OPINION: Roads, potholes and politics: Can South Africa’s local elections fix failing service delivery?

My recent drive beyond the borders of Gauteng province was marked by nothing but deeper disillusionment with the state of things in South Africa.

For the first time in a long time, I realised just how bad things really are for us. The deteriorating state of our roads signalled a microcosm of the disaster the country finds itself in.

Every now and then, I had to grip my steering wheel tightly and remain alert, as my fellow travellers and I were constantly zig-zagging to avoid the potholes and trenches riddling our roads, lest we forget the potential dangers to us.

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Needless to say, the trip that was supposed to take merely two to three hours ended up becoming an endless and exhausting journey.

I am sure I am not alone in this frustration. Many South Africans are bearing the brunt every day as the country’s infrastructure continues to fall apart before our very eyes.

Even if I was momentarily frustrated and somewhat angry, it is clear that many others are experiencing far worse than my mere inconvenience.

But perhaps it is not too late yet. Maybe (just maybe) 2026 can bring an opportunity for another fighting chance through the upcoming local elections, where you and I can carefully rethink our local governance, which ultimately determines service delivery and who should be in charge of it all.

This voting season will, unfortunately, be overshadowed by politicians and ward councillors alike coming out of the woodwork, some of whom have not been seen since the last local elections in 2021, to campaign for their respective parties, often with promises aimed at appeasing voters.

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Much to our amusement, we have already seen the blame game begin in some municipalities, with finger-pointing over service delivery failures, particularly in metros, while others are criticised for symbolic gestures that do little to address deeper structural issues.

Some have even become more popular on the socials as they take a dive into some of the issues we face (pun intended).

But at the centre of it all lies a much bigger problem, as we are going into these elections with some metros in tatters, where corruption allegations and governance failures appear to sit at the centre of dysfunction.

In several cases, officials are under suspension or investigation, raising serious questions about accountability and whether municipal leadership is truly focused on service delivery or mired in internal crises.

What is also at the centre of concern is the overall integrity of municipal administration and whether these structures are capable of ensuring that basic services actually reach residents’ doorsteps.

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What is even more telling about the situation we are facing is that there are communities that have begun to stand up for themselves, taking on tasks that lie at the heart of what any municipality or metro should be doing, perhaps because they have lost hope in the system.

Some have even organised themselves in such a way that they are able to provide for their own residents, with the idea of reducing dependence on traditional governance structures.

Can we honestly blame them? Can we blame anyone when we see infrastructure falling apart, and when revelations continue to expose deep-rooted issues within the very foundations of local governance? What is worse is that coalition governments have, in some cases, brought even more division into administrations, with parties often in disagreement and at an impasse, leaving service delivery stalled while they scramble over key portfolios in order to benefit in the end.

Do we trust a seemingly ineffective system that is marred by corruption, or do we begin to create our own systems within communities—even if such ideals fall outside the formal ambit of the law?

What does it say when young people, who are supposed to be tomorrow’s leaders, have lost faith in the system?
Is the system so compromised that it has become one where every political opportunity is seen as lucrative, or simply the quickest way to get rich through kickbacks from tenders?

This is not only about potholes, but about the broader state of affairs that shows how local governance is failing.

This November, you and I should use our vote to turn things around and change the status quo, rather than accept deteriorating infrastructure while voters hold all the power through the ballot box.