Local government failures, persistent inequality and the gap between South Africa’s constitutional promises and the daily realities of millions of people will come under scrutiny at the 8th Social Justice Summit at Stellenbosch University.
The summit, taking place as South Africa marks 30 years since the adoption of its Constitution and approaches the 2030 deadline for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), will examine how municipalities can become more effective in delivering services and advancing social justice.
Under the theme, “The District Development Model/Intergovernmental Relations as Catalysts for Achieving the SDGs and Social Justice”, the gathering will bring together representatives from government, Parliament, the judiciary, traditional and Khoi-San leadership, faith communities, civil society, business and youth organisations.
Discussions will focus on whether the District Development Model (DDM) can improve coordination between national, provincial and local government to address poverty, inequality and food insecurity.
The summit will also examine municipalities’ constitutional responsibilities, including providing sustainable basic services, promoting social and economic development, protecting the environment and supporting access to adequate housing.
Professor Thuli Madonsela, director of the Centre for Social Justice and Law Faculty Trust Chair in Social Justice at Stellenbosch University, said municipalities were central to realising the country’s constitutional commitments.
“Local government is at the heart of everyday service delivery to South Africans. The Constitution requires municipalities to provide services sustainably and to promote social and economic development. If we do not fix municipalities, South Africa will not be fixed,” Madonsela said.
Her remarks place the spotlight on the role of local government in addressing persistent service delivery challenges, particularly in communities where residents continue to struggle with access to reliable water, electricity, sanitation, refuse removal and adequate housing.
The summit will assess the potential of the DDM to improve government planning and implementation through its “One District, One Plan, One Budget” approach.
Launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2019, the model seeks to address fragmented planning across the three spheres of government by aligning development priorities, investment and implementation within districts and metropolitan municipalities.
It covers South Africa’s 44 district municipalities and eight metropolitan municipalities.
The initiative was introduced in response to longstanding coordination problems that have complicated the monitoring and oversight of government programmes.
However, questions remain about the effectiveness of intergovernmental cooperation in translating plans into tangible improvements for communities.
The United Nations Development Programme’s 2023 Eastern Cape DDM Review highlighted challenges associated with fragmented planning and implementation, reinforcing the need for stronger coordination between government departments and municipalities.
The summit will consider how the model can be strengthened to ensure that development plans produce measurable improvements in people’s lives rather than remain policy commitments.
The urgency of the discussions is underscored by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by United Nations member states in 2015 to eradicate poverty and advance economic, social and environmental development.
According to the summit organisers, sub-Saharan Africa is tracking at approximately 2% SDG attainment, compared with an estimated 70% required trajectory at this stage.
The gap highlights the scale of the challenge facing countries across the region as they work towards the 2030 targets.
In South Africa, the summit will examine shortcomings across areas including food security, access to clean water, quality education, inequality, spatial and land disparities, climate action and accountable institutions.
Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Dr Namane Dickson Masemola, representing Deputy President Paul Mashatile, will deliver a keynote address alongside South African Local Government Association president Bheke Stofile and Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka.
Stellenbosch University vice-chancellor Professor Deresh Ramjugernath will lead the summit alongside Madonsela and partner organisations.
Retired Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs will deliver the keynote address at the Social Justice Champion Awards during the evening of the summit’s first day.
The organisers expect the gathering to produce five principal outcomes aimed at strengthening accountability and advancing progress towards 2030.
These include a summit declaration outlining South Africa’s commitments to the DDM and SDGs, a publicly accessible National SDG Dashboard containing municipality-level data, and a time-bound plan of action covering 2026 to 2030.
The summit is also expected to produce six occasional papers aligned with its six SDG commission themes and a policy brief on constitutional governance and sustainable development.
The proposed dashboard is intended to improve access to information about progress at municipal level, potentially giving policymakers, communities and civil society organisations a clearer basis for assessing development outcomes.
As South Africa approaches the final years of the SDG implementation period, the summit will provide a platform for examining whether existing governance arrangements can deliver the social and economic transformation envisaged in the Constitution.
Its central challenge will be to identify practical measures that can strengthen municipal accountability, improve cooperation between government spheres and ensure that constitutional rights translate into meaningful improvements in people’s daily lives.
