On 4 November, South Africans will vote in the 2026 local government elections. On 5 November, the country must get back to work. Roads must be maintained, water and electricity supplied, refuse removed, businesses kept open and communities kept safe. That is how constitutional commitments become tangible improvements in everyday life.
Since 1994, South Africa has ended apartheid and established a constitutional democracy founded on dignity, equality, freedom and the rule of law. These achievements must be protected while we close the gap between constitutional promise and lived experience. A Second Republic must renew democratic life, not reject the Constitution or the achievements of 1994. Its success must be measured by ethical leadership, capable institutions, reliable services and a productive economy.
South Africa does not lack policies, strategies or national aspirations. The persistent weakness is implementation: plans are announced, money is spent and deadlines pass, yet too little changes in people’s lives. The Second Republic must therefore be judged by delivery rather than declarations.
Government must provide services, enforce the law and manage public resources responsibly. Business must invest and create jobs, labour must protect workers’ rights and contribute to productivity, and civil society must strengthen trust and hold power accountable. Citizens have an important role, but they cannot replace the state or relieve it of its constitutional obligations.
Change begins with the individual
National renewal begins with the individual because society is shaped by people’s values, conduct and choices. Laws and institutions are essential, but their effectiveness also depends on the character and capability of those who lead, work within and use them. We cannot demand integrity from public officials while tolerating dishonesty in our own lives.
Moral and ethical formation begins in childhood. Families, schools and communities must teach children to respect life and the dignity of others, to distinguish right from wrong, to value effort, to understand that freedom carries responsibility and to act honestly even when nobody is watching. These values must be reinforced through example and accountability.
This is the foundation of national renewal. Morally and ethically grounded individuals strengthen families and communities. From these foundations, responsible and capable leaders emerge, and those leaders build structures, systems and institutions that serve society and deliver opportunity, with justice and dignity. Character without capability is insufficient, while good intentions without effective systems cannot deliver lasting results.
Ubuntu expresses this interdependence through the understanding that “I am because we are.” Our shared future depends on mutual respect across racial, cultural, religious, class and political differences. Cooperation strengthens the social fabric on which progress depends.
People also need opportunities to develop their capabilities and participate productively. Households can cultivate self-reliance and communities can support local enterprise, but neither can substitute for government’s responsibility to provide essential services and create conditions for employment.
From character to leadership
Ethical formation becomes especially important when individuals assume responsibility for others. Leadership extends beyond politics to parents, teachers, managers, business owners, public servants and community organisers.
Character must be matched by capability. Good intentions cannot compensate for an inability to manage people, finances or complex systems. Equally, technical competence without integrity can serve private interests at public expense. Effective leaders make sound decisions, explain their actions, acknowledge mistakes and accept scrutiny.
Merit must encompass integrity, competence, performance and results, rather than qualifications or personal connections alone. Political parties must nominate candidates capable of fulfilling their responsibilities. Voters should look beyond campaign slogans to candidates’ records, proposals and willingness to be held accountable. Leadership is a responsibility demonstrated through conduct and results that benefit society.
Making structures, institutions and systems work
Ethical and capable leadership must translate values into effective structures, systems and institutions that serve the public. This requires clearly defined responsibilities, competent staff, transparent decisions, sound financial controls and consequences for neglect or abuse.
Municipal councils must align budgets with local priorities, set measurable service targets and report regularly on performance. Procurement must be transparent, conflicts of interest declared, and contracts awarded on merit and value rather than political connections. Audit findings must lead to corrective action, while suspected wrongdoing must be investigated independently.
Residents should be able to see what was budgeted, spent and delivered. Public reports and ward meetings must explain missed targets and identify corrective measures. Accountability requires evidence of results, not paperwork alone.
Citizens can report faults, monitor performance and demand answers, but they cannot compensate for institutional failure. Municipalities remain responsible for local services, while provincial and national government must fulfil their respective mandates and intervene lawfully when necessary to restore effective governance and protect the rights, dignity and well-being of all citizens.
When corruption breaks the system
Corruption is not merely a financial offence. It diverts resources from essential services, undermines fair competition, weakens institutions and erodes public trust. When appointments, contracts and public decisions are manipulated for private benefit, the chain from leadership to delivery is compromised.
The Auditor-General’s 2024/25 municipal audit report illustrates the governance challenge. Only 39 of South Africa’s 257 municipalities achieved clean audits. Although audit outcomes do not measure corruption alone, they highlight the importance of sound financial management, effective internal controls and accountability.
The response must go beyond announcements. Institutions need skilled procurement and finance staff, effective audits and independent oversight. Allegations must be investigated promptly and evidence preserved, and established wrongdoing must be addressed through appropriate disciplinary or criminal processes, with due process observed.
Prevention is equally important. Transparent tenders, public access to contract information, proper management of conflicts of interest and protection for whistleblowers make abuse harder. Managers must answer for controls within their authority.
Restoring safety and the rule of law
Safety is fundamental to dignity and economic participation. People cannot exercise their freedoms meaningfully when they live in fear. Violent crime, organised criminal networks, extortion, theft and gender-based violence damage lives, families and communities.
SAPS recorded 25,573 murders and 192,924 reported sexual offences during 2024/25. Behind these figures are lives lost, traumatised families and communities living in fear. Gender-based violence and femicide demand prevention, survivor support, competent investigations and a justice system that treats victims with dignity.
The state has the primary responsibility to protect people and enforce the law. Police investigations must be effective, prosecutors properly resourced and courts efficient. The criminal justice process must function from reporting through investigation, prosecution and trial to lawful sentencing. Survivors need support, perpetrators must face justice and law enforcement must remain accountable.
Addressing gender-based violence requires coordinated action by police, health services, shelters, social workers and courts. Prevention must begin early, with families, schools and communities teaching respect, equality, consent and non-violence. Boys and men must understand that masculinity does not confer control over others and that violence is never an acceptable expression of authority.
Municipalities also have a responsibility to make public spaces safer and more welcoming. Well-maintained streetlights, roads, parks, libraries, recreational areas, public toilets and other community facilities can encourage responsible use of shared spaces and help reduce opportunities for crime. These efforts must complement, not replace, effective policing and law enforcement.
The violence in Soweto and Durban on 8 October 2026 illustrates the consequences of tensions over immigration, public frustration and misinformation. Protests opposing the processing of asylum applications escalated into violence. Reports indicated that 24 vehicles were set alight across the two cities, while foreign-owned businesses were looted and damaged.
The unrest followed a Constitutional Court judgment delivered on 7 July 2026 concerning access to the asylum process. The Court declared unconstitutional provisions that permitted asylum seekers to be denied access to the process because they lacked a transit visa. The judgment did not automatically grant refugee status, permanent residence or permission to remain indefinitely in South Africa. Each asylum claim must still be assessed through the applicable legal process.
Government has acknowledged the administrative pressures arising from implementation, while misinformation about the ruling has contributed to public tensions. These challenges demand clear communication, adequate administrative capacity and consistent enforcement of immigration law.
South Africans are entitled to expect government to administer asylum procedures competently and address legitimate concerns about immigration. However, frustration cannot justify vigilantism, arson, looting or attacks on people perceived to be foreigners. Foreign nationals must not be collectively blamed for unemployment, crime or failing services. Public confidence depends on government fulfilling its responsibilities, enforcing the law fairly and ensuring that grievances are addressed through lawful institutions.
Building a productive economy that creates opportunity
South Africa needs an economy that attracts investment, expands production, supports enterprise and creates sustainable employment. People must be able to develop their capabilities, find work, establish businesses and improve their livelihoods.
Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea offer lessons in connecting human development with economic growth through investment in education, technical skills, infrastructure, technology and productive industries. South Africa cannot simply copy their models, but it can learn from their efforts to develop people’s capabilities while expanding production.
Government must create the conditions for economic activity through reliable energy and water, effective transport infrastructure, public safety, efficient services and predictable regulation. Public expenditure must strengthen infrastructure and human capability, with its value measured by outcomes rather than appearances.
Business must invest, develop markets, expand production and nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders through mentorship, training and skills development. Financial institutions must provide appropriate funding for viable enterprises, while labour must protect workers’ rights and contribute to skills development and productivity.
Schools, colleges and training institutions must equip people with practical, technical, and basic business and entrepreneurial skills. Young people need pathways into employment, apprenticeships and enterprise. Small businesses need finance, markets and infrastructure to grow and create jobs.
Individuals must develop their capabilities and exercise initiative. Households and communities can encourage skills, self-reliance and enterprise, but personal effort alone cannot create enough jobs. The wider economy must enable people to use their skills and ideas productively.
Local government: turning the vote into delivery
Local government is where citizens experience democracy. Water, electricity, refuse removal, roads, sanitation and public spaces affect household security, business activity and human dignity. Incoming councillors must turn campaign promises into costed plans with measurable targets, deadlines and clearly assigned responsibilities.
Consider a municipality struggling with recurring water interruptions, missed refuse collections and faulty streetlights. Its incoming council could identify affected areas, establish current performance levels and publish a costed first-100-days plan. It might target repairs to 90% of verified routine water leaks within an agreed response period, scheduled refuse collection in 95% of service areas and repairs to 90% of reported faulty streetlights within 30 days. These are illustrative targets; each municipality must assess its capacity, budget and local conditions before adopting them.
The council should publish monthly reports showing completed work, expenditure, unresolved problems and missed deadlines. Each outstanding problem needs a responsible official, corrective action and a revised deadline. Dependencies on another sphere of government or an external utility must be identified and addressed.
Councillors must provide political oversight, while municipal managers and officials implement approved plans. Ward meetings should connect residents with the administration, and complaints should be recorded, referred and tracked until resolved. Persistent failure must trigger formal scrutiny and appropriate remedial action, including disciplinary measures where warranted and with due process observed.
Municipalities must protect public money through transparent procurement, contractor supervision, fair revenue collection and spending on essential services. Maintaining infrastructure is often less costly than allowing it to fail.
Voters should also put three direct questions to candidates: What are your priorities for the first 100 days? How will you fund and measure them? How will residents know when commitments have not been met? These questions turn accountability from a general demand into a practical expectation.
Residents can report faults, attend meetings and monitor published targets. They can strengthen local accountability, but they cannot replace municipal administration or deliver the services government owes them.
Beyond the ballot: making renewal last
The 2026 elections offer an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between citizens, representatives and the state. Their value depends on whether promises become plans, plans are implemented and lives improve.
National renewal requires responsibility at every level. Individuals must act with integrity and develop their capabilities; leaders must combine character with competence; institutions must deliver on their mandates; businesses must expand productive activity and employment; and government must fulfil its constitutional obligations. Cooperation is essential, but it must never blur accountability or allow one part of society to excuse another’s failure.
Moving beyond 1994 towards a Second Republic means making constitutional democracy real through ethical leadership, capable institutions, consistent enforcement of the law, reliable public services and an economy that expands opportunity. Progress must be evident in people’s daily lives, not merely in policies, plans or political promises.
Ultimately, a South Africa that works will emerge when morally grounded individuals strengthen families and communities, responsible and capable leaders build effective structures, systems and institutions, and every part of society fulfils its distinct responsibilities in service of the common good. These efforts must create the conditions in which people can live with dignity, participate productively and prosper.
The ballot opens the door to renewal; what follows must give it substance. Our responsibilities differ, but our future is shared.
* Abu Karolia holds an MA from the University of Johannesburg and is a founder member of the Movement for a United South Africa (MUSA). He writes on South Africa’s democratic development, ethical leadership, governance and social transformation.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of IOL