OPINION: Reform local government by multiplying it, not merging it

By Daniël Eloff

Recently, co-operative governance & traditional affairs minister Velenkosini Hlabisa remarked that in light of the widespread dysfunction plaguing municipalities, the country should consider reforms that include merging some municipalities.

The rationale seems solid. Fewer municipalities will allegedly be easier to manage and cost savings will follow from scale.

But this logic, however intuitively appealing, is deeply flawed.

SA’s local government crisis stems not from too many municipalities but from too few, and a lack of accountability.

If anything, we should be arguing for more municipalities that are smaller, closer to the people and have greater fiscal autonomy.

We need a radical shift in the way we think about governance. The solution to weak local government is not centralisation through amalgamation, but decentralisation through proliferation. And this is not clinging to a libertarian pipe dream — the evidence around the world is there. 

The case for smaller, more numerous