Elections 2026
How is your municipality doing?
We are doing in depth reports on municipalities across the country ahead of the 2026 local elections.
Time to pay up: a look at municipal debt
More than R161-billion owed for electricity, water and taxes
Chart by The Outlier. Text by GroundUp Staff.
Charts | 17 July 2026
Pietermaritzburg’s R1-billion transport flop
No buses operate on Msunduzi Municipality’s failed public transport system
News | 13 July 2026
Taps dry as municipality drowns in R1-billion debt
Residents of the Kai !Garib Local Municipality in the Northern Cape face collapsing services, frequent water interruptions, and potholed roads
By Liezl Human
Feature | 13 July 2026
Public Protector tells City of Cape Town to fix services at Langa Flats and Khayelitsha
Constitutional obligations were not met, investigation finds
News | 7 July 2026
Voter registration at 64%, four months before elections
Proportion of eligible voters who are registered has not changed since 2021
Chart by The Outlier. Text by GroundUp Staff.
Charts | 26 June 2026
Joburg watches R10-billion flow down the drain
Auditor-General publishes scathing report on City’s water management
By Seth Thorne
Brief | 24 June 2026
Water is so close, yet so far for this Joburg neighbourhood
Thembelihle residents struggle daily to get water, but they watch dozens of water tankers fill up and then drive past
Text by Seth Thorne. Photos by Ihsaan Haffejee.
News | 23 June 2026
In photos: Registration for elections 2026 gets off to a slow start
But you can also register online
Photo Essay | 21 June 2026
Msunduzi cannot say how much it spent on this vandalised community centre
The municipality failed to complete the project and left it to ruin
News | 17 June 2026