Community Action Network

04/08/2026

Opinion: Civil society must not imitate the bureaucracy it is supposed to hold accountable. We need to assert ourselves, defend workable ideas and remain willing to make officials uncomfortable.

Rigorous oversight is important. Proper governance matters. But there comes a point when the human element - the willingness to stand up and fight for change - must take centre stage.

02/08/2026

Opinion: The uncomfortable reality is that South Africa lacks a consistently enforced strategy for repairing broken municipalities.

The ballot box remains one of the few ways residents can remove failed political leaders, but elections alone cannot rebuild an institution. Voters can replace a mayor or governing party, only to find the same compromised officials, contractors and patronage networks embedded in the administration.

Nor is withholding funding enough. It may force municipalities to produce compliance plans, but it will not rebuild billing systems, recover stolen money, repair infrastructure or remove incompetent officials.

The municipalities identified by Treasury are in serious financial distress now. They cannot remain in a five-year holding pattern.

06/07/2026

Excellent piece on how that despite the success of the politics of the street in South Africa, the politcs of the ballot box is still much more effective.

An urgent question arising from the 30 June protests is whether mass action on the streets can fuel the rise of a populist party, writes Jonny Steinberg.

24/06/2026

FROM JOBURG? Then you NEED to join this webinar. 🧾⚠️

Join us as we decode your City bill with Lufuno Mashau, a seasoned municipal finance executive with extensive experience in local government financial management.

This is a webinar you DO NOT want to miss.

https://zurl.co/LZC3r

22/06/2026

22/06/2026

READ NOW: The era of faceless party politics must end

South Africa has built a political culture in which leadership too often operates in an unaccountable space. The party failed. The system failed. The coalition failed. The municipality failed. The global economy failed. The previous administration failed.
Almost everyone failed, except the person in charge.

https://open.substack.com/pub/newsproject/p/the-era-of-faceless-party-politics?r=2nty3f&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

03/06/2026

Opinion | Collapsing steadily

"The harder question is whether, by the middle of the next decade, the party that once dominated SA politics will still exist at all in a form that matters."

"The harder question is whether, by the middle of the next decade, the party that once dominated SA politics will still exist at all in a form that matters."

25/05/2026

There is now clear data linking the ANC’s decline to South Africa’s deepest social and economic failures: mass unemployment, crime, corruption, weak local government and, increasingly, water insecurity.

https://open.substack.com/pub/newsproject/p/that-data-is-talking-and-the-anc?r=2nty3f&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

22/05/2026

🏠 Is your municipality revaluing your property?

Don’t ignore it - your monthly rates bill could go up.

Every municipality must conduct a General Valuation Roll every 3–5 years, with supplementary rolls in between. This is when your property value is reviewed - and that new value can directly affect what you pay in rates every month.

✅ You have the right to check your valuation
✅ You have the right to object
✅ You have the right to ask questions before it is too late

But if you miss the objection window, you may be stuck paying higher rates.

Don’t get caught napping.

CAN has created a free resource to help residents understand the valuation process, check their municipality’s roll, and take action before deadlines close.

👉 Check it here: https://www.valuations.org.za/