EDITORIAL | Let your X change lived experiences of political and economic instability

While the date for the country’s next important political event is yet to be announced, the election chess board — the local government edition — is drawing near and parties have positioned their pieces to move with the strategic objective of capturing votes.

On Monday President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his weekly letter to the nation, said with elections looming, it is an opportunity for stakeholders to not campaign for the ballot, but to renew the local government promise to citizens.

“When local government fails, the impact is felt by communities, businesses and households. When local government works well, villages, towns and cities become engines of opportunity and growth,” he said.

The ship has sailed on service delivery, and it is an impossible task for political parties to drastically change people’s experiences of political and economic instability.

What his message does proffer, however, is the starting point for local government politicians thrust into power by the mighty X to remember their promises to the electorate. And for the electorate to remember their power in holding politicians accountable for their actions in office.

Service delivery protests in response to corruption, maladministration, financial challenges and slow rollout of services by authorities in local municipalities have been a daily record of disappointment and frustration.

On Tuesday, the Electoral Commission (IEC) said preparations for the crucial opportunity for South Africans to flex their electoral muscle should not be taken lightly or ignored.

The IEC’s hefty funding — about R2bn — provides for preparatory work in advance of the local polls, which, according to chairman Sy Mamabolo, are due to take place between November 2026 and January 2027 in terms of the electoral timetable.

A date has to be found that will not affect end-of-year exams, the festive season, back-to-school and university.

The election date will be proclaimed by the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs once the voter registration process had been completed, triggering the election timetable that includes the certification, publication and inspection of the voters’ roll, the lodging of objections and the submission of candidate nominations.

The IEC has said using the latest possible election date of January 30 2027, the cut-off date for calling by-elections would be April 30.

Voter apathy is a huge concern in municipal elections. Slightly more than 12-million of the 26-million registered voters made their mark in the 2021 local government elections, setting a record low 45.86% turnout.

Many South Africans decide to either not register to vote or register but not turn up on voting day.

The dismal turnout at the polls indicates a worrying lack of public confidence in the election outcome and undermines political stability. Hence the IEC’s campaign to push South Africans to the polls by registering them to vote where they live.

It is time for voters to be discerning. They need to apply their minds and draw on their experiences of life in their street, suburb, province and country before they mark their X against a candidate’s name, or they risk another five years of political and economic turmoil.

A special voter registration weekend will take place on June 20–21, which aims to make registration more accessible and boost participation.

The IEC says online registration continues to grow, with more than 132,000 new voters signing up digitally since November. Combined with in-person registrations, more than 260,000 new voters have joined the roll.

The next few months could spell trouble for the major political parties whose failures have angered their supporters and pose a threat to the ANC-led government of national unity

This behoves the frustrated masses to first register and then make informed choices when they decide on candidates to serve as councillors and mayors, when they empower politicians with a mandate to make important decisions on their behalf instead of those who will feed them empty promises.

It is time for voters to be discerning. They need to apply their minds and draw on their experiences of life in their street, suburb, province and country before they mark their X against a candidate’s name, or they risk another five years of political and economic turmoil.