Industry organisation the Institute of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa (Imesa) says the draft White Paper on Local Government has critical gaps, despite the latest rounds of consultation and some revisions.

In its current form, the White Paper will not achieve its objective to ensure that every South African municipality works, Imesa asserts.

Imesa president Geoff Tooley says the first primary request to the White Paper review panellists was clarification on which expert engineers with senior municipal experience have been involved in the rewriting process and which parts they provided input on.

The core delivery foundation for public works is civil engineering, supported by financially sound budgeting and municipal revenue models, and municipal engineers should be leading the charge in restoring effective and efficient municipal service delivery, he says.

There is no compulsory professional registration for key officials in the White Paper on Local Government revision that will be heading for final Parliamentary enactment.

For example, the Municipal Systems Act establishes the role and appointment of municipal managers and senior administrators, but does not mandate professional registration, where applicable, which is similarly absent in this 2026 White Paper on Local Government, the institute points out.

“This is a red flag. Similar to financial officers requiring accreditation from a professional body like the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, no municipal manager should exercise an engineering oversight role without professional registration, which many are doing at present,” says Tooley.

The sharp decline in municipal service delivery is directly proportional to the reduction in the authority given to city engineers and the relaxation of the requirement for senior municipal leadership to be professionally registered, he says.

Where municipal engineers are the driving force of civil infrastructure and provide input for administration, finance, supply chain management and strategy, results are tangible on the ground.

The 2026 White Paper on Local Government does not currently achieve this, he says.

Further, he adds that critical points raised by Imesa in prior communications, and at the March 6 meeting with the review panellists, have not been addressed or included in the latest draft White Paper on Local Government.

There are still inadequacies in the White Paper in terms of the requirements for senior professional leadership under whom technical staff members will operate, he points out.

“The draft White Paper says the legal and policy foundations for a professional municipal administration are already in place, but this is not true.

“As per Imesa's previous comments, there are no legal requirements for senior leadership officials within the municipality to be professionally registered,” Tooley points out.

In direct contrast, South African law prior to the 1998 White Paper on Local Government required that the town clerk, the city treasurer and the city engineer be professionally registered, which contributed to professional service delivery.

The latest White Paper must make professional registration a requirement for senior professional leadership, Imesa says.

Further, the organisation says there is a lack of transparency around the White Paper’s writing team.

“We have repeatedly asked for the names of the engineers with extensive municipal and infrastructure delivery experience who are part of this rewriting process and this has not been forthcoming,” Tooley states.

The institute is concerned that there are no such engineering professionals on the main rewriting team.

“How will this team be able to ensure that the White Paper on Local Government will address the service delivery issues if the main category of person responsible for infrastructure service delivery is not on the writing team?” he asks.