Local Government Collaboration Model

The COMPACT Local Government Collaboration Model is a practical, catalytic tool that brings together political, administrative, and community stakeholders to address real challenges faced by municipalities and to work together on improving service delivery. The goal of the model, and the collaboration workshops that are facilitated in municipalities, is to find solutions by combining skills, knowledge and resources of relevant role-players and stakeholders. SALGA’s Stakeholder Engagement Tool published in 2020 provided the basis for the model, which offers guidance on “the how” of collaboration in municipalities.

The tool was piloted with Newcastle Local Municipality and Blue Crane Route Local Municipality in 2025. Collaboration workshops bringing together municipal officials, councillors, and community stakeholders were facilitated to address challenges such as water access and tuckshop (spaza shop) regulation. These pilot workshops helped refine the model and facilitation materials, laying the foundation for broader rollout. In August 2025, a train-the-trainer workshop was held to build facilitation capacity and deepen understanding of the model’s five-step approach. In addition to the facilitation guide, a case study on the development and piloting of the Local Government Collaboration Model has been developed.

• COMPACT Factsheet on Local Government Collaboration Model
• Case Study on the COMPACT Local Government Collaboration Model
• COMPACT Local Government Collaboration Model and Implementation Process: Facilitation Guide
• SALGA (2020) Stakeholder Engagement Tool