There was political posturing earlier1, but the build-up to the 2026 municipal elections started in full glory in an exchange between President Ramaphosa and Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis. With the 2026 municipal elections due, this debate could affect how voters judge the claims and promises of parties in the forthcoming elections.
In September, the president told ANC members that it is “painful” when the auditor-general finds that municipalities that do best are not ANC-controlled but governed by the DA. One month later, this week, he told Parliament that Cape Town’s municipality “has not improved the quality of service delivery, and actually performs worse than all other municipalities in this regard”. Cape Town’s Democratic Alliance (DA) mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, responded that the president is trying to save face after endorsing Cape Town’s clean audit reports. Thus, campaigning for the municipal elections is now firmly under way!
The Cape Town mayor’s perspective
Cape Town’s case in this dialogue revolves around the municipality’s fiscal and governance strengths. Its strong credit rating by the international firm Moody’s is hailed by the DA as proof of sound financial management and governance, investor confidence, cheaper cost of borrowing, and ability to fund infrastructure and services. Its clean audits and governance are often ranked top in such assessments among the eight metro municipalities. The Good Governance Africa Governance Performance Index (GPI) of 2024 ranked Cape Town first among the South African metros for services and economic development.
While critics question its pro‐poor focus, Cape Town claims that about 75% of its three‐year infrastructure budget is allocated to lower‐income households, exceeding the capital budget of any other metro by some distance. It also leads other metros in providing access to piped water, flush toilets, electricity and solid waste collection. The 2022 census shows high levels of service access in formal areas; and the city claims almost universal electricity in areas served by the metro, weekly refuse removal in formal areas, and nearly full door‐to‐door service in informal settlements. It says that billions of rand are planned for the next three years in bulk infrastructure, housing, water, sanitation, roads and power.
President Ramaphosa’s response
The president has publicly challenged Cape Town’s claims. He cited Census 2022 data to show that between 2011 and 2022, the city performed worse than the average of all metros on expanding service access (refuse removal, piped water, flush toilets, electricity) in poor areas and informal settlements. He also says that per capita service delivery spending is significantly lower in poor parts (townships, informal settlements) than in more affluent suburbs, and that spatial inequality still runs deep. He asserts that financial governance is insufficient and does not narrow the gaps in the quality and reach of basic services.
Why the municipal electoral context matters
The controversy between these two prominent figures could well be telling beyond Cape Town. Local government elections offer voters the opportunity to express their frustrations with everyday failures in practical issues like refuse disposal and storage, water, safety, electricity and governance. The performance (or lack thereof) feeds into party reputations and appeal, but local elections allow voters space to express their views, anger and immediate needs in living and work environments. In South Africa, there have been critiques that, despite official protection, voters in poorer areas have often not been well briefed about issues, candidates and choices. The question is whether voters really will judge incumbents on visible, tangible delivery rather than rhetoric.
Voter expectations will likely focus on equity and the quality of service delivery, as they consider whether they have reliable access to clean water, electricity, refuse removal and safe roads and transportation. Less overtly, but critical for the consolidation of any democratic aspirations one might have, financial transparency, credible budgeting and clean governance will be important. But it is not enough to have clean audits while communities still live with unreliable communal taps, inadequate toilets, inconsistent waste removal, etc.
The Ramaphosa-Hill-Lewis debate is more than a political spat. It reflects conflicting but intertwined metrics of what defines “good governance”. Cape Town has achieved much, particularly in governance and fiscal discipline, and despite the prevailing inequality, it has improved infrastructure for low‑income households. But Ramaphosa's critique highlights that even in a “top-performing” metro, vast inequalities endure.
Former Cape Town mayor and now the DA’s Johannesburg mayoral candidate, Helen Zille – and the party – are promising to bring Cape Town’s model to Johannesburg. This will demand of the ANC and other parties to respond with their own credible programmes, not just on service delivery promises, but also in inequalities in spatial planning, funding and capacity. Zille is already on the campaign trail informally, and is on a mission to mobilise higher per capita capital expenditure in Johannesburg, where such investment has been far below National Treasury benchmarks.
These issues are not unique to Johannesburg, Cape Town and the other big cities (metros), but are very relevant in all municipalities. If the trends in the 2024 general election are anything to go by, eThekwini (Durban) and other locations in KwaZulu-Natal could show major political shifts, as the province is the heartland of the uMkhonto weSizwe party, which won 45% of the votes in the province in the 2024 provincial elections, missing out from ruling there only due to a coalition of the IFP, the ANC, the DA and the small National Freedom Party (NFP), which ended up with a small majority in the provincial assembly. This is a rather fragile majority, which uMkhonto weSizwe would think it could challenge successfully here and replicate elsewhere, especially in KwaZulu-Natal municipalities.
Another party to watch might be the former DA mayor of Johannesburg Herman Mashaba’s ActionSA, which has been competitive in a few municipal by-elections. They had a win in September at Ramotshere Moiloa in North West, and previously had a two-thirds majority in the 2024 provincial elections. The ActionSA municipal victory has therefore left the party optimistic about its prospects in the 2026 local government elections. ActionSA shows potential particularly in urban areas (metros), and in by‐elections it has been able to make gains in certain wards, often at the expense of the ANC, on service delivery. Its growth is less predictable, and its challenge will be consistency and translating by‐election wins into stable municipal council presence.
The EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) has a national presence, and polls suggest that it still has core support in certain provinces, mainly Gauteng, Northern Province and Mpumalanga, where its support has been around 10 to 15%. Its potential rests in capitalising on voter dissatisfaction with the larger parties (especially the ANC and DA) over service delivery, corruption and unemployment. However, its growth seems to have plateaued or even receded in some places, especially where new parties are making inroads.
The IFP (Inkatha Freedom Party) is very much a regional power in KwaZulu‑Natal and, to a lesser extent, in neighbouring provinces with significant Zulu‐speaking populations. It is less likely to be a major player nationally in cities far from its base, but it can still pick up wards or municipalities in its KZN strongholds and act as a coalition partner where no single party has a majority.
As we approach the 2026 municipal elections, voters should – one would want to say “will” – be asking: which parties and candidates can 1) deliver reliable infrastructure, 2) ensure governance that is not only clean but also equitable, and c) address the backlog in poorer and peripheral areas? One would expect in the municipal elections that service delivery will be important, and even more so in today’s South Africa where high aspirations clearly have not been met. The 2026 elections will bring the opportunity for voters and local leaders to correct this oversight.
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1 Chris Heymans is an independent analyst and advisor, specialising in the political economy of cities, urban development and water and sanitation.
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