Following the annual meeting of the Local Government Capacity Programme (LGCP) which was organised in collaboration with the Department of Cooperative Governance (DCoG) on the 27 & 28 May 2015, two Red Tape Reduction workshops were held in Tshwane (20 & 21 October 2015) and in Cape Town (28 & 29 October 2015) with delegates from various municipalities. The aim of the workshops was to introduce Red Tape Reduction Guidelines (compiled by the Department of Small Business Development) to the municipalities, show the link between Back to Basics and Red Tape Reduction, share good practices of Red Tape Reduction and develop draft action plans for implementing the guidelines. In the first workshop, Midvaal and City of Ekurhuleni municipalities gave presentations about how they are reducing red tape in their municipalities while in the second workshop good practices came from the Western Cape department of Economic Development and Tourism accompanied by a site visit to Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works Walk-In Centre.

From the Red Tape Reduction Guidelines, the practical cases, DCoG’s Back to Basics and Red Tape Reduction presentations and break away commission-discussions, it was identified that red tape is a government-wide matter and there is a need for a standard operating procedure in government. There was also a common view that local government is over-regulated and which makes it difficult to archive its objectives. It was also noted that certain rules and procedures are necessary (even though they seem to be time-consuming) and that regulations are part of any properly functioning government. However, it is equally important to identify inefficiencies in such regulations. Municipal delegates left the workshops determined to go back to their municipalities to implement what they have acquired in terms of reducing the red tape.