South Africa’s 2026 local government elections are set for 4 November. What do you want to know about voting, address updates, or special votes? Ask our journalists and we will do our best to answer your questions.
How did we get so locked into voting for parties that aren’t worth voting for? The loyalty story has long passed its sell-by date, and I get that local elections are more about people that we know and, in some cases, may trust, but all represent parties/parliamentarians whose national footprint is an embarrassment (with a few exceptions in small parties). By and large, the provincial/ national political class is an outrage to decent human behaviour and ethical leadership. Is this all we’ve got? That decent local mayors and ward councillors can’t hold their national counterparts to account without risking their own standing illustrates how constrained the local electorate, its elected councillors and Mayors are. Raising national delinquencies with local councillors is nice, might even be cathartic with good ones, but what do they do with it? It’s not as if the national leadership listens, even to its own ward councillors, so where is the possibility of accountability beyond my own political backyard? I have the good fortune to live in one of the few effectively functioning municipalities in the country, and our Mayor has national recognition for his efforts, if not his voice. However, I doubt he could push too hard against the national status quo of his party or even raise questions/ concerns of his electorate about his party’s shenanigans at a national level. How is that democracy?
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I have an impossible ask, but I’ll ask anyway. I’d like a ward and municipal scorecard. With objective metrics, including adherence to fiscal accountability, key deliverables, and action against transgressors in governance.
Too much?
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Please unpack the math of voting for a smaller party vs a bigger one, what will likely have the most impact, and how we as JHBers or NMBers or wherever can really ensure we vote for change this time. Because jirre mense. And I don’t think people understand the impact their single vote can have so it would be good to really unpack that in plain language.
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Great idea, @Hans_Rehder. We may have something planned that could tackle this… 