Mmamoloko Kubayi flags obscene legal costs hurting towns

Ballooning legal bills are literally bleeding South African municipalities dry and tanking basic service delivery for residents.

Kubayi's takedown of municipal legal spending

• Mmamoloko Kubayi torched the wildly high legal costs municipalities keep racking up.
• Her keynote dropped at SALGA's 6th National Municipal Legal Practitioners' Forum.
• Cape Town hosted the event on 12 March 2026.
• Skills gaps in finance and supply-chain areas fuel the mess.

How the litigation death spiral works

• Garbage governance triggers water, power, and sewer failures.
• Frustrated residents then drag municipalities into court.
• Bigger legal budgets cannibalize funds meant for actual services.
• Weak in-house teams force expensive outsourcing to private lawyers.

Labour disputes are a massive money pit

• Municipalities routinely ignore binding arbitration awards.
• Workers get forced back to court for enforcement orders.
• Disciplinary processes get farmed out to costly external counsel.
• Stronger internal legal capacity could curb that bleed.

Ethical accountability for legal practitioners

• Kubayi reminded lawyers they owe unbiased, fee-conscious advice.
• Wasteful litigation means chasing cases with garbage odds.
• Ignoring settled precedent or rejecting reasonable settlements qualifies.
• Mediation and negotiation should come before courtroom battles.

Intergovernmental coordination on state litigation

• An Intergovernmental National Litigation Forum exists for cross-sphere collaboration.
• SALGA joins its next session on 24 March 2026.
• Trimming contingent liabilities would free up service-delivery cash.
• Kubayi pushed capacity-building and ethics as top priorities.