqgJWjXKB23Xw5

Alright, that’s it for today. Be back soon and, if no one else has told you, I love you.

If you’re enjoying this content, you’re likely finding it valuable, and it meets your desires. If you’re already subscribed, thank you so much. If not, please subscribe and share in your community. Let’s build the country of our best dreams, together. And if you’ve ever shared with a loved one, bless you.

Fighting For Better

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