As South Africa heads towards the Local Government Elections on 4 November, voters can expect to hear the same familiar promises from every political party and every candidate. Better roads. More jobs. Cleaner communities. Reliable water. Working streetlights. Safer neighbourhoods. An end to corruption.
Election season always brings big promises. But voters must not only listen to what politicians say now. They must look carefully at what happened after the last election.
In eThekwini, many residents voted for ward councillors they believed would fight for their communities. Some voted for independent candidates and smaller parties because they were tired of the big political machines. They believed they were voting for change.
But what happened after the election is something voters must never forget.
Several smaller parties and independent councillors who won single seats ended up playing kingmaker in council. Their votes helped keep the ANC in control of eThekwini Municipality. So while a resident may have had a DA councillor, or an independent councillor, or a councillor from another party in their ward, the municipality itself remained under ANC control.
That is the part many voters do not fully understand.
In local government elections, voters are not only choosing a ward councillor. They are also helping decide which party will control the municipal council.
In a metro such as eThekwini, residents vote for a ward councillor to represent their specific area, and they also vote for a party through the proportional representation system. The final council is made up of ward councillors and proportional representation councillors.
Once the election results are in, all councillors sit in council. It is this council that elects the city’s political leadership, including the mayor, speaker and other key office-bearers. The party, or coalition of parties, with enough councillors to command a majority is the one that effectively controls the municipality.
This is why voters must understand that having a good ward councillor does not automatically mean the municipality will be well run. A ward councillor can raise complaints, fight for residents and put pressure on officials, but the broader decisions around budgets, service delivery priorities, political appointments and governance are taken by the council leadership.
If no party wins an outright majority, smaller parties and independent councillors can become kingmakers. Their votes can decide who becomes mayor and which party gets to run the municipality. That is what voters must think carefully about before casting a protest vote or supporting a candidate without understanding who they may align with after the election.
Your ward councillor is important, but your ward councillor does not control the municipality. Real power sits with the council majority that elects the mayor, controls key decisions and determines the political direction of the city.
A resident may vote for a councillor they trust in their ward, but if the overall balance of power in council allows the same failing leadership to remain in charge, then service delivery problems are unlikely to change. Roads, water, sanitation, electricity, refuse removal and infrastructure depend on a functioning municipality — not only on one councillor.
That is why voting is not just about choosing a familiar face in your ward. It is about deciding who gets power over the entire municipality.
Residents cannot complain about water outages, sewage spills, potholes, refuse collection failures, crime, collapsing infrastructure and corruption, and then use their vote in a way that keeps the same failed system in place. We cannot keep voting emotionally, casually or blindly, and then act surprised when nothing changes.
The reality is simple: if a municipality is badly run, service delivery will suffer across the board. It does not matter how many complaints are logged. It does not matter how many councillors shout in council meetings. It does not matter how many promises are made before an election. If the leadership at the top is weak, corrupt or incompetent, residents will continue to pay the price.
That price is paid in leaking pipes, dark streets, broken roads, dirty communities, unsafe public spaces and businesses that struggle to survive. It is paid by pensioners who sit without water. It is paid by families who drive through sewage. It is paid by ratepayers who keep funding a system that does not serve them.
This election, voters must ask harder questions.
Do not only ask who is standing in your ward. Ask which party they will support when council votes for leadership. Ask whether your vote will truly remove failed leadership, or whether it will quietly help keep it in power. Ask whether a small party or independent candidate has a realistic plan to govern, or whether they will simply become another bargaining chip after the election.
There is nothing wrong with independent candidates or smaller parties in principle. Some may be sincere and hardworking. But voters must understand the consequences of a fragmented vote. When no party wins a clear majority, smaller players can decide who governs. That power is often used behind closed doors, after voters have already cast their ballots.
By then, it is too late.
If residents want real change in eThekwini, they must vote in a way that makes real change possible. That means voting not only for good ward representation, but also for a party with the numbers, structure and capacity to take control of the municipality and govern properly.
A protest vote may feel good on election day, but it can have serious consequences for five years. A vote for a small party or independent candidate may sound like a rejection of the old system, but if that vote is later used to support the same failed leadership, then residents have achieved nothing.
South Africans must take their vote seriously. Local government is the sphere of government closest to our daily lives. It is responsible for the basic services that affect us every day — water, sanitation, roads, refuse removal, electricity distribution, local economic development and municipal planning.
When local government fails, communities collapse.
This election is not about slogans. It is not about posters. It is not about who makes the loudest promises or who arrives at your door with the biggest smile. It is about power, accountability and service delivery.
Voters must remember what happened after the last election. They must remember who helped keep failed leadership in place. They must remember the condition of their roads, taps, lights, parks and public spaces. They must remember every excuse they were given while services continued to deteriorate.
Then they must vote accordingly.
If we want different results, we cannot keep making the same political mistakes. We need voters to show up in large numbers, understand how municipalities are run, and vote for a clear majority that can remove corrupt and ineffective leadership.
South Africa does not need more empty promises. Our communities need competent government, clean administration, honest leadership and councillors who are part of a municipality that can actually deliver.
On 4 November, residents must not just vote. They must vote with memory, with understanding and with purpose.
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