Message from the Publisher

We are proud to publish the twelfth annual edition of The Local Government Handbook: South Africa.

In November 2021 the sixth fully democratic South African local government elections were concluded and certifi ed, which saw the election of new political management throughout the country. No major demarcation changes became effective, and the basic structure of municipalities and boundaries remained the same as it has been since 2016. The trend towards coalition councils, which started to gain popularity in 2016, has continued. In 70 out of 213 Local and Metropolitan councils, no party was able to win an outright majority.

This edition refl ects the status of municipalities as of 1 March 2022. In compiling the Handbook we rely on an annual survey that we conduct with all municipalities, as well as the work of many government institutions. A detailed description of our methodology and sources can be found on page 11. Of course, the data is not always perfect, but as we have done since 2009, we strive to present the information in a dispassionate, coherent, consolidated and comparative manner, in an effort to create a fair and accurate view of each municipality.

The Handbook is designed to be used in conjunction with our website – municipalities.co.za – where even more extensive information is available. The website is searchable, links directly to relevant source reports and is regularly updated. The website also retains historical information about municipalities that were disestablished in August 2016.

We trust that the publication and website add valuable sources of easy-to-access municipal information to the South African landscape.

View of Table Mountain surrounded by yellow Pin Cushion Protea bushes and green fynbos, Cape Town, South Africa

Photo credit: Ava Peattie/Shutterstock.com