The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) is a national, voluntary political association in South Africa. It is a public entity composed of South Africa's local governments. The association's members are made of all South Africa's 257 local governments. The purpose of the SALGA is to represent local governments of South Africa at various stages and levels of government. It supports local governments in their efforts of development, assists members in varying ways, and even works to promote women in local government.

There has been criticism that the SALGA is weak and ineffective at representing local government interests.

The Constitution of South Africa enshrines the many roles and powers of local and municipal government. South Africa is a developmental state, in the context that the social development is promoted through the state intervening in the economy. Per section 152, this means that economic and social development relies heavily on municipalities. Section 152 is part of Chapter 7 of the Constitution, which features policy on local government. Section 151 states the many rights municipalities have in governance of their communities. It also states the restrictions of the national and provincial government in infringing on the governmental power of municipalities. Municipalities have broad authorities and power, much more codified than in many other countries. Scholars including Van der Waldt and Thornhill assert that the nexus of public service delivery in South Africa is local government. Local government is not simply a single municipality, but a whole, separate sphere of government. It is the closet government to the people.

Local, provincial, and national government must work together in South Africa. The South African Local Government Association was created in 1997 to better ensure this, as heavy emphasis was placed on the importance of local and municipal governments in South Africa's development. The 1997 Organised Local Government Act recognizes the South African Local Government Association. Section 21 of the 1973 Companies Act recognized its status as a public entity.

The constitution governing the SALGA was adopted in the year 2000. It was amended in 2004, with substantive changes to membership policies, creating three categories of membership. The constitution of the SALGA was again amended in 2007, adding various changes pertaining to its governance structure.

The SALGA is tied into international donor politics as well. In the later 1990s, the US National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) had a goal of strengthening countries' legislatures to ensure their governments are more accountable to their citizens. Ethics codes and comparable legislation were among the activities to develop "structural framework for local government". The main project included the SALGA among various other South African agencies, organizations, and provincial legislatures in a USAID program that provided over $3.8 million in funding. The project was also supplemented by another project that studied parliaments of other countries to increase the effectiveness of legislatures; it was received around $270,000 from the US funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

Fees from members, donors for various projects, various other sources, and funds from the national budget provide funding for the SALGA.

The South African Local Government Association is structured in two main divisions; its political structure and administrative structure.