Suliman Rajah writes:

On 4 November 2026, South Africans will go to the polls to elect the people who will govern their municipalities. For millions of working-class people, the election takes place against a background of unemployment, poverty, inadequate housing, unreliable water and electricity, failing infrastructure and the growing distance between elected representatives and the communities they are supposed to serve.

For many, the question is no longer whether the system is working. Their daily experiences have already answered that question. The more difficult question is whether voting can make a difference.

There are understandable reasons for disillusionment. Communities have listened to promises before. They have watched political representatives campaign among them, only to become increasingly inaccessible after election day. They have witnessed public resources squandered, municipal services deteriorate and basic human needs become opportunities for private profit.

But disillusionment must not become surrender.

When working-class people withdraw from the political process, the conditions that produced their discontent do not disappear. They leave the decisions in the hands of those who continue to participate and those who already exercise economic and political power.

Abstention may express anger, but it does not automatically translate that anger into change. Nor does it compel those in power to reconsider their conduct. A low turnout can leave communities with the same political arrangements they rejected in their everyday conversations.

This is why voting matters.

Local government is not some distant institution concerned only with administrative procedures. It determines decisions that affect the daily lives of ordinary people: land use, housing, water, sanitation, electricity, roads, waste removal and local economic development. These decisions shape whether communities live with dignity or continue to endure conditions that no society claiming to be democratic should accept.

The municipal council is therefore a terrain of struggle. It is a place where competing interests meet, where public resources are allocated and where decisions can either advance the interests of communities or reinforce existing inequalities.

We must also understand that the problems facing municipalities did not emerge overnight. They have a history.

The hollowing out of public capacity, the outsourcing of essential services, the reliance on private contractors and the treatment of public resources as opportunities for accumulation have contributed to the crisis in local government. Corruption and administrative failure compound these problems, but the discussion cannot end with blaming individual officials. We must also question the economic and political arrangements that repeatedly produce the same outcomes.

A change of councillors, by itself, will not dismantle these arrangements. But neither should we dismiss the importance of changing who occupies the council chambers, whose interests they represent and to whom they are accountable.

The ballot is not the whole struggle. It is one instrument available to us in a much wider struggle for democratic and economic power.

This election also presents an opportunity to broaden political representation. Communities are not confined to choosing between the familiar political formations. Independent candidates, civic movements and smaller political organisations are also part of the electoral field. Their presence creates the possibility of bringing different experiences, demands and forms of accountability into municipal councils.

The important question is not simply which party has the largest campaign budget, the most prominent personalities or the greatest access to the media. It is whether those seeking our votes understand the conditions under which ordinary people live, whether they are prepared to account to the communities that elect them, and whether they will defend the public interest when powerful interests demand otherwise.

Voters should examine candidates critically. What have they done? What do they stand for?

Do they listen to communities outside election season? Will they challenge decisions that undermine the public interest? Are they prepared to work with organised residents rather than treat communities as passive recipients of political promises?

Do not surrender your judgement to political slogans. Do not allow party loyalty, fear, ethnic divisions, religious differences or personal loyalties to substitute for an examination of the issues that determine your material conditions.

And do not allow anyone to convince you that your vote is insignificant simply because you are poor, unemployed, living in an informal settlement or struggling to survive.

The value of democratic participation cannot be measured only by whether one candidate wins or loses. It also lies in asserting the right of ordinary people to determine who represents them, to demand answers from those who govern and to organise collectively between elections.

On election day, make sure that you are properly informed about the voting process. Familiarise yourself with the ballot papers, identify the candidates and parties you intend to support, and follow the instructions at your voting station. Make your mark carefully and ensure that you cast your vote in accordance with the prescribed procedure.

Most importantly, vote with your conscience and your understanding of the society in which you live.

Vote with the knowledge that access to clean water is not a favour. Decent housing is not a privilege reserved for those who can afford it. Electricity, sanitation, healthcare, education and a life of dignity are not gifts bestowed by politicians. They are fundamental public responsibilities and legitimate demands of a people who have struggled for generations to secure their freedom.

But let us be clear: our responsibility does not end when the ballot box closes.

The day after the election, communities must continue to organise. Residents must attend public meetings, scrutinise budgets, demand transparency, challenge wasteful expenditure and insist that councillors account for their decisions. Where representatives fail their communities, those communities must retain the collective power to hold them accountable.

Democracy cannot be reduced to a recurring exercise in which people are invited to choose their rulers and then expected to remain silent. It must become a continuing process through which ordinary people exercise meaningful influence over the decisions that affect their lives.

On 4 November, let us reject political apathy without abandoning political criticism. Let us participate without surrendering our independence of thought. Let us recognise the limitations of electoral politics without allowing those limitations to become an excuse for political withdrawal.

Your vote is your voice. Use it. And after you have voted, organise to ensure that your voice is heard.

The future of our communities cannot be left entirely to those who seek political office. It must be shaped by the people who live, work and struggle in them.

No promises without accountability. No representation without the people. No democracy without meaningful participation.