Why local government is failing in South Africa and how to fix it Local government is a constitutional imperative in South Africa. Section 152 (1) of the country’s constitution requires municipalities to be responsive, accountable and inclusive. A 2009 document by the department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (COGTA) defines local government as “a key part of the reconstruction and development effort in our country”. Yet, twenty-one years into the democratic dispensation, local government is failing. One measure of this is growing civic dissatisfaction with the quality of local government. According to the Civic protests barometer 2007-2014, published by…
