New IRR report on overhauling local government to be released at webinar next week

As local elections approach, the failures of many of our municipalities have become front of mind for South Africa. Dysfunctional towns and cities constitute some of the most acute burdens on the quality of life and economic prospects of the country. Their malaise is turning into an existential issue for South Africa’s future.

And while the everyday symptoms – gaping potholes, burst pipes and uncollected refuse on our streets – claim public attention, beneath them lie a series of profound political and structural problems. Local government, as it is currently constituted, is not designed to succeed in South Africa’s current realities.

Beyond the polls on November 4, South Africa’s local government system needs to be fundamentally reformed.

This provocative idea is at the core of a webinar to be jointly hosted next week by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), the University of Free State and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, on the theme of Fixing South Africa’s Broken Municipalities.

IRR Projects and Publications Manager Terence Corrigan will be introducing a new in-depth study of local government, Local Government: Crises decades in the making and how to deal with them. He will be joined by noted academics Sanet Solomon and Sethulego Matebesi, and municipal planning expert Burgert Gildenhuys.

Webinar details:

Date: Thursday, 10 September 2026

Time: 12h00

Link: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/364525691362179?p=U6fQn6LW5JJKukJrTI

Media contact: Terence Corrigan IRR projects and publications manager Tel: 066 470 4456 Email: terence@irr.org.za

Media enquiries: Michael Morris Tel: 066 302 1968 Email: michael@irr.org.za