South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged registered voters to participate in the country’s local government elections on Wednesday, November 4, calling for municipal leaders who can restore basic services, maintain public infrastructure and confront corruption.
In remarks ahead of the vote, Ramaphosa said South Africa needed municipalities that responded to the everyday concerns of residents rather than administrations that failed to meet their responsibilities.
He identified infrastructure maintenance, reliable basic services and the fight against corruption as central expectations for the next generation of municipal councils, making particular reference to what he described as the “corruption mafia”.
“We need municipalities that maintain infrastructure, that provide basic services, and stand firm against corruption, but more particularly against the corruption mafia,” Ramaphosa said.
He also challenged incoming councillors to listen to the communities they would represent, arguing that residents were entitled to local authorities that treated their concerns seriously and involved them in decisions affecting their lives.
“My message to incoming councillors is clear: listen to our communities and treat them as partners,” he said, adding that partnership was essential to making progress.
The president’s appeal comes as South Africa prepares to elect municipal representatives responsible for decisions that directly affect residents, including water supply, electricity distribution, sanitation, roads, refuse collection and other local services.
The November 4 elections will take place against a backdrop of persistent concerns about municipal performance, financial pressures, deteriorating infrastructure and allegations of corruption in local government.
Ramaphosa acknowledged the seriousness of these challenges in an address at the official launch of the revised White Paper on Local Government on October 22. He said too many municipalities were failing to meet public expectations, leaving communities dealing with unreliable services, neglected infrastructure and administrations that did not respond adequately to residents.
The revised policy framework proposes wide-ranging changes to how local government is structured, financed, managed and held accountable. It also seeks to address weaknesses in municipal administration, overlapping responsibilities and the politicisation of appointments.
Ramaphosa said the government intended to establish a time-bound Local Government Transition Management Body to coordinate reforms, supported by a transition plan setting out responsibilities, priorities and ways of measuring progress.
The president also warned political parties against allowing disagreements and instability within municipal councils to disrupt public services after the elections.
Parties may compete for votes, form coalitions or govern with majorities, he said, but those elected would share the responsibility of ensuring that municipalities continued to function.
“A disagreement in council must never become an excuse for an unapproved budget, an abandoned project or the collapse of an essential service,” he said in the October 22 address.
South Africa’s local government elections are scheduled for Wednesday, November 4, 2026. The day has been declared a public holiday to allow registered voters to participate.
The outcome will determine the composition of municipal councils across the country, placing responsibility on elected representatives to oversee local administrations and address the needs of the communities they serve.
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