Local Government Transformation

The Local Governance Programme (LGP) has provided support and training to municipalities and communities in the Eastern Cape since 1994. The programme focuses on the interaction between communities (civil society) and local municipalities.  

The programme, formerly known as the Local Government Transformation Programme (LGTP), has developed a unique track record of presenting policy frameworks to joint community/council forums in an accessible and logical manner and increase pace in instituting policy frameworks.

The LGP has been the partner of choice for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Traditional Affairs on a number of projects including formulation of IDP policy and provincial legislation, the design of models of district and rural local government, land administration and more recently, exploring the role of communities in municipal performance management.

The programme aims to create public awareness of the key issues around local governance by publishing a newsletter, the Local Government Transformer, which has been distributed in the Eastern Cape and to key national agencies since 1996.

We also conduct a very popular quarterly seminar programme dealing with emerging issues in local government.

Afesis-corplan is a core member of the Good Governance Learning Network (GGLN), an initiative to bring civil society organisations working in the field of local governance in South Africa together to network and share information and lessons towards the goal of strengthening participatory democratic local governance.

Over the past fourteen years, we have gained extensive experience and expertise in the area of local governance. Some of our past projects include:

• Awarded the DPLG contract for training councillors in IDP across the entire Eastern Cape and Free State in 1999/2000. In previous years, we undertook similar campaigns for SALGA on the same scale.

• Along with partner organisations in the Urban Sector Network (USN), produced and deployed a comprehensive range of modules for use in training municipal councillors and CBO leadership.

• Contracted by the Demarcation Board to undertake work in support of the re-demarcation of municipalities. The LGTP has conducted a number of workshops on municipal demarcation and the Municipal Demarcation Act . We have also contributed extensively to the discussion of base principles of municipal demarcation.

Good Governance Surveys (GGS) of the Cacadu District Municipality in the Eastern Cape and Nkangala District Municipality in Mpumalanga. These surveys explore the perceptions of municipalities by internal and external groupings. The surveys cover municipal services, facilities, development functions and accountability. Groups that are surveyed include councillors, officials, community leadership, community-based organisations and the general public. Survey findings are presented to the stakeholders with a view to identifying areas for improving communication, interaction, partnership as well as governance practice. This instrument will be particularly relevant to that part of the project dealing with improving public contact with the municipality and building community understanding of municipal functions and responsibilities. Click here to view our Introductory Guide to Conducting GGS. For more information on this project, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Afesis-corplan developed the Ward Key Performance Indicators (WKPI) Matrix to encourage the involvement of communities in municipal performance assessment. The WKPI Matrix is a performance-monitoring instrument designed for use by ward committees or similar civil society organs to hold their councils accountable for performance affecting their neighborhood or ward. It is also aimed at providing municipalities with a reliable and structured form of feedback on municipal performance, which is essential for performance review and management. The instrument contains twenty indicators and nine key performance areas that draw upon all the elements of good governance such as accountability, transparency and interface with the public. Indicators in the matrix also relate to implementation of integrated development plans and delivery of services such as water, electricity, refuse removal and proper sanitation. Previous pilots of the instruments have revealed a need for greater support and cooperation from municipalities to ward committees utilising the WKPI Matrix. Municipalities or civil society groupings who are interested in the Ward Key Performance Indicators Matrix can contact us by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Afesis-corplan's journal, the Transformer, covers governance and development issues in the Eastern Cape and South Africa.
Click here to find out more.