Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za

03 November 2026

4-minute read

In a recent op-ed piece, political analyst and researcher Ebrahim Fakir referred to the 2026 local government elections this year as the strangest since the first democratic elections in 1994.

Speaking to Ml Junaid Kharsany on Sabahul Muslim this morning, Fakir says that it is an election that is shaping up to be one of stabilisation, recovery and rehabilitation; in response to “a crisis of representation and restrictiveness.”

Since its inception in 2016, the reality of coalitions seems to be a forgone conclusion. Two of the biggest metros, Johannesburg and Tshwane, are expected to end up as hung councils, making coalition agreements a major factor in the governance of the country. Fakir states that while the polls are useful indicators, they can be inaccurate, and the aggregate percentage does not necessarily indicate a majority.

Every metro has 2 ballot papers – one for the ward councillor; whether they belong to a political party or are running as an independent candidate. The other is a proportional representation ballot, where voters can only vote for a party. All votes will be taken and added to the tally that each party gets from the PR ballot so that they can be proportionally distributed. The number of PR seats each party gets per ward will depend on the margin the party wins in the ward.

According to Fakir, 2 credible opinion surveys already show that a military government or an autocratic ruler would be preferred, as long as they provide jobs, security and housing. People do not hate the system of democracy where power is contested, rather, they dislike a democratic government where power is administered. People want electorates who are representative of and responsive to their wants and needs, and who can be held accountable.

South Africa does not have a “recall clause” for errant councillors once they have been instated. Only political parties or “an act of God” like death can remove an unwanted councillor, Fakir points out, and communities do not have the power to recall a councillor. The elections are the only platform for communities to voice their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their councillor. Protests are “an informal mechanism” used by communities to display their dissatisfaction with their councillor. Protests are also be caused when there is an “internal party push” where a particular party may want to remove council.

Fakir describes the LGE’s as “the strangest election since 1994” for 3 reasons: Firstly, because of the level of distrust in the system and in the politicians that cause citizens not to come out and vote – the majority of people believe that local government leaders do not listen to them. Secondly, this election is not based on ideology and values, but on fixing the current situation.” People are disillusioned because all responsibility for administering basic services has been abdicated by government. And thirdly, the infrastructure that used to service the city has been abandoned. The question that looms large for this election is how to “recover and stabilise a situation” to rebuild from the ground.”

Another aspect is the rise of parties based on ethno-politics, like the MK Party. Fakir says that the creation of the Bantustans under apartheid, the separation not just of races, but of ethnic groups and language groups led to “separate development.” This agenda is once again being pushed in areas like KZN to fragment societies to separate from other people so that people develop “insular ideas of who they are in a very narrow sense,” and so that those in power can retain their dominance. “The idea of separation and inequality is a very bad one, it has a long history in this country – we should actually resist it with all the might that we have,” Fakir concludes emphatically.

Listen to teh full interview with Ml Junaid Kharsany and Ebrahim Fakir here.