One of the key challenges confronting both civil society and municipal government is the development of a generally accepted definition of good local governance. For Afesis-corplan this has been a long-term endeavour that started in 2000 and which remains a relevant and dynamic project in 2007.

The definition of good governance has been extensively refined in the first phase of the project (April 2003 - January 2004) through the setting out of indicators in the Good Governance Survey (GGS) template. The GG survey framework has found widespread use amongst the targeted NGOs and is beginning to deliver an important resource base and an increasingly representative picture of local governance practices in South African municipalities.

In two of the target local authorities the GGS has established a motivation for ongoing partnerships between the research NGOs and the target municipality. Currently the implementing NGOs exist in a loose network that interacts around the GGS and other local governance issues. Working in partnership with other NGOs and using the refined survey approach an additional 5 case studies were added to the existing database in 2004 and 2005. The consolidation of this information into a comprehensive report is a work in progress, however the draft report pictured here was distributed to key local government stakeholders in March 2005. The completion of the report later in 2005 constituted a critical contribution to the manner in which local governance is understood and measured.