03 May 2012Idasa publishes its first Democracy Index for Botswana: ‘Unfinished Business: democracy in Namibia.' It provides an important analysis of the status of Namibia’s democracy based on a sound methodology. The report ...

03 May 2012In an interview with SABC's Interface program of 15 April Idasa Executive Director Paul Graham speaks of the challenges to political leadership in South Africa. To see the interview in ...

28 Feb 2012Idasa's Right to Know, Right to Education Project publishes a Toolkit for School Budgeting and Budgeting Processes.

01 Feb 2012Idasa’s Economic Governance Programme (EGP) has examined South Africa’s Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) in the light of calls to amend it but finds that the Act’s implementation has had ...

11 Sep 2009Idasa’s Local Government Unit held a workshop in August for Malawian Stakeholders involved in our capacity development support project.  Both the Malawi Ministry of Local Government & Rural Development (MLGRD) ...

23 Aug 2009Idasa is now in the third phase of a project entitled “Building Capacities for Local Governance in Southern Africa”, which will continue to run until 2012 and be implemented in ...

18 Aug 2008This study by Idasa’s Local Government Unit releases the finding of its Local Governance Barometer, a research tool designed to measure local government performance. In this report many municipalities in ...

25 Apr 2008If flux and fluidity are recent characteristics of South Africa’s contemporary national politics, they appear to be a fixture in the south west. Scheming, fixing, whispering and subversion are the ...

13 Mar 2008South Africa’s tap water is still among the safest in the world. This is what the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, Lindiwe Hendricks told parliament this week. Responding to ...

03 Sep 2007In a move to close legal ambiguities, tighten anti-corruption measures and do away with the potential for litigation, parliament is considering proposals to amend a number of laws dealing with ...

20 Jul 2007“You see, a fish lays a thousand eggs at a time and says nothing about it.” Lechesa Tsenoli smiles as he says this. He paces up and down as about ...

04 May 2007Advising People Everywhere The Citizen Advice Bureau (CAB) has given advice to ordinary citizens since 1962 in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria. Today, only the Cape Town and Pretoria ...

26 Mar 2007While the Minister of Finance’s budget speech usually hits the headlines for a day or two, the national budget contains a wealth of information that can provide a year’s worth ...

23 Feb 2007Every year, Impumelelo Innovations Awards Trust sends out 5000 application forms to national and provincial government departments, municipalities, government agencies and non-governmental organisations. The forms encourage them to enter this ...

11 Jan 2007 Local government faces huge challenges in their work to deliver services to the citizens, and many municipalities fall short. Often, the reason given is lack of resources. This isn’t necessarily ...

20 Nov 2006The media often pays a lot of attention to the apparent lack of skills in some important areas of local government, but less attention is paid to what is being ...

01 Nov 2006The Minister of Provincial and Local Government, Sydney Mufamadi says corruption is responsible for poor service delivery in some municipalities. The government seems to be taking the fight against corruption ...

27 Oct 2006This paper analyses the challenges experienced at local government level in South Africa as seen in the run-up to the March 1 2006 elections. The paper argues that while part ...

18 Sep 2006By Jonathan Faull    Five mayors, an acting mayor, four city managers, a high-turnover of senior staff in the city’s civil service, low bureaucratic morale and an embarrassing track record ...

30 Aug 2006Communication is arguably the most crucial aspect in any form of relationship between human beings. A democratic government constitutes a political contract between citizens, their representatives and civil servants. Our ...

14 Jul 2006At a recent conference of SALGA (The SA Local Government Association), the Director-General of the Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) presented the DPLG’s five-year strategic agenda for local ...

01 Jul 2006Young people constitute a large proportion of South Africa ’s population. In the South African National Commission Act of 1996, youth means any person between the ages of 14 and ...

13 Jun 2006• “Everyone has the right to have access to health care services, including reproductive health care; sufficient food and water; and social security, including, if they are unable to support themselves ...

05 May 2006According to the South African Constitution, the different spheres of government (national, provincial and local) are responsible for particular functions. It is important to understand how responsibility and authority is ...

21 Apr 2006There are numerous events that municipalities are obligated to include in their yearly calendar. It is useful for journalists covering local government to take note of the key calendar dates ...

05 Apr 2006Just over a month ago, local government leaders were elected into office. For many, this was the first time that they assumed a public position. On accepting their new roles, ...

02 Mar 2006Finance Minister, Trevor Manuel, delivered his budget speech on the 15th of February. What does the budget mean for local government and local communities, and what are some of the ...

01 Jun 2004This toolkit is used in communities involved in REFLECT circles, and encourages payment for services and understanding of budgets.

02 Apr 2003By Nhlanhla Ndlovu The Western Cape government’s response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic HIV/AIDS Budgets and expenditure.  Presentation prepared for “The Friends of DAG” Seminar.