With the 2026 Local Government Elections concluded, the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) has called for the country’s attention to move from the ballot box to the harder task of constructing stable, capable and accountable municipal councils able to deliver services to communities.
The Electoral Commission (IEC) announced the final results on Sunday evening, 8 November, after the elections were held on Wednesday, 4 November. Political parties now face a prescribed 14-day period within which to constitute municipal councils. It is in this window that SALGA has directed its message, particularly to parties negotiating in hung councils, where no single party has won an outright majority.
For the association, the composition of these councils is a governance question rather than a purely political one. “Coalition arrangements must promote stability, accountability, effective oversight and continuity in service delivery, rather than lead to political instability that weakens municipal performance,” SALGA said. The statement frames coalition-building as a matter of institutional performance, with the interests of communities to be prioritised over partisan bargaining.
The association commended the IEC for the successful administration of the elections and thanked the millions of South Africans who exercised their democratic right to choose their local representatives. In SALGA’s assessment, the successful conclusion of another local government election affirms the resilience and maturity of South Africa’s democracy. Yet the association was careful to emphasise that the next phase must concentrate on translating the electoral mandate into effective local governance. “The focus must now shift from the ballot box to building stable, capable and accountable municipal councils that can deliver for communities,” SALGA said.
Support for incoming councils is already planned. SALGA has committed to assisting them as they assume responsibility for the seventh term of democratic local government, a term the association describes as arriving at a critical time for the sector, as the country enters a new phase of strengthening developmental local government following the approval of the revised White Paper on Local Government.
Once councils are constituted, SALGA, working with government and other partners, will roll out the Integrated Councillor Induction Programme (ICIP). The programme is designed to equip councillors with the knowledge and practical skills required to fulfil their representative, legislative and oversight responsibilities effectively. In this framing, accountability is not left to goodwill. It is to be built into the induction of every incoming public representative.
“The election has given communities their voice. The responsibility now rests with the incoming councils to turn that democratic mandate into stable governance, accountable leadership and reliable services,” SALGA stated.
Meanwhile, the association’s intervention also extends to the conduct of the electoral period itself. SALGA expressed concern over incidents of political violence and killings reported during the 2026 Local Government Elections, conveying its condolences to the families who lost loved ones and condemning violence and intimidation in the country’s democratic processes. “There can be no place for violence or intimidation in South Africa’s democratic process,” the association said.
SALGA has urged law enforcement agencies to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice and that citizens and public representatives are able to participate in democratic processes without fear. The appeal places responsibility squarely on the institutions charged with upholding the rule of law, underscoring that the credibility of local democracy depends not only on the counting of votes but on the safety of those who cast them and those who stand for office.
The message from the association is consistent throughout: the mandate has been issued, the 14-day clock is running, and the measure of the seventh term will be whether councils convert electoral legitimacy into stable governance and reliable service delivery.