For the 2025/26 financial year, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has been allocated a total budget of R551.389 million. This allocation increases to R576 million in 2026/27 and further to R599 million in 2027/28, demonstrating our commitment to sustained investment in the renewal of local governance.
The budget is distributed across four key programmes:
Administration receives an allocation of R153 million in 2025/26, increasing to R155 million in 2026/27 and R161 million in 2027/28.
The Local Governance programme, which drives municipal support and oversight, is allocated R257 million in 2025/26, increasing to R269 million and R279 million in the outer years.
Development and Planning, which supports spatial development frameworks, infrastructure coordination, and smart governance, receives R120 million in 2025/26, with increases to R129 million and R136 million in the following years.
Finally, Traditional Institutional Management, which supports traditional leadership and integration into governance systems, is allocated R20 million in 2025/26, growing modestly to R21 million and R22 million over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework.
These funds will be used to strengthen traditional councils, deepen community development, and promote the participation of traditional leaders in municipal governance processes. Our ongoing community imbizos and ward councillor training programmes also contribute to building more responsive, informed, and democratic local leadership structures.
The 2025/26 MTEF for CoGTA will primarily finance and support efforts to turn around local government and support the two Houses of Traditional Leaders.
These funds will be used to strengthen traditional councils, deepen community development, and promote the participation of traditional leaders in municipal governance processes. Our ongoing community imbizos and ward councillor training programmes also contribute to building more responsive, informed, and democratic local leadership structures.
The 2025/26 MTEF for CoGTA will primarily finance and support efforts to turn around local government and support the two Houses of Traditional Leaders.
SMART CITIES STRATEGY
The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) welcomes the strategic realignment introduced by Honourable Premier Panyaza Lesufi, which has brought CoGTA, the Department of Infrastructure Development (DID), and the Gauteng Infrastructure Financing Agency (GIFA) under one Executive Authority. This alignment is more than a structural adjustment; it represents a deliberate and transformative shift towards a coherent and integrated approach to governance and development.
From a CoGTA perspective, this realignment enhances our capacity to drive intergovernmental coordination, align provincial and local government priorities, and integrate infrastructure planning within the broader municipal turnaround and development agenda. It enables improved synchronisation of policy, planning, and implementation across the three spheres of government, maximising impact and reducing fragmentation.
To this end, we have developed a unified infrastructure and urban development framework aimed at consolidating planning, accelerating delivery, and anchoring infrastructure at the centre of Gauteng’s socio-economic transformation. This framework supports the Premier’s strategic priorities and repositions municipalities as key nodes of developmental governance.
Our approach is anchored in the Smart Cities concept, aligned with the South African Smart Cities Framework introduced by National CoGTA in 2021. This model promotes a citizen-centred, technology-enabled, and spatially integrated urban future. Within this model, infrastructure serves as a lever for improved governance, enhanced service delivery, and sustainable, inclusive growth.
This tripartite partnership functions as follows:
- CoGTA leads intergovernmental coordination, municipal oversight, and alignment of development plans across all spheres.
- DID provides technical leadership through tools such as the Project Readiness Matrix (PRM), ensuring infrastructure projects are properly scoped and ready for implementation.
- GIFA brings expertise in financing models, feasibility assessments, and commercial structuring of infrastructure investments.
The Smart Cities vision, led by CoGTA, provides the strategic lens through which we address the province’s 13 developmental challenges, collectively referred to as the G13. This vision underscores our commitment to building capable municipalities, functional urban spaces, and responsive institutions.
As part of the realignment, a shared and integrated Programme of Action has been adopted across departments and all spheres of government. This Programme is structured around ten strategic interventions, or Intergrades, which define our infrastructure-led development priorities:
- Local Government Turnaround – Strengthening governance, administration, and frontline services at the municipal level.
- Water Security – Partnering with municipalities and water boards to ensure sustainable and equitable access to water.
- Energy Security – Enhancing local energy resilience through renewable and decentralised energy systems.
- CBD Revitalisation – Supporting municipalities in restoring central business districts into productive, safe, and liveable areas.
- Social Equity – Advancing spatial transformation and economic justice through inclusive development.
- Infrastructure Development – Expanding transport corridors, digital infrastructure, and housing delivery.
- Asset Utilisation – Leveraging underutilised government-owned land and property for social and economic benefit.
- Investing in Alexandra 4.0 and TISH – Upgrading townships, informal settlements, and hostels into modern, integrated communities.
- Waste Management – Promoting circular economy practices and environmental sustainability.
- Job Creation – Driving employment through infrastructure investment and localised economic development.
CoGTA is at the forefront of building an integrated and smart provincial infrastructure delivery system, one that is responsive, forward-looking, and firmly rooted in the constitutional imperative of cooperative governance.
We have established a governance model that aligns three levels of integration. At the primary level, we are strengthening internal coherence among CoGTA, DID, and GIFA. At the secondary level, we are deepening collaboration among municipalities through inter-municipal cooperation. At the tertiary level, we are working closely with national departments through the District Development Model to drive a coordinated, cross-cutting approach.
This framework has enabled us to unblock over 500 infrastructure-related transactions that were previously delayed due to administrative bottlenecks. It empowers real-time decision-making and translates plans into visible, life-changing projects… Read more here: