Effective governance is fundamental to building urban resilience in Southern Africa. This chapter examines international and regional frameworks before assessing South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe's national systems. While cities are positioned at the forefront of risk governance, institutional fragmentation, underfunding, and weak enforcement remain pervasive. Challenges include political instability, overlapping mandates, and limited local empowerment. The chapter advocates for coherent governance structures, decentralised authority, and inclusive participation. Institutional frameworks can become enablers rather than barriers to mainstreaming resilience in urban planning and development by strengthening accountability and adaptive capacity.