FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

05 October 2026

What are parties promising, and does it match what your community actually needs? 

My Vote Counts releases Municipal People’s Analysis of Manifestos ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections 

With South Africans heading to the polls on 4 November 2026, My Vote Counts (MVC) has released its Municipal People’s Analysis of Manifestos (M-PAM), a citizen-centred tool designed to help voters assess political promises against the realities of local government. Building on MVC’s 2024 People’s Analysis of Manifestos, M-PAM shifts the focus from what political parties say they will do to a more fundamental question:

Do their promises respond to what communities actually need, and what local government is responsible for delivering? 

M-PAM begins by unpacking the purpose and responsibilities of local government and the legislative and policy standards against which municipalities should be measured. It then identifies recurring community demands around water, sanitation and electricity; waste removal and roads; housing and land; community safety; local economic opportunities and youth employment; health and social services; and governance, accountability and municipal financial management.

The analysis then places these community demands alongside the 2026 election promises of the African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), with ActionSA’s 2024 national manifesto supplemented by priorities it has publicly expressed because the party had not released a current election manifesto at the time of the analysis. These parties were selected because they have governed metropolitan municipalities either directly or through coalitions.

Thinam Mali, Campaigns Intern: Democracy from Below, says M-PAM is intended to help citizens turn their everyday experiences into a basis for assessing political promises.

“Too often, election debates begin with what political parties are promising, rather than with what people are actually experiencing in their communities. M-PAM starts from the other direction. It asks citizens to look at the services they receive, the challenges they face and the responsibilities of local government, and then use that knowledge to interrogate the promises being made to them.” 

M-PAM does not tell citizens which party to vote for. Instead, it asks voters to use their own experiences of service delivery and governance as evidence when assessing political promises. It encourages citizens to ask whether their municipality is meeting the standards it is already legally and constitutionally expected to meet, and whether the parties seeking their votes have demonstrated that they can respond to those realities.

Keamogetswe Seipato, Project Lead: Democracy from Below, says the analysis is ultimately about strengthening citizens’ political agency beyond the ballot box.

“The local government election is not simply about choosing a political party. It is about deciding who will have the responsibility and power to shape the conditions in which people live every day. Citizens therefore need more than promises, they need the information and tools to question those promises, assess performance and hold elected representatives accountable.” 

The report also highlights a critical accountability challenge facing voters in the 2026 election: coalition governance. South Africa has seen the number of hung councils increase from 29 after the first local government elections to 66 in 2021. M-PAM considers what this changing political landscape means for service delivery and accountability, particularly when multiple parties share power in a municipality.

For MVC, this makes it increasingly important that citizens are able to identify not only what parties promise, but also who is responsible for delivering on those promises and how citizens can hold them accountable when they fail to do so.

M-PAM ultimately argues that voting is only one part of democratic accountability. Citizens can continue to participate in Integrated Development Plan (IDP) processes, monitor municipal budgets, engage ward committees and hold councillors accountable throughout their terms. 

M-PAM’s message is simple: our votes are not just crosses on paper. They are tools for holding councillors and political parties accountable. Democracy does not stop at voting. 

ENDS