Tessa Dooms | Local government elections a matter of life and death

Local government elections are often referred to as “basic services” elections. While this is true, housing, sanitation, water and electricity are more than basic services, they are human rights. Encapsulated in the local impact of governance on the day to day lives of people are services that uphold the rights to life and dignity. Services and rights that can be the difference between life and death. On November 4 2026, politicians will not only be asking for a mandate to govern, but they will also be asking people to trust them with power to control life saving essentials for all. The power of life and death will be in the ballot.

Growing disillusionment with democracy

As the local government election approaches, many political parties are gearing towards campaigning and attempting to engage communities. While it may seem that this engagement is happening – often there is disconnect/disjuncture between what we see on the media and what the experience is on the ground.

The Rivonia Circle has continued to do community organising with multiple communities across Johannesburg and in all these communities there is a sense of disillusionment and frustration with politics and democracy in particular. This is unsurprising and is a sentiment that is usually backed up by examples from the people about their lives – issues such as unemployment, poverty, crime, food security, corruption among others are part of the ways in which people experience democracy. These issues of course are linked to governance and the lack of government involvement and political will.

Communities cannot leave politics to politicians alone

These are the most pressing issues. What people want is to be heard by the state, to have their issues addressed and to be active participants in the solutions. Weeks ahead of an election that is a matter of life and death, communities cannot afford to leave the politics to the politicians alone. If November 4 were a deadline for a possible natural disaster, surely communities would not simply sit and wait for politicians to decide what needs to be done. That is the posture we must take towards getting ready for this election. Communities remember that democracy is not only a passive vote but an active exercise of people’s power. If nothing else, communities have the power to make their voices heard individually and collectively, making firm demands in exchange for their votes in the lead up to this election.

The reality behind the statistics

The youth unemployment rate is over 60.9% for ages 15–24 and 40.6% between the ages 25–34. “Across the country, hospitals and clinics report shortages of doctors and healthcare personnel, particularly in rural and underserved communities. Yet at the same time, qualified South African doctors remain unemployed or struggle to secure placement within the public health sector.” (Mail & Guardian,2026). These stats reflect people’s lived experience but of course do not fully capture the communities’ experiences of homelessness and hunger. When it comes to local government specifically, people are understandably concerned about service delivery. In the most recent democracy builder in Soweto, we heard more and more about how people are following up or holding the council accountable. One of the strategies used in a neighbouring community, is that the community (knowing that their ward is an ANC ward), chose someone who was part of their community and able advocate for them using ANC structures. Using political systems and democratic institutions that exist in order to create a change for their community.

Building the South Africa we want

While it is important to acknowledge and reflect on the shortcomings of our democracy, particularly its failure to serve the most vulnerable, we must also broaden the conversation to focus on the South Africa we aspire to build. Our experiences highlight the need for change, but they also create space for imagining and shaping a more inclusive future. One of the key outcomes of our engagement has been the development of community-led initiatives, where people take an active role in addressing the challenges that affect their daily lives and working together to create practical solutions.

People want safe and liveable, workable cities – the projects created have been focused on community development, food security and skills development. By the end of the workshop, people are keen on using their power to vote, but also to participate in democracy everyday – creating projects that not only mobilise but organise young people. This tells us that communities are not apathetic, as we are often described, they are in fact creating solutions that stand in the gap for government/ governance.

There is power in the collective; democracy needs more of us than less. We must continue to engage and organise. How are we going to use this collective power, particularly in this election year, to have our issues prioritised?

• Tessa Dooms is a sociologist, development practitioner and political analyst

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