As 2026 begins, South Africa awaits the proclamation of the 2026 local government elections. Yet despite all the attention on the upcoming polls, voter turnout in by-elections keeps dropping, a sign of a deepening citizen trust deficit.
This election cycle raises pressing questions: what happens when the courts become leveraged instruments to translate justiciable rights into lived realities? And under what conditions might civil society activism be revived, reminiscent of the pre‑1994 era, to act as a counterweight to political parties, particularly at the local government level?
As auditor‑general Tsakani Maluleke’s 2024 report noted, municipalities have been marked by sluggish action that not only produced poor audit outcomes but also had a “negative impact on the lived realities of South Africans”.
The five national rounds of local government elections in 2000-21 saw a growing number of political parties. Yet voter turnout has continued to decline. The rise in party competition has not translated to greater citizen participation in the electoral process.
Communities continue to rely on water tankers instead of functioning infrastructure. The Coalitions Barometer 2021-23, the Mapungubwe Institute’s (Mistra’s) analysis of coalition politics, underscores how local government fractured.
Epitomised by unstable, politically volatile coalition governments, Mistra’s research reveals that no‑confidence motions, council disruptions, leadership churn, legal battles and persistent provincial interference have weakened local governance.
These dynamics point to inevitable outcomes. Governance is likely to remain constrained by entrenched interests and prolonged stalemates. The test is whether parties will be responsive to citizens’ voices.
The elections will be shaped by three converging trends, one as underscored by Mistra’s analysis and the Coalitions Barometer:
- The persistence of hung councils, fragile coalitions and the fixation of political parties on power over service delivery.
- The steady hollowing out of voter participation.
- Governance increasingly associated with turbulence, opportunism and obstructionist politics, used as instruments for municipal dominance.
This signals that without active citizen participation fragmentation deepens and governance weakens. The future warns through a cracked megaphone of a democracy in which absent citizens, politics that has dissolved into endless party monologues, and manufactured party fragmentation, imperil governance.
The South African Human Rights Commission’s report on the July 2021 unrest warned how similar alienation fuelled unrest, eroded trust and normalised volatility. In local elections, civil society voices are often drowned out by party noise, leaving accountability fragile and legitimacy under strain.
Alarmingly, the report found that organised groups and individuals seized on these conditions to undermine the rule of law. In the absence of active citizen organisations and leadership rooted in constitutional values the democratic mandate of municipalities risks being hijacked by elite deals that sideline communities.
Good governance and financial discipline are often equated with examples such as Midvaal, Stellenbosch and the City of Cape Town, but this should extend beyond simplistic associations with any single political party since it overlooks the more complex interplay of oversight, administrative capacity, local partnerships and citizen vigilance.
What is often called “voter apathy” is better understood as parties’ failure to build trust and archaic methods of mobilisation of eligible voters.
The upcoming elections require political parties to heed the signs with a longer‑term orientation. Mervin Cloete, mayor of the Namakwa District, once observed that beyond elections leaders must continue working together to foster community across the district.
What is often called “voter apathy” is better understood as parties’ failure to build trust and archaic methods of mobilisation of eligible voters. Turnout reflects a mix of political conditions, historical legacies, culture and diverse social traits.
Looking on the bright side, the elections offer a chance to return to a high-water mark, in which local government again provides democratic and accountable leadership amid electoral uncertainty.
Tshwane executive mayor Hazel Nasiphi Moya, elected in October 2024, has emerged as a torchbearer of accountability and citizen voice. Her leadership is seen as embodying political sophistication and a commitment to democratic legitimacy.
Ultimately, voters shape their own destiny, since expressing democracy through electoral participation delivers not just the parties, but the leaders they choose.
• De Bruyn is a fellow of the Mapungubwe Institute in SA and the Salzburg Global Seminar in Austria.
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