South Africa’s development story is often told through the lens of its metros. Johannesburg, Tshwane, Durban, and Cape Town dominate the national conversation, shaping how growth, infrastructure, and investment are understood. Yet beyond these urban giants, a quieter but no less significant story unfolds in hundreds of small towns. These towns are more than local service centres. They are economic anchors, cultural touchpoints, and connectors between rural economies and metropolitan markets.
For too long, they have remained in the shadow of the national growth agenda. Many have faced decline, loss of industries, disinvestment, weak municipal systems, and shrinking populations of young people. Yet they are indispensable to national cohesion and development. South Africa cannot achieve inclusive growth while allowing its small towns to collapse. The essential role of small towns must therefore move from the margins of policy to the centre of national strategy.
The Small-Town Regeneration (STR) Strategy, developed under the Department of Cooperative Governance as part of the Integrated Urban Development Framework (IUDF), responds directly to this reality. In February 2023, CITEPLAN was appointed as the implementing agent for the STR Strategy. Over the next two years, it will be piloted in three diverse towns, Senekal in the Free State (Setsoto Local Municipality), Piketberg in the Western Cape (Bergrivier Local Municipality), and Modimolle in Limpopo (Modimolle-Mookgophong Local Municipality). These pilots will provide the learning base for a national rollout.
Why Small Towns Matter
Small towns sit at the intersection of South Africa’s rural and urban futures. They are the processing hubs for agricultural economies, service centres for education and health, and gateways to tourism landscapes. They are also where social cohesion is tested, places where inequality, unemployment, and migration pressures converge.
Despite their importance, audits and reviews reveal the fragile state of local governance in many small towns. In 2021/22, 80% of municipalities lacked maintenance plans for infrastructure, and less than 1% of asset value was spent on maintenance where 8% is the national benchmark. Wastewater plants are vandalised, landfill sites are mismanaged, and roads are neglected. These failures erode trust between residents and municipalities, often spilling into service delivery protests.
Yet decline is not inevitable. With deliberate investment, capable leadership, and structured collaboration, small towns can become the drivers of balanced national growth. Their scale allows for innovation, their social fabric supports strong participation, and their location ties them to broader economic corridors.
The Small-Town Regeneration Strategy
The STR provides a structured framework for turning this potential into reality. Its vision is clear: to transform small towns into economically viable, socially integrated, and safe environments with well-maintained infrastructure and active citizenry.
The strategy rests on six objectives:
- Strengthening collaboration between municipalities, communities, and stakeholders.
- Enabling integrated spatial planning that recognises towns as part of wider regions.
- Driving social development that builds resilient communities.
- Supporting equitable local economic growth.
- Strengthening intergovernmental relations and coherent governance.
- Establishing strong systems for monitoring, evaluation, and data management
It is implemented through a four-phase town-based process:
- Phase 1: Lay the Groundwork: setting up institutional arrangements, creating task teams, and building political and community buy-in.
- Phase 2: Explore: understanding the town’s assets, challenges, and community priorities through participatory processes.
- Phase 3: Design and Resolve: making decisions, prioritising projects, and developing a participatory economic plan (PACA) and a formal precinct plan.
- Phase 4: Take Action – moving from planning to tangible implementation, backed by resource mobilisation, collaboration, and continuous monitoring.
At the heart of the STR is collaborative governance. Municipal Task Teams (MTTs) and Community Task Teams (CTTs) are established to work together, ensuring that regeneration is not imposed from the top down but co-created from within. This model acknowledges that neither municipalities nor communities can regenerate towns alone.
Piloting the Strategy
The pilots in Senekal, Piketberg, and Modimolle were chosen to test the STR in very different contexts.
- Senekal (Setsoto LM, Free State): An agricultural service town grappling with economic stagnation, youth out-migration, and strained municipal systems. Its regeneration agenda focuses on re-establishing agricultural value chains, tackling service delivery backlogs, and building social cohesion in a context of high unemployment.
- Piketberg (Bergrivier LM, Western Cape): A town positioned as a regional service hub within a stable municipality. It faces challenges of growth management, balancing heritage with new development, and ensuring that local residents benefit from emerging industries. Regeneration here focuses on skills development, infrastructure investment, and inclusive planning for growth.
- Modimolle (Modimolle-Mookgophong LM, Limpopo): A town with a strong tourism and agricultural base but weakened by governance instability and disinvestment. The regeneration approach seeks to rebuild municipal credibility, unlock tourism potential, and leverage its role as a regional anchor.
Each pilot demonstrates that while challenges differ, the core principles of collaboration, spatial integration, and community ownership apply across contexts. The lessons drawn will inform a model for national application.
Beyond the Pilots: Building a National Platform
The pilots are not isolated projects but stepping stones to a broader rollout. By embedding STR into municipal systems, through Integrated Development Plans (IDPs), Spatial Development Frameworks (SDFs), and Local Economic Development (LED) strategies, the strategy ensures that regeneration is not a parallel process but a mainstream municipal function.
The STR also aligns directly with national frameworks:
- The National Development Plan (NDP 2030) calls for inclusive, spatially just, and sustainable growth.
- The Integrated Urban Development Framework (IUDF) positions small towns within the urban-rural continuum.
- The Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA) requires integrated, evidence-based spatial planning.
By drawing these threads together, the STR provides a practical mechanism for implementing national policy at town level.
Why Regeneration Matters for National Growth
South Africa cannot afford to let small towns deteriorate. Their collapse would not only deepen rural poverty but also increase pressure on metros already straining under rapid in-migration. Regeneration is therefore not a local luxury; it is a national imperative.
Economically, regenerated towns can attract investment, create jobs, and serve as nodes of value addition in agriculture, mining, tourism, and small manufacturing.
Socially, they can strengthen cohesion, provide opportunities for youth, and preserve cultural identity.
Environmentally, they can pioneer sustainability practices, from water conservation to renewable energy and biodiversity protection.
Governance-wise, they can rebuild trust between citizens and the state through visible improvements and participatory processes.
Every success in a small town generates ripple effects across its region. Every failure amplifies national inequality.
A Call to Re-imagine National Growth
If South Africa is to realise inclusive development, small towns must take their rightful place in the growth story. This requires moving beyond rhetoric to structured, resourced, and collaborative action. The STR provides a roadmap, but its success depends on political will, municipal capacity, and community commitment.
CITEPLAN’s role as the implementing agent brings technical expertise, facilitation skills, and structured tools to the process. But regeneration will only succeed if residents, municipalities, and partners act as co-owners of the journey.
The choice before South Africa is stark. Either allow small towns to remain overlooked, eroding their potential and pushing more people into already stretched metros. Or embrace them as anchors of a balanced national economy, investing in their regeneration as a deliberate strategy for inclusive growth.
The pilots in Senekal, Piketberg, and Modimolle are the first steps. They signal that small towns are no longer footnotes in the national story—they are central chapters. The regeneration of small towns is not only possible. It is essential for the future of South Africa.
