South Africans will go to the polls on Nov. 4 in what will be the most important local government elections since the dawn of its democracy at the end of the nation’s apartheid era. Now, after decades of rule by the African National Congress, many local municipalities, including major cities, are near civic collapse, and the entire country’s future appears in jeopardy.
The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference issued a pastoral statement on the forthcoming elections inviting all in the country to a “renewed spirit of the common good.” The bishops were candid in the statement, which was published in August.
“Many of our municipalities are not working as they should,” they wrote. “That is why we have seen many communities struggling daily with water shortages, uncollected waste, poorly maintained roads and a lack of facilities for recreation for our youth.”
South Africa’s municipalities face serious problems. Many struggle financially and cannot provide basic services. The Auditor-General’s Office found in its 2024-25 report that only 39 of the country’s 257 municipalities—15 percent of the total—received clean audits.
Local government elections in South Africa rarely attract the same level of interest as national voting, but they determine which parties run the civic and social services citizens rely on every day. Local authorities approve budgets and set rates for municipal services. They manage water, sanitation, electricity, roads and refuse removal. Accountability is most direct at the local level, since a ward councillor is someone a voter can question and remove at the ballot box.
When local government works, systems function and ordinary people are served; they have clean running water, electricity, refuse removal and good roads. But when it fails, the consequences for communities can be life-threatening.
The Associated Press reported on Oct. 21 that more than 500 people were stricken with a gastrointestinal illness, which authorities blamed on poor water quality in two different cities. Residents of communities east of the capital, Pretoria, were warned to stop drinking tap water after 408 people became ill.
Like other cities in the country, the capital and its suburbs have long had issues with the cleanliness of the region’s water. City officials distributed water to residents through emergency tankers and distributed water bottles. Most of those who fell ill were children under 4.
Infrastructure decay is perhaps the most obvious evidence of municipal failure in South Africa. In Johannesburg, the country’s largest city, burst water mains, electrical substation failures and sewage spills into local streets, streams and rivers are part of people’s daily reality. Many Johannesburg households endure regular interruption of essential services like water and electricity, some for weeks at a time.
The bishops addressed the root causes of these failures, charging that nepotism, corruption, “the capture of municipalities by organized crime” and “instability in coalition politics at the local government level” all played a role. Also contributing to the civic failures, the bishop said, were political patronage in key municipal positions, “a lack of professionalism in the public service and the politicization of ward committees, which are supposed to serve as instruments of local accountability.”
Like many other municipalities in South Africa, Johannesburg, the nation’s economic hub, has been unable to resolve massive debts to the national electricity supplier, Eskom. In the Northern Cape Province, Eskom suspended electric supply to the Kai !Garib local government. Its debt had exceeded one billion rand (about $60 million) by March 2026, despite the community’s enrollment in a debt-relief program. Local mismanagement causes whole cities to suffer, but the impact has been especially hard on the poor.
This year’s local government election carries added weight as the first local test of the political landscape shaped by the 2024 national election and the Government of National Unity that followed. No party had secured an outright majority in the national parliament—the first time the A.N.C. was forced into a coalition government since it originally came to power in 1994.
Many South African political analysts wonder if more local municipalities will follow the same path.
Coalition government at the local level can be a major challenge. Local government coalitions are often unstable, plagued by power struggles, frequent motions of no confidence, revolving mayors and delayed budgets, leaving administrations unable to plan and deliver services.
So-called cadre deployment, what in the United States would be called political patronage, is another major problem in South Africa at both national and local levels. Appointments to local municipal positions are driven by party loyalty rather than competence or professional skills. This results in poor managers being placed in crucial civic positions, hollowing out the technical knowledge and capabilities needed to run extensive water systems and power grids.
Corruption in tenders, or contacts to private providers for city services, has also drained resources in many communities. Local officials often accept tenders for municipal services and procurement that are grossly inflated. Some of these contracts are awarded to family members, costing municipalities far more than they should and, in the end, denying locals access to basic services.
As in many other nations, migration is being used in local elections as a rhetorical tool. Blaming foreign nationals for local government failures has become a central driver of political and social tension. In the run-up to local government elections, this trend has intensified as political parties increasingly link the collapse of basic services to undocumented migration.
The results of such dangerous rhetoric speak for themselves. A man, at press time only identified as a “foreign national,” was beaten to death by a mob a week ago on the streets of Durban, one of the nation’s major cities.
“We must also be honest about our own role as citizens,” the bishops wrote, challenging voters to take responsibility for their part in the nation’s civic crises. “We contribute to the problem when we fail to play our part. This can be seen in the non-payment of municipal services, culture of bribing the staff at municipal offices, illegal electricity connections, unlawful occupation of land, vandalism of infrastructure, illegal dumping of waste, and the rise of violent crime.”
The bishops went on to say that “the common good calls us to think beyond ourselves and to act in ways that benefit everyone.”
Many South Africans, especially its young people, feel abandoned by the political establishment and believe they lack agency over their own futures. Many no longer see the value of voting. Even though the 2026 vote will give South Africans the chance to put new people in power, many are expected to continue to support the A.N.C. or “protest” by not voting at all.
The bishops are aware of the collapse of civic optimism and hope. In their pastoral letter, they appealed, particularly to the nation’s young people, “to use the upcoming elections as an opportunity to renew our commitment to the common good.”
“Voting is an important part of this. That is why we urge everyone to go out and vote. Nobody should remain at home,” they said.
The local elections will not, by themselves, repair broken pipes or balance municipal budgets. South Africa’s bishops emphasize that voting alone is not enough.
“Holding those in power to account is important. Real change requires deeper commitment,” they wrote. “Casting our vote must go hand in hand with our willingness to work for the common good—both within political parties and in our everyday lives as citizens.”
Who South Africans vote for in next month’s election will determine the future of South Africa’s towns and cities. It could be democratic South Africa’s last chance.
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