What happens when residents stop waiting for municipalities to solve every problem and begin organising their own communities?
Daily Maverick associate editor Ferial Haffajee and Maverick Studios creative lead Malibongwe Tyilo speak to Bea Swanepoel of Jozi My Jozi, Yunus Chamda of the Joburg Crisis Alliance, Asad Gaffar of the eThekwini Ratepayers Protest Movement and Tim Harris of Mission for Inner City Cape Town about civic action, reclaiming urban spaces and holding municipalities accountable for the places people call home.
On 11 September 2026, Daily Maverick hosted the sixth edition of The Gathering at the CTICC in Cape Town. Under the theme Going for Broke: Cities Edition, the day brought together journalists, public officials, researchers, political figures, business leaders and civic actors to examine the state of South Africa’s cities ahead of the 2026 local government elections — what is failing, what is working and what it will take to make local government deliver.
The Gathering 2026 was held in partnership with Ninety One.
