Meta Description: What are South Africans’ biggest concerns before the 2026 local elections? Afrobarometer 2025 ranks unemployment, crime and water. See the numbers and their limits.
Last updated: 8 October 2026
Short Answer
An Afrobarometer survey of 1,600 South Africans, fielded in 2025 and cited as background by the IJR in August 2026, found unemployment was the most-named problem at 57%, followed by crime at 37%, water at 35%, roads at 31% and corruption at 22%. These are 2025 figures and may not reflect opinion today.
Key Takeaways
- Afrobarometer 2025 (n=1,600): unemployment 57%, crime 37%, water 35%, roads 31%, corruption 22%.
- Only 26% of respondents said they trust councillors, according to the same research as cited.
- 65% preferred one-party rule to coalitions in the survey figures reported.
- A Daily Dispatch editorial on 19 May 2026 called the vote a “referendum on service delivery”.
Where These Figures Come From
The numbers in this article come from Afrobarometer, a pan-African survey network, as reported in background analysis by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation. The survey interviewed 1,600 South Africans in 2025. Respondents could name more than one problem, which is why the percentages add to more than 100.
The date matters. This is not an October 2026 poll, and attitudes can shift with events such as price increases, outages or crime news. Treat the ranking as a reliable guide to what people said in 2025 and as a prompt for fresh checking, not as a current scoreboard.
The Ranking, Item by Item
Unemployment: 57%
More than half of respondents named unemployment among the most important problems. Official labour data discussed in other articles in this series shows unemployment at 33.6% in the second quarter of 2026, so the concern in the survey matches a persistent labour market problem. Local councils do not control national employment policy, but they influence local business conditions, permits and infrastructure.
Crime: 37%
Crime ranked second. Municipal governments run metro police departments and by-law enforcement, and they manage lighting and public spaces, although the South African Police Service is a national body.
Water: 35%
Water was named by about a third of respondents. This is squarely a municipal responsibility in most areas, which is why water failures often become election issues.
Roads: 31% and corruption: 22%
Roads, a core local service, were named by 31%. Corruption was named by 22%, a smaller share than the service problems, which suggests respondents ranked day-to-day delivery above governance concerns, although the survey cannot say why.
Trust and Attitudes to Coalitions
The same research, as cited, found that 26% of respondents trust councillors. It also reports that 65% would prefer one-party rule to coalitions. Both figures should be read carefully. Trust questions measure perception, not behaviour. And a stated preference for one-party rule does not mean respondents want a specific party to govern, only that they dislike the instability of coalitions that other articles in this series describe.
The “Referendum on Service Delivery” Claim
A Daily Dispatch editorial dated 19 May 2026 called the local elections a “referendum on service delivery”. This is an opinion. It reflects a common view among commentators that voters will judge governing parties on water, electricity and roads, and the survey rankings lend it some support. But elections turn on many factors, including party loyalty, candidate quality and turnout, so the framing is a claim to test and not a conclusion.
How to Use Survey Numbers Responsibly
- Check the date of fieldwork and the sample size before quoting a percentage.
- Remember that multi-response questions produce totals above 100%.
- Do not equate “important problem” with “voting priority”.
- Look for newer data from the same survey or from other pollsters.
What Councils Can and Cannot Fix
Not all of these concerns sit with municipalities. Unemployment is driven mainly by national economic conditions and policy, and policing is a national function. Councils do control water and sanitation services in most areas, local roads, street lighting, refuse removal and the issuing of building and trading permits. When a voter lists crime or unemployment as the top issue, the local election can only partly address it, and candidates who promise more than a council can deliver are making a claim worth checking.
The reverse also applies. Water at 35% and roads at 31% are issues where a council’s performance is directly visible. The practical advice for voters is to compare party promises with the powers a council has, and to look at what a party did when it last held office in that municipality.
How the Concerns Connect
The concerns in the survey are linked. Poor roads and unreliable water can discourage investment, which affects jobs. Weak lighting and neglected public spaces can affect safety. Reports elsewhere in this series on municipal debt and infrastructure backlogs suggest that service failures often share a financial cause, namely too little money to maintain ageing networks. That is analysis drawn from separate reports and is not a finding of the survey itself.
What We Still Do Not Know
The material reviewed did not include a breakdown by province or by age group, and it did not include any 2026 update of the survey. Those gaps limit how far the rankings can be applied to a particular municipality.
Questions Voters Can Ask Candidates
- Which of the services I use are the council’s responsibility, and what will you change in the first year?
- What is the municipality’s current audit outcome, and how will you improve it?
- How much of the budget goes to maintenance of water and roads, and how much to other items?
- If your party needs partners to govern, what will you refuse to agree to?
- How will residents be able to track whether promises are kept?
Asking questions like these turns a general concern into a specific test of a candidate’s plans, and it helps separate national messaging from local commitments.
What to Watch Next
Watch for new polls released before 4 November, including any that ask directly about water, electricity and jobs, and for party manifestos that respond to these priorities. Compare what parties promise with what councils control.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is South Africans’ biggest concern?
Unemployment, named by 57% of respondents in Afrobarometer’s 2025 survey of 1,600 people.
How many people named water as a problem?
35%, according to the same survey.
Do South Africans trust their councillors?
The research as cited reports 26% trust.
Are these figures current?
No. They are from 2025 and serve as background.
Why do the percentages exceed 100?
Respondents could name more than one problem.
Sources
- Institute for Justice and Reconciliation: analysis of Afrobarometer data (25 August 2026)
- Afrobarometer: South Africa survey (2025)
- Daily Dispatch: editorial on service delivery and the local vote (19 May 2026)
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