Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) minister Velenkosini Hlabisa officially launched the review of the White Paper on Local Government on 20 May 2025. Hlabisa called for all interested parties to make submissions, saying that the success of the review relies on a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, and that contributions were required across all three Read more >
Posts
Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke on Wednesday revealed to Parliament that only 41 of South Africa’s 257 municipalities obtained clean audit outcomes in the latest Municipal Finance Management Act audit outcomes for the 2023/24 financial year – although this is an improvement from the previous reporting period’s 35 municipalities. Furthermore, 99 municipalities obtained unqualified outcomes with findings, Read more >
Image: Flickr/National Cogta Source: South African government The minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Mr. Velenkosini Hlabisa, on 20 May 2025 officially launched the review of the White Paper on Local Government during a high-level event held at the Premier Hotel OR Tambo, Kempton Park. This launch represents a pivotal step in reimagining Read more >
The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Leadership (Cogta) is reviewing the 1998 White Paper on Local Government (WPLG) to evaluate its impact, tackle challenges, and align local governance with modern realities. Accordingly, the department invites the public, civil society, public institutions, interested stakeholders, and all three spheres of government to provide comments towards the Read more >
In January 2025 the Gauteng provincial government (GPG) announced the imminent launch of its Local Government Turnaround Barometer Dashboard – an initiative that is set to monitor municipal performance and improve service delivery across the province, if all goes according to plan. The provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) is in charge Read more >
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) again reported back to Parliament on its work, this time on 23 October to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa). The focus was on investigations it conducted into the OR Tambo district municipality (Eastern Cape), the eThekwini metro (KwaZulu-Natal [KZN]), and the Ngaka Modiri Molema municipality (North West). With Read more >
The Government of National Unity (GNU) caused both hope and scepticism when it was set up, because of the ANC, the governing party for 30 years in democratic South Africa, losing its grip on an absolute majority and having to reach out to other parties with whom to jointly run the country. This outcome was Read more >
South Africa’s municipalities are regressing in terms of their financial reporting; fruitless and wasteful expenditure stands at R7.41-billion – up from R4.89-billion in 2021/22 – while unauthorised expenditure is at R24.12-billion. And only 34 of the 257 that were audited for the 2022/23 financial year achieved clean audits. Delivering the 2022/2023 municipal audit outcomes in Read more >
The first State of Climate Action in South Africa report, released on 26 July, will inform the scaling up of the country’s actions to respond to climate change. This is the word from Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment DG Nomfundo Tshabalala, speaking at the launch event. The report was commissioned by the Presidential Climate Commission Read more >