The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) hosted a workshop on understanding election-related data to help journalists prepare for South Africa’s local government elections on 4 November 2026.
To kick off the workshop, researcher and Data lead at OpenUp, Carl Teffo shared insights into how journalists can use mapping tools to identify story ideas from the large amounts of data they encounter during and after elections.
Award-winning data journalist and strategist Athandiwe Saba discussed how journalists can use numbers to develop meaningful stories that are accessible and understandable to the public.
Saba also highlighted the Municipal Structures Bill and the growing importance of coalitions in South Africa’s political landscape. She explained how election data can help journalists understand the relationship between the votes political parties receive and the seats they secure.
She added that data plays two important roles in local government election reporting: helping journalists identify patterns and anomalies and providing context to explain what those findings mean for communities.
“Spot a pattern or anomaly, ask why it is happening, find people affected by it and verify with the parties, IEC and documents. In order to deepen the story, you can start with a human experience, use the portal to locate context, compare with history or similar places, and show whether the story is isolated or structural,” she said.
Saba highlighted several data sources journalists can use to develop election stories. These include candidate data, which provides information about who is contesting, their ages and the areas they represent; Wazimap data, which is a comprehensive GIS and data analysis tool which offers information on budgets, demographics, municipal performance and wards; and voter registration data, which can reveal patterns involving new voters, registration updates, young people and gender across municipalities and wards.
She also encouraged journalists to look beyond election results and explore alternative angles, including the margins between winning and losing candidates and voter turnout.
Saba cautioned that journalists often approach municipal elections as though they were national elections, focusing on who becomes mayor rather than examining who controls municipal budgets.
“Journalists report on coalition announcements, but not coalition agreements. They report on who won the ward but not turnout and margin changes,” she said.
The workshop highlighted the importance of using data to move beyond election results and produce reporting that explains political trends, coalition arrangements, and their implications for communities.
