The Constitutional Court's judgement that prohibits the City of Cape Town to sell land (its property) to private interests, in order to use it for developing low-housing housing near the CBD, is part of trends in court judgments that prioritise transformation and redress, while resulting in declining economic growth and a lack of certainty about property rights.

I have done an analysis of the results of municipal by-elections over the period 2021 (the previous Local Government elections), until May 2026. (There may be a few by-elections to come, but not many, because the cycle is about to conclude and close in preparation for the coming 2026 Local Government selections).

The ANC performed worse in 46 by-elections at the time of these elections, compared with the party’s performance in those wards during the 2021 local government elections. The DA performed better in a net gain of 9 wards, the EFF performed better in 6, the PA in 16 and the IFP in 23. Other parties and independents performed worse in 13 wards.

The salaries and benefits of municipal councillors are determined by the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers Act, 1998; and then (currently) specifically the regulations titled Determination of upper limits of salaries, wages and benefits of different members of municipal councillors (the September 2023 version). Download an Excel spreadsheet below to do a quick analysis of the salaries of municipal councilors in your municipality.

This comment has been prepared in response to a public invitation of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality for submissions in respect of its 20024-205 IDP and budget. My first question is: If I read the IDP published in the city’s website, will I be able to be informed about the plans of the municipality for my area (and ward) during 2024-2025? The answer is negative (except for selective projects).

The analysis makes an analysis of the effectiveness of Integrated Development Planning as the prescribed planning system for South African municipalities. A total of twelve (12) considerations were included in the analysis. These considerations are focused on the outcomes that an Integrated Development Plan is supposed to promote (or achieve) in local government.