Citizen-Based Monitoring (CBM)

The COMPACT Citizen-Based Monitoring (CBM) tool was developed by Integrity Action (IA) and the approach trains ward committee members as citizen monitors, equipping them to monitor municipal infrastructure projects and provide feedback to communities, councillors and municipal officials. Ward committee members track project progress on existing and new capital projects via the Kobo app or a paper questionnaire. If any issues arise all those involved are made aware and solutions can be proposed.

The CBM approach has been piloted with Kouga Local Municipality and Oudtshoorn Local Municipality since 2024. Training workshops for citizen monitors, municipal officials and councillors were held in January 2024, and in March 2025 refresher training workshops were conducted in both municipalities to re-energise the initiative, onboard new monitors, and address implementation challenges. In 2025 a new reporting template was introduced to strengthen communication between monitors and councillors, and site visits provided practical experience. A case study on the development and piloting of the CBM tool is available together with citizen monitor guides in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa. Examples of CBM questions are provided as well as the CBM project monitoring template.

There are other citizen monitoring and social audit initiatives at the municipal level, including International Budget Partnership South Africa’s (IBPSA) Asvikelane initiative. Asivikelane is a network of NGOs, including Planact , and urban informal settlement residents that monitor basic services delivery and engage with government about reforms. IBPSA has also developed a guide to conducting social audits in South Africa.

 

In 2013 the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) piloted citizen-based monitoring of frontline service sites around health, safety and security, and social development. A CBM framework and toolkit are available.

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