As the country approaches key local government elections in November, service delivery failures across major municipalities, including Johannesburg’s ongoing water crisis, are emerging as a defining political issue.
Johannesburg’s water challenges, alongside similar issues in other metros, have become a key example of the strain facing municipalities as election season approaches.
Dr Uduak Johnson, Academic Programme Leader at the MANCOSA School of Public Administration, says political parties should prioritise practical, achievable interventions ahead of the vote.
Stats SA’s 2025 General Household Survey shows access to improved sanitation increased from 61.7% in 2002 to 84.0% in 2025, while household connection to mains electricity rose from 76.7% to 90.6% over the same period.
However, Johnson says the key issue is now reliability rather than access.
“For instance, water access remains a serious concern… Limpopo’s access to tap water declined by 10.6 percentage points over the period,” he said, adding that refuse removal remains deeply unequal between urban and rural areas.
He says the most pressured services include water reliability, sanitation, electricity distribution, roads and infrastructure maintenance, with Stats SA reporting that 56.8% of households experienced water interruptions in 2025.
Johnson argues that elections should serve as a moment of accountability.
“The 2026 elections therefore provide an opportunity for citizens to demand a different approach based on transparency, accountability and measurable delivery commitments,” he said.
Dr Thandile Ncwana, also from the MANCOSA School of Public Administration, says the service delivery crisis reflects deeper governance and capacity failures rather than infrastructure shortages alone.
“The roots are not only technical but governance-related,” she said.
Ncwana points to weak audit outcomes, financial mismanagement, procurement failures, ageing infrastructure and limited municipal capacity as key drivers of poor performance in local government.
She says these challenges show that improving service delivery requires more than funding increases.
“Long-term reform must focus on professionalising local government. Municipalities need merit-based appointments, stable senior management, infrastructure asset-management plans, ring-fenced maintenance budgets, credible indigent registers, transparent procurement systems, improved revenue collection, and stronger intergovernmental planning,” she said.
Public trust in local government remains low.
Afrobarometer data shows that only 17% of South Africans believe councillors regularly listen to communities, reflecting growing dissatisfaction with local representation.
Beyond service delivery, concerns are also emerging around declining voter participation ahead of the elections.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has flagged low voter engagement among first-time and young voters during recent registration efforts.
IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said the commission was fully prepared for the voter registration weekend held on 20 and 21 June, as part of preparations for the upcoming elections.
South Africa’s voter turnout has been falling for more than two decades, despite an electoral system designed to broaden participation.
According to Dr Naledi Modise, a Political Science and International Relations lecturer at North-West University, the decline is driven not only by voter attitudes but also by how electoral institutions function.
“Our understanding of voter turnout cannot be limited to socio-economic factors alone,” she said. “Electoral institutions shape how citizens experience democracy and whether they believe participation can influence political outcomes.”
Her research shows that while proportional representation was designed to encourage participation, long-standing one-party dominance has weakened accountability and contributed to voter disengagement.
Modise also highlights declining voter efficacy, the belief that voting can influence change, as a key factor behind falling turnout.
“When voters question whether their participation matters, turnout is likely to decline regardless of the opportunities available within the electoral system,” she said.
Saturday Star