WATCH | No water, no trust? Ramaphosa confronts service delivery crisis

Cyril Ramaphosa and wife

Cape Town – President Cyril Ramaphosa has acknowledged that South Africa’s worsening municipal service delivery crisis is a major concern for voters, conceding that communities are justified in demanding better services as millions cast their ballots in the 2026 local government elections.

Ramaphosa made the remarks on Wednesday after voting alongside First Lady Dr Tshepo Motsepe at Hyde Park High School in Johannesburg, where he admitted that failing municipal services had become a defining issue in the electoral contest.

“The issue of services is at the centre of this election process, and correctly. So, our people want the best services that should be delivered to them,” Ramaphosa said.

The president acknowledged that municipalities were battling water shortages, infrastructure failures and poor service delivery, adding that he was aware of the difficulties facing communities.

“I have seen the challenges that we face at local government level,” he said.

He further admitted that water shortages remained a particularly frustrating problem for residents, saying: “It is most worrying, annoying, for residents not to have water.”

Ramaphosa even joked about experiencing the same frustration, saying: “When I wake up in the morning, and I open the tap, and I want to shower so that I become more handsome, I am sad that I don’t have water.”

Corruption and municipal failures

The president’s admission comes amid growing public dissatisfaction with local government performance, with corruption, poor financial management and political instability further undermining confidence in municipalities.

In his weekly newsletter ahead of the elections, Ramaphosa acknowledged that municipal failures had weakened public trust in democratic institutions.

He warned that weaknesses in the local government system had created opportunities for corruption and patronage, including collusion between municipal officials and businesspeople over tenders.

“Sadly, what is supposed to be a democratic contest for the opportunity to serve communities has in some cases become a transactional arrangement. Some councillors who are ‘bought’ by businesspeople often put matters of procurement above the needs of our people,” he said.

International news agency Reuters reported that anger over corruption, crime, unemployment and unreliable water and electricity supplies was threatening to inflict further electoral losses on the ANC.

The party, which lost its parliamentary majority in the 2024 national elections, fell below 50% support in the 2021 local government elections for the first time since 1994.

Reuters noted that opinion polls suggested its support could fall below 40% in the latest elections, with several municipalities potentially facing coalition governments.

Johannesburg remains one of the biggest electoral battlegrounds, having experienced seven mayors since 2021 as successive coalition administrations collapsed.

Promises of better governance

Despite acknowledging the challenges, Ramaphosa expressed confidence that the elections would usher in a new chapter for local government.

“We as government are determined to rebuild our local government structure to ensure that what was promised as a better life for our people becomes a reality,” he said.

He also pointed to the Revised White Paper on Local Government, which proposes reforms to strengthen municipal accountability, improve financial management and professionalise municipal administrations.

Among the proposed measures are improved revenue collection, tighter expenditure controls and reinvestment of revenue generated from electricity and water services into critical infrastructure.

Ramaphosa said newly elected councillors would be expected to improve governance and service delivery.

“A new crop of councillors are going to come through now. We enter a new chapter of our democracy, but a new chapter of better governance, of better delivery,” he said.

The 2026 local government elections are being contested by 546 political parties and nearly 137 000 candidates, with voters determining the leadership of eight metropolitan municipalities, 44 district municipalities and 205 local municipalities.

Picture: X /@PresidencyZA

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Compiled by Betha Madhomu

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