Of course, all these programmes will take time to implement and lead to sustainable results.
Despite its huge responsibilities, local government gets at present only 8,7% of the national revenue. There needs to be an expeditious and significant overhaul of the current Intergovernmental Fiscal System, including the formula for the "equitable share" - the allocation of money from the national budget to each sphere of government.
Are the administrative structures of Local Government robust enough to withstand pressures from economic and political elites?
While they are vulnerable to pressures from political and economic elites,  we shouldn't present administrators as helpless victims. They must conform to the laws too and not just succumb to undue pressure from these elites.
It's not clear to me why this of the many issues local government has to address is being focused on. Presumably, "smaller urban municipalities" do not refer to "secondary" cities like Msunduzi  Anyway: some of the problems are similar, other not?