Local government is where politics gets real — your water, roads, rates, rubbish and electricity. But how much do we actually understand about the people and systems running our municipalities?
In a podcast brought to you by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, journalist Nickolaus Bauer cuts through the jargon, political noise and municipal mythology in South Africa’s Easy Elections Guide: Local Government 2026.
In this episode, he heads to the Eastern Cape, and the automotive centre of the country. Nelson Mandela Bay is alive with opportunity: in addition to the automotive cluster, it’s got a deepwater port, industrial land, the Coega SEZ and tourism potential. But political instability has seen it struggle to convert that into economic dividends. What does it need to get back in the game?