South Africa's post-apartheid government entrusted the delivery of some services to its local sphere of governance, which is in close contact with society. Guided by the 1996 Constitution, local municipalities are required to render basic services and to address existing backlogs that have accumulated over years of separate development. For this reason, instruments such as the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) have been adopted to enhance the local municipality's delivery of such services. In practice, though, is has become evident that rendering services such as clean water, proper sanitation, electricity and health facilities has remained a major challenge for local municipalities across South Africa. For the majority of local municipalities, the IDP has apparently become business as usual rather than an enabling instrument and process. The article argues that despite its inherent goodness, the integrated development planni