South African municipalities are entering a period of structural change, from market reform and tariff restructuring to infrastructure resilience and revenue recovery. The Municipal Forum brings distribution leaders, engineers, planners, regulators and financiers together to work through it.
2026 edition: 19–21 May 2026, Municipal Forum Hub, Hall 1, CTICC
Three days for distribution leaders, engineers, planners and procurement specialists. SAWEM readiness, reform implementation, bankable projects, tariff design and the work of electrifying everyone.
Rotating-speaker format — audience members can take the open seat at any time
What's covered
Discussion points
Panel unpacks
Discussion points
Cases of Cape Town, Johannesburg and eThekwini
Focus areas
The Municipal Forum runs in parallel — a paid programme for distribution leaders.
For municipal & utility delegates. Three days of focused content on SAWEM readiness, reform, finance and electrification.
The 2026 Forum addressed South Africa's distribution transition under liberalised trading, with SAWEM readiness as the central reference point. Speakers included Rudi Dicks (Operation Vulindlela), Muzi Mkhize (NERSA), Kay Walsh (Nova Economics), Mutenda Tshipala (Eskom Distribution Energy Trader), Lebogang Mojanaga (Department of Electricity and Energy) and Dr Mpho Mahahle (SAGEN, GIZ).
Municipalities should complete cost-of-supply studies and move to credible, cost-reflective tariffs.
Deploy advanced metering at scale, with enforcement mechanisms for losses and theft.
Use PPP and de-risking models specifically targeted at distribution upgrades.
Past Municipal Forum partners (2026 edition)
LThe Municipal Forum brings together the people responsible for planning, operating and sustaining municipal electricity systems across South Africa. This is where real operational challenges are discussed — from tariff pressure and revenue recovery to infrastructure resilience and market reform.
What you see here reflects the conversations shaping how municipalities will deliver reliable, financially sustainable energy services.
Municipal electricity departments sit at the centre of South Africa’s energy transition — yet they face mounting operational and financial strain.
Infrastructure is ageing.
Revenue collection is declining.
New market structures are emerging.
Demand patterns are shifting as customers adopt embedded generation.
At the same time, municipalities are expected to modernise their networks, enable wheeling, integrate decentralised generation and maintain reliable service delivery.
The Municipal Forum was created to help municipal leaders navigate this transition — bringing together the policymakers, utilities, financiers and technical specialists shaping the future of municipal energy systems.
Understanding how municipalities participate in a liberalised electricity market and prepare for new trading rules.
Balancing cost-reflective pricing with electricity affordability as market pricing evolves.
Unlocking capital for distribution upgrades, metering and energy infrastructure.
Strengthening collection systems and building financially resilient municipal utilities.
Preparing municipal networks for decentralised generation and multi-seller electricity markets.
Practical strategies and technologies to extend reliable electricity access.
Chanelle Hingston
Group Director: Power, Energy & Water
VUKA Group
The Municipal Forum (part of Enlit Africa, previously African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa), discusses real challenges affecting municipalities from a power and energy perspective.
The forum highlights the general state of municipalities in South Africa and discusses complex, wide ranging challenges, from financial constraints, inadequate revenue collection, poor infrastructure maintenance, corruption and governance failures. These factors contribute to service delivery backlogs, unreliable electricity supply, insufficient water and sanitation infrastructure and limited resources for essential services.
Become an Expert Partner at the Municipal Leaders Forum
Position your company in a room full of industry leaders with a common concern, 'How do I deliver energy security to my region?'
Expert Partners contribute to the dialogue and provide industry technical solutions to problems. Expert Partners are limited to five, to qualify follow these steps: Review the Forum's objectives and approach; Familiarise yourself with the Municipal Forum's objective and methodology, and ensure that your company can contribute value to the discussion topics.
Ensure that your company is well-positioned and has the capacity to deliver against current municipal challenges. Display proven projects delivered at a Municipal level to provide real case study inputs to the programme.
Enlit Africa’s vision for the Municipal Forum is about growth, capacity and development for local government to deal with the energy crisis. This involves several key steps and strategies to engage participants and expand the forum’s reach. To foster growth, the Municipal Forum will collaborate with other organisations, institutions and stakeholders to expand its influence. Partnerships of this will bring in additional expertise, resources and diverse perspectives.
The Municipal Forum returns as part of Enlit Africa 2027 at the CTICC, 11–13 May 2027. The 2026 Forum set the agenda for the year ahead: SAWEM readiness, wheeling that works in practice, cost-reflective tariffs, metering and loss reduction, municipal debt, and financing for distribution.
The 2027 programme overview lands in November 2026. Register your interest now and we'll send you the Municipal Forum programme as soon as it's published.
Register your interest in the Municipal Forum and be first to see the 2027 sessions and speakers.
Enlit Africa 2027, 11–13 May, Cape Town International Convention Centre, South Africa. Register your interest in the Municipal Forum, sponsor it, or pre-register for Enlit Africa 2027.
Enlit Africa, connects energy industry professionals and organisations to information and each other in a carefully curated live and online environment. Its purpose, to help shape Africa's Just Energy Transition and recognised as the continental Africa edition of the global Enlit series. www.enlitworld.com
Exhibit at Enlit Africa
Register for Enlit Africa
For other enquiries contact:
+27 21 700 3500
+27 21 700 3512
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