Picture: Supplied; Pexels/ Alina Chernii Deevisuals; FM collage
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 sets his sights on the Bojanala district municipality, home to Rustenburg and Madibeng, and site of one of the richest platinum belts in the world. Yet it’s riddled with local government dysfunction. Can the ANC stronghold turn this wealth into functioning municipalities, jobs and opportunities?