The Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Dr Namane Dickson Masemola, accompanied by Eastern Cape CoGTA MEC Zolile Williams, has officially introduced Reinforcement Support Teams for Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality and Makana Local Municipality on the 06 and 07 August2025, respectively.
These strategic engagements form part of a broader accountability and support initiative aimed at strengthening municipal governance and service delivery.
This support is anchored in Section 154 of the Constitution, which mandates national and provincial governments to support and enhance the capacity of municipalities to fulfill their responsibilities effectively.
The newly deployed teams will operate under a coordinated turnaround and implementation framework, focusing on:
- Strengthening governance structures and accountability mechanisms
- Elevating the efficiency and quality of service delivery
- Building robust institutional and human resource capacity
- Fostering inclusive stakeholder engagement and collaboration
- Ensuring financial sustainability and effective resource management
- Accommodating complexity and promoting humble governance perspectives
- Prioritizing technical support interventions based on municipal needs and readiness
Deputy Minister Masemola described the deployments as a deliberate effort to stabilise municipalities through administrative insulation mechanisms. The support teams are expected to augment municipal capacity and drive transformative change rooted in professional ethics, inclusive development, and responsiveness to community needs.
He further emphasised the importance of expanding the business compact to attract investment, with the Local Economic Development (LED) strategy serving as a key pillar to uplift communities. Strategic sectors such as the oceans economy and agriculture, along with reforms in Municipal Trading Services, are expected to unlock funding incentives and improve service delivery.
The support teams comprise experts in:
- Project Management
- Town and Regional Planning
- Engineering
- Finance and Supply Chain
- Information Communications Technology and Data Cleansing
- Administration
MEC Zolile Williams noted that these follow-up engagements are designed to provide governance support that enables optimal performance, sustainable service delivery, and impactful infrastructure development—free from the previously observed lapses in political and administrative leadership.
Councillors welcomed the initiative, describing it as an opportunity to co-create solutions to address structural and operational challenges, including poor audit outcomes, fiscal constraints, technical capacity limitations, and declining public trust.
The tailored municipal support packages prioritise resolving persistent challenges, such as inadequate road and stormwater infrastructure and weak financial governance systems.
This initiative marks a significant step toward building more responsive, capable, and sustainable municipalities. It is firmly rooted in the principles of the District Development Model (DDM)—a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to cooperative governance and integrated planning.
Media enquiries:
Legadima Leso
National CoGTA
Cell: 066 479 9904
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