SA: Cyril Ramaphosa: Address by South African President, official launch of the revised White Paper on local government (22/10/2026)
Programme Director, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mr Velenkosini Hlabisa, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, Premiers and MECs, Members of Parliament, Executive Mayors, Mayors and Councillors, Leadership of the South African Local Government Association, Traditional and Khoi-San leaders, Directors-General, Labour, civil society, academia, the judiciary and faith-based organisations, Development partners and sponsors, Members of the media, Distinguished Guests, Fellow South Africans, Sanibonani. Dumelang.
We gather here today to undertake one of the most important reforms of our democratic era. The launch of this White Paper on Local Government is a landmark moment in the evolution of our democracy. Nearly three decades after the original White Paper was adopted, we are undertaking a bold reset of the local government system. Local government is the sphere of government closest to the people.
Too many communities have grown accustomed to services that are unreliable, infrastructure that is deteriorating and municipal administrations that are unresponsive. This cannot continue.
It is for this reason that we are launching the Revised White Paper on Local Government. In 1998, the White Paper set out a blueprint for democratic local government. We inherited a deeply fragmented system, deliberately designed to serve the interests of a minority while denying the majority of South Africans access to basic services and economic opportunity. Apartheid had created prosperous municipalities with strong revenue bases and well-developed infrastructure in some areas, while leaving the vast majority of our people in underdeveloped townships and rural areas with little to no infrastructure or services.
We sought to ensure that all South Africans, regardless of where they lived, would enjoy access to essential services. This revised White Paper lays the foundation for far-reaching legislative, institutional and financial reform of the entire local government system. This White Paper represents a fundamental reassessment of how local government is structured, financed, managed and held accountable. It is not simply about changing legislation or rearranging institutions.
The combination of support and regulation, respect for local government autonomy and a willingness to intervene when needed will transform the delivery of basic services. Secondly, the Revised White Paper proposes that local government be treated as one integrated system. The District Development Model was introduced to bring government and its partners together around shared priorities in each district and metro. This White Paper sets out a sequenced, long-term reform agenda. Cabinet has endorsed a phased approach to implementation.