Local government is enjoined with the great responsibility of ensuring service delivery and promoting the wellbeing of communities. The functioning of municipalities is therefore also an important factor in attracting or repelling investment and industrial activity.
By 2018 estimates by the department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs, about 30% of the country's municipalities are dysfunctional, with another 30% bordering on dysfunctionality. According to the constitution, municipalities have a duty to manage their budgeting, planning and administration"to give priority to the basic needs of the community, and to promote the social and economic development of the community; and participate in national and provincial development programmes".