The 2026 Local Government Elections give our people an opportunity to restore dignity by restoring our municipalities and rural communities.

For too long, municipalities have reproduced the apartheid legacy. Our people remain far from jobs and opportunity. Townships and rural areas remain underserviced and underdeveloped. Informal settlements lack secure housing and reliable services.

Infrastructure is collapsing while poverty and unemployment deepen—especially among young people, women and military veterans.

The People’s Mandate offers a decisive break from this failure. It places the needs, dignity and radical economic transformation at the centre of municipal government.

Every MK Party-governed municipality will be bound by a measurable and enforceable People’s Contract.

Mayors and executive leaders will be judged against clear 100-day, 1,000-day and five-year targets.

Progress will be published, and leaders who fail to deliver will face consequences.

We will restore professionalism. Elected leaders must provide democratic direction, while qualified officials implement the People’s Mandate lawfully and competently. No person will be appointed without the required qualifications, experience and revolutionary morality.

Municipalities need competent engineers, planners, and accountants in the correct positions. Corruption and illegal immigration will not be tolerated. Public money, municipal services and local economic opportunities must benefit South Africans. MKP municipalities will enforce immigration and employment laws, act against employers who exploit undocumented workers, and reserve designated service-industry opportunities for South African citizens.