Parties in the government of national unity (GNU) have agreed that municipal officials deployed after the 2026 local elections must be selected on merit alone, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a ward handover ceremony by the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) in Centurion, Hlabisa said the consensus aimed to select top leaders within parties to head municipalities, bolstering service delivery and enforcing by-laws.

“All political parties in the GNU who are governing the local government space have agreed that come 2026, the deployment must be based on merit, nothing else. The deployment of political leadership must meet certain competencies,” he said.

“We may not prescribed a degree or diploma, but the person must be competent enough to comprehend the annual financial statements, to comprehend the report by the Auditor General, and [understand] what needs to be done.”

.Hlabisa said stakeholders,

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