Ignoring councillor illiteracy in local government reforms risks deepening service delivery failures across South Africa, says Dr Nonhlanhla Ngcobo

    As South Africa approaches the 2026 local government elections, it faces a crisis of service delivery backlogs, infrastructure decay and financial failures. According to Dr Nonhlanhla Ngcobo, these problems won’t be resolved without confronting the impact of councillor illiteracy across municipalities nationwide. She is arguing that South Africa must urgently adopt a minimum requirement of a Grade 12 certificate for all councillors to equip them with the essential skills for leadership and administration.   GUEST: Dr Nonhlanhla Ngcobo, a Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at North-West University