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 takes us to the KwaZulu-Natal local municipality of Msunduzi, and its centre, Pietermaritzburg. It’s a site of enormous economic potential, but it hasn’t been able to turn that into functional governance. Will MK have the opportunity to give it a shot — the new party won 52% of Msunduzi on the provincial ballot in 2024 — or is it destined for another coalition government?