Salga and The Global Trust Project Launch Three-Year Pilot to Quantify and Improve Municipal Trustworthiness

Salga and The Global Trust Project initiate a three-year pilot of the Trust Equity Framework to improve municipal accountability and service delivery in South Africa.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 15, 2026, 4:40 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from Engineering News

A Structured Approach to Local Governance Reform

In a significant move to professionalize local government, the South African Local Government Association (Salga) and The Global Trust Project (TGTP) have launched a three-year pilot of the Trust Equity Framework (TEf). The initiative, which involves up to 18 participating municipalities, is designed to move "trust" from a general aspiration to a measurable institutional discipline. By establishing a diagnostic baseline through the Trust Equity Index (TEi), the framework will allow municipalities to examine how trustworthiness is experienced across leadership structures, administrative systems, and stakeholder relationships. The goal is to create a more resilient local government sector capable of supporting sustainable service delivery and economic growth.

Operationalizing Trustworthiness as a Discipline

The Trust Equity Framework utilizes a specific methodology built around what TGTP describes as "cues, cadences, and controls." This involves analyzing the signals sent by municipal leadership, the regularity of management approaches, and the internal systems that ensure consistent behavioral standards. According to Dominic Wilhelm, Executive Director of TGTP, trust is no longer incidental in an environment characterized by extreme fiscal and governance pressure; it is a material requirement for operational success. The pilot will include leadership engagement, implementation support, and follow-up evaluations, culminating in the development of a "South African Playbook on Trust-Rich Municipalities" to serve as a national resource.

Addressing Systemic Underperformance and Fiscal Loss

The necessity of this reform is underscored by recent data from the Auditor-General of South Africa, which highlights severe underperformance in the local government sector. In the 2023/24 cycle, municipalities took an average of 123 days to collect revenue and were forced to write off R50.96 billion in debt. Furthermore, technical and non-technical losses in utility services amounted to R14.93 billion for water and R22.36 billion for electricity. Salga officials argue that without a foundation of trust and accountability, these fiscal leakages cannot be effectively plugged. The pilot is intended to provide municipalities with the tools to reverse these trends by improving relationship credibility with the citizens and busine...