Submission of Comment | Draft Revised White Paper for Local Government

Submission of comment on the Draft Revised White Paper for Local Government To the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) 28 May 2026 PARI has just submitted comment on the Reviewed Draft White Paper on Local Government to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. PARI’s submission covered the macro-structure of local government (the broad architecture of local government, and the functions undertaken by different kinds of municipalities), political leadership and accountability, traditional leadership and its relationship with municipal governance, public participation, financing local government, as well as comment on ensuring a vision for affordable services for all residents. While we welcome several of the proposals, overall PARI has noted that the draft needs clearer guiding principles, and that much work is still needed to develop social consensus for a clear reform path. Image: Jedi Friend, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons