Restructuring Powers and Functions: Expanded Role of Local Government

1. Context and background

The Municipal Edge and Future Cities Africa have convened a series of three strategic webinars (2 in 2025 and 1 in 2026) unpacking the Review of the 2026 White Paper on Local Government. These engagements have progressively built a national dialogue on reimagining a capable, developmental, and citizen-centric local government system.

The upcoming webinar, being Webinar 2 of 2026, will focus on Restructuring Powers and Functions takes place at a pivotal moment following the gazetting of the 2026 White Paper on Local Government. This Webinar will provide an opportunity to critically engage with one of the most transformative aspects of the reform agenda including the reconfiguration of institutional arrangements, functional assignments, and fiscal alignment across the intergovernmental system.

This webinar builds on the previous conversations and will focus on the current pressures experienced by municipalities due to underfunded and unfunded mandates, as well as the paradigm shift as proposed in the gazetted Draft 2026 White Paper on Local Government.

2. Purpose

The Webinar aims to provide a medium for unpacking and understanding the strategic direction towards the reimagined local government, with the 2026 White Paper on Local Government as an enabler.

The following key and strategic questions will drive the conversations:

• How should powers and functions be reallocated in a differentiated local government system?
• What criteria should determine which municipalities receive expanded mandates?
• Is top-slicing provincial budgets a viable mechanism to fund underfunded or unfunded mandates to ease pressure on municipal budgets?
• How can the principle of "finance follows function" be effectively operationalised?
• What is the envisaged future role of district municipalities in a reconfigured system?

3. Policy Shift: From Fragmentation to Differentiated Governance

The White Paper explicitly recognises that the current system of powers and functions is not fit for purpose due to the following reasons:

• The existing two-tier system outside metros creates duplication, inefficiencies, and blurred accountability.
• District municipalities have, in many cases, not fulfilled their original coordination mandate.
• A "one-size-fits-all" assignment of powers is ineffective, ignoring differences in municipal capacity and context.

The gazetted draft 2026 White Paper on Local Government introduces a fundamental paradigm shift of moving towards a differentiated, capability-driven assignment of functions with:

• Expanded or reduced mandates based on capacity and performance.
• A stronger emphasis on "finance follows function".
• A unified, whole-of-government framework for assigning powers.

4. Target Audience

Municipal Mayors, Speakers, Members of Municipal Mayoral Committees, Members of Executive Committees, Council Portfolio Committees, Municipal Public Accounts Committees, Municipal Councillors, Accounting Officers (City and Municipal Managers), Municipal Executive Management, Chief Financial Officers, Urban & Spatial Planning Practitioners, Planning-Budgeting-Reporting Practitioners, Supply Chain Management Practitioners, Internal Auditors, Engineers, ICT Professionals, Think Tanks, Professional Bodies, International Networks, Civil Society, Non-Governmental Organisations, Private Sector, Academia, Youth Leaders, Community Leaders, Development Agencies, etc.

5. Expected Outcomes

Participants will:

• Gain a deeper understanding of the structural reforms proposed in the 2026 White Paper on Local Government.
• Identify practical pathways to align powers, functions, and funding.
• Explore solutions to underfunded and unfunded mandates, and inefficiencies.
• Contribute to shaping a more coherent, efficient, and developmental intergovernmental system.

6. Conclusion

The 2026 White Paper on Local Government signals a decisive shift toward a differentiated, performance-driven, and integrated system of local governance.

Restructuring powers and functions is not merely a technical reform, it is a foundational transformation that will determine whether municipalities can effectively deliver on their developmental mandate.

This webinar creates a timely platform to interrogate these reforms and advance a bold, practical agenda for a capable local government system.