15 years of democratic government

Local government

It has been 15 years since South Africa’s first democratic local elections after apartheid. Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Des van Rooyen says there has been plenty of progress in the local government sphere, yet there are still challenges to overcome.

The 5 December 2000 local government elections changed the face of local government.

New municipal boundaries that included every part of the country and dismantled apartheid-era segregation were drawn.

“There is so much good work that has been done. But I think it would be very naïve ... to conclude that everything is perfect. We emerged from many years of colonisation. We emerged from 50 years of apartheid rule. So, definitely, the backlogs [are] still huge, but we have made many major strides.

“We have provided services to our people, services that they were not receiving in the past. Out of [these] 15 years there are so many lessons to be taken forward,” said the Minister.