South Africa’s social fabric is under strain. We are reminded of this daily: from the horrific school transport accident in Vanderbijlpark, to the school placement challenges at Addington Primary School in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.
Add to this the weekly murder numbers coming out of the Cape Flats, the persistent violence faced by women and children highlighted by the Purple Movement, and the disturbing revelations emerging from the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. These are not isolated events. They are symptoms of a democracy under pressure.
Three decades into democracy, many citizens feel increasingly despondent. Trust in leadership is eroding, institutions are failing those they are meant to serve, exclusion remains widespread, and millions, particularly young people, remain locked out of meaningful economic participation. For too many South Africans, democracy has not yet translated into dignity, safety or opportunity.
The year 2026 will be pivotal. SA will hold its seventh local government elections since the advent of democracy, elections that may prove among the most consequential to date.
They will take place at a defining moment. The country is governed through a Government of National Unity, with no single party holding an outright majority. More importantly, citizens are increasingly experiencing the direct and painful consequences of political failure, particularly at the local government level. Municipalities, after all, are closest to people’s everyday lives.
Bleak picture
The Auditor-General’s 2023-2024 consolidated Municipal Finance Management Act report paints a bleak picture. Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke notes that municipal finances are “severely troubled”, with mayors and councils displaying little fiscal discipline despite constrained resources.
Only 41 municipalities received clean audits. Forty regressed compared with the previous reporting period, while 13 failed to submit financial statements altogether. Provinces such as the Free State, Northern Cape and North West recorded some of the poorest performance reports – provinces that also rank among the highest in unemployment. The correlation between weak governance and limited economic opportunity is difficult to ignore.
The consequences are tangible. Businesses suffer when municipalities fail. The Clover cheese processing factory in Lichtenburg closed and relocated due to persistent service delivery challenges, leading to more than 330 job losses. Astral Foods, one of the country’s largest poultry producers, has faced rising costs and operational disruptions because of unreliable water and electricity supply in the Lekwa Municipality.
Ordinary citizens bear an even heavier burden. In Emfuleni, water losses exceeding R880-million have translated into leaking pipes, sewage spills and serious health hazards, particularly in informal settlements. Across the country, poor road maintenance has resulted in a dramatic rise in potholes.
In 2023, KwaZulu-Natal recorded more than 500,000 potholes, followed by Gauteng with over 213,000. These conditions endanger lives, raise transport costs and undermine economic activity.
Local government failure is not an abstract policy issue; it is a matter of daily survival. The Auditor-General reports that R31.7-billion was spent on unauthorised expenditure across 174 municipalities – driven by weak oversight, unreliable information and poor decision-making by mayors and councillors. The impact of such malfeasance is felt at street level, often in life-and-death terms.
Against this backdrop, South Africans face a choice. For years, protest has been the default response to government failure. This tradition has deep historical roots and has played a vital role in advancing justice. But in contemporary South Africa, protest has become normalised as the primary mechanism for demanding accountability.
Service delivery failures? Protest. Wage disputes? Protest. Community safety concerns? Protest.
An opportunity to course correct
While protest remains a legitimate democratic tool, it cannot substitute for sustained electoral participation. The 2026 local government elections offer an opportunity to change course – to move from perpetual protest to purposeful participation at the ballot box.
Voting is not a passive act. It is one of the most powerful tools citizens possess to reshape governance, particularly at the local level where political decisions have immediate and visible consequences. Choosing capable, accountable leadership is essential if municipalities are to become engines of development rather than sites of decay.
As the country prepares for these elections, a pressing question confronts South Africans – especially those living on the margins of power and bearing the brunt of poor governance: At what point do we change the narrative?
If local government is where democracy most directly touches people’s lives, then local elections may well determine the future of South Africa’s democratic project, and citizens must heed the words of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at Davos: “Nostalgia is not a strategy.” DM
Kenneth Diole is the co-founder of YT Consulting Africa, a firm focused on youth and policy development in Africa.