# Your vote shapes the next five years

> Alan Winde argues that November's local elections will determine whether South African towns get basic services or descend into chaos.
- Title: Your vote shapes the next five years · Daily Maverick
- Summary: Alan Winde argues that November's local elections will determine whether South African towns get basic services or descend into chaos. Western Cape Premier…
- Keywords: local elections 2026, alan winde, western cape, municipal governance, knysna municipality, service delivery, south africa, news, politics, vote, shapes, next
- Source: Daily Maverick — https://dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2026-10-04-in-defiance-of-chaos-why-your-choice-in-this-election-matters
- Author: Alan Winde
- Published: 2026-10-04T12:04:30+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: local elections 2026, alan winde, western cape, municipal governance, knysna municipality, service delivery, south africa, news, politics
## Local elections shape daily life
In November, South Africans will vote for local governments that decide whether streets have potholes, water runs from taps and rubbish gets collected weekly.
## The choice is starkly binary
Voters face a clear decision: support governments that pull municipalities back from the brink, or continue down the path of chaos and corruption.

> vote for governments that pull our municipalities back from the brink, or vote to continue down the path of chaos and corruption
## Functional towns show what works
Some municipalities deliver clean audits, well-maintained roads, safe water and working street lights. The Western Cape government works with these to create better services.
## Hessequa opens solar power plant
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde opened a solar power plant in Riversdale this week that will make the town largely independent of the national energy grid.
## Chaos within one hundred kilometres
Less than one hundred kilometres from functional towns, some municipalities face rivers of sewage, mountains of refuse, shattered roads and bankrupt treasuries.
## Knysna rejects help, then collapses
Knysna rejected Western Cape offers of support and administration. On Thursday, the mayor, municipal manager and chief financial officer were arrested facing corruption charges.
## Five municipalities rated top in nation
Ratings Afrika's Municipal Financial Sustainability Index ranked Drakenstein, Hessequa, Overstrand, Saldanha Bay and Swartland as South Africa's five best-rated municipalities.
## Cape Town is only stable metro
The Municipal Financial Sustainability Index classifies Cape Town as the only financially stable metro in South Africa. All Western Cape municipalities are governed by stable leadership.
## Vote for what they do, not what they say
Winde urges voters to support people truly capable of governing selflessly, focused on delivery rather than populist grandstanding, and judged by their actions not words.

> vote for people not based on what they say, but what they do
## Key takeaway

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde says local elections in November will decide whether municipalities deliver services or collapse into corruption and dysfunction.