“The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Mr. Velenkosini Hlabisa, has gazetted the Discussion Document on the Review of the 1998 White Paper on Local Government (WPLG98), marking a step towards a reimagined and results-driven local government system in South Africa.

This document, gazetted under Notice No. 6118 (Gazette: 52498), sets in motion a national conversation intended to culminate in a revised White Paper on Local Government in March 2026 (WPLG26). The review aims to incite fresh thinking, honest reflection, and decisive action toward building a fit-for-purpose local government system that truly serves the people of South Africa.

“This process is not about tweaking the symptoms. It is about confronting the root causes of dysfunction in local governance. We need to ask the hard questions, and more importantly, we need to answer them with the courage to act,” Minister Hlabisa said.

The Discussion Document reasserts the interconnectedness and indivisibility of the four key components of an effective local government system: governance, institutional arrangements, service delivery and infrastructure, and financial arrangements.

Key aims of the Review:

Assess and revise outdated assumptions of WPLG98.

Strengthen cooperative governance among the three spheres of government.

Align reforms with parallel initiatives such as amendments to the MFMA, Municipal Structures Act, and SPLUMA.

Enhance integration with traditional leadership and improve community participation.
Tackle systemic issues such as municipal financial sustainability, over-politicisation, climate risk, and spatial inequality.”

Mr Velenkosini Hlabisa, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, invites the public, civil society, public institutions, interested stakeholders and all three spheres of government to provide comments towards the Review of the White Paper on Local Government;

COGTA White Paper on Local Government

Any person or institution wishing to submit written comments on the Discussion Document and specifically the questions contained in Annex 3 to this Notice, should do so on or before 30 June 2025. Comments can be sent to the following addresses:
WPLG26@cogta.gov.za or RichardP@cogta.gov.za or MaphutiL@cogta.gov.za