By Steve Bhengu
South Africa is gearing up for the 2026 local government elections in a time of already increased hung municipalities, poor service delivery and accusations of wasteful expenditure in a number of municipalities.
Recently, finance minister Enoch Godongwana asked for an explanation from the richest city in Africa, Johanneburg, on what he termed 24 billion Rand worth of wasteful expenditure. The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has had a standoff with Umkhanyakude Municipality over what they term the inability to implement a credit and debt collection policy. With the inability to deliver water adequately, many municipalities have resorted to water tankers which have also led to further problems as uMgungundlovu District Municipality has said they’re now investigating allegations that those tasked with delivering water to communities are now selling the water from their tankers in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal’s capital.
In the 2024 national election, voter turnout dropped to 58.6%, from 66.1% in 2019 and 73.5% in 2014. The 2024 election was pivotal as South Africa marked 30 years since the majority was allowed to vote for the first time. Blood was spilled for South Africa’s democracy and therefore the right to vote. However, even those who voted for the first time in 2024 speak of disillusionment and a lack of education in the differences between the various elections held by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
According to Municipal IQ, local government elections are held every five years, with the last elections held in 2021. Municipalities form part of the three spheres of government, namely national, provincial and local. The local sphere, which is where municipalities are found, is the sphere which allows citizens to gain direct access to services such as water, electricity, refuse collection etc. This separation allows municipalities to operate independently from national and provincial oversight, with the exception being a scenario where there is a poor performing municipality which then warrants section 139 being imposed on that municipality. Accountancy.org.za describes this as when a municipality is placed under administration by provincial government, as per the provision of the South African constitution.
Voter disillusionment & lack of understanding for electoral process
According to the latest figures released last month by Stats SA – South Africa has an adult population of 63,1 million. According to the Independent Electoral Commission, of these, 11,7 million are registered on their database as eligible young voters. This is a large segment of the population that parties must appeal to if they want to continue attracting meaningful voters, except it is not so straight forward.
Name: Anelisiwe Dlomo
Location: Port Shepstone
Age: 26
Belief: Things will not change.
“I don’t really have any real hope that things will change,” said 26-year-old Anelisiwe Dlomo from Port Shepstone giggles.
She voted for the first time in 2024. “I just decided to go ahead and vote anyway, since I have never voted before,” she tilts her head and shows a slight embarrassment after her answer.
Dlomo doesn’t really understand South Africa’s electoral system and the differences between national, provincial and local elections. She does, however, have expectations of those chosen by to lead. “For me, I would say prioritising creating jobs, service delivery, social justice and using state funds for intended purpose as opposed to looting and comprising the different sectors of this economy because of departmental officials being incompetent, ending corruption, nepotism, tenders. These things seem to holding us back”.
Name: Musa Masimula
Location: Msinga
Age: 25
Belief: No political party has values.
25-year-old Musa Masimula from Msinga has never voted. He runs his own photography and editing business. He believes that there has never been a motivation to vote and therefore has never bothered to do so. “I grew up in a political background and one thing I have seen over that time is that there is no party that is honest or has values. Everyone is just looking out for themselves”.
Name: Thabani Ngwane
Location: Durban
Age: 21
Belief: My vote is my voice.
Then there was what could be described as one of the most neutral views by a young person which came from Thabani Ngwane, a 21-year-old from Durban says he has voted before, but only because of the pressure from his community.
“I understand the electoral process to the point of understanding that my vote is my voice in having a say in what direction the country takes.”
“What is important to me is employment and having a government that supports the different communities that exist, including access to education, healthcare and law enforcement.”
Increased coalition governed municipalities
According to the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes one of the usually hotly contested provinces, KwaZulu-Natal, has seen an increase in co-governed municipalities or coalition municipalities. The organisation’s findings reveal that the number of coalition municipalities, also known as hung municipalities, shot up from 27 during the 2016 local government elections to 70 during the 2021 Local Government Elections. This translates to a 159% increase.
This hot contestation at municipal level is not exclusive to just KZN. It’s also seen in big Gauteng metros as well which include the capital city, Tshwane, and the wealthiest city in Africa, Johannesburg.
Local government is key to service delivery and this has largely stalled in some cities. Johannesburg has seen many mayoral changes, degradation of the city centre is often documented by social media users and finance minister, Enoch Godongwana, has asked for an explanation of the city’s wasteful expenditure of more than 24 billion Rand in this hung council.
The IEC says it conducts voter education programmes
A sit-down conversation at their KZN provincial office in Westville, west of Durban, the Independent Electoral Commission revealed that they have begun ramping campaigns that educate and motivate young people to take part in the electoral process.
The commission’s Dr Nonhlanhla Hlongwane says they do this through their civic education program which is always ongoing. “We have two voter education programs that we run. The first is the voter education program which is structured to educate eligible voters. The second is our civic education program which is structured to educate young people on the importance of their civil duty to vote. This happens as early as Grade 10 and is infused into the Life Orientation curriculum at schools”, she said.
Despite such early and ongoing voter awareness programmes, some which involve stakeholders like institutions of higher learning – the IEC says it still has a difficult time attracting young people to the ballot.
“One of the problems we continue to have is that young people are generally disgruntled with a number of issues such as jobs, service delivery, lack of economic opportunities etc. While understandable, their disillusionment is often misplaced as they tell us during on-the-ground campaigns that they are deliberately withholding registration and voter participation as a means to punish government for failing them.”
She shrugs her shoulders with an equally confused look and adds “They think we and government are the same thing.”
Perhaps not surprising, but disgruntlement the IEC is talking about is not something that is in theory. The commission’s stats on past youth voter turnout tells a hard-hitting story.
According to the IEC data shared during the sit-down interview there was a consistency among the youth aged 18 and 19, reaching 69% in 2011 and 71% in the 2016 and 2021 Local Government Elections. However, a steep decline is registered in the youth age groups between 20 to 29 from 49% in 2011 to only 35% in 2021. Without a doubt this represents a decline of interest among young people that only speaks for itself.
Increased contestation in local government election
Local government elections are an important cornerstone of our democracy. This is evident in the intense contestation displayed by political parties all looking to expand their dominance, although it has largely resulted in a new norm of coalitions. In the background of these fierce contestations are real issues that citizens grapple with on a daily basis with many asking themselves if these will be resolved in the near future.
Among these citizens are young people, some who are coming into adulthood and have been waiting for the day that they too will be able to exercise certain rights and privileges as recognized citizens.
However, whether they will continue to step up to play their part and influence change remains something to be seen as the nation waits. If the current trend of declining youth participation in the voting process is anything to go by, a fair amount of reservation may accompany that wait.
