Karabo has voted for change before.
This time, the former ANC voter says he will stay home while political parties return to Alexandra with promises he has heard for years.
“If they say they are going to fix Alexandra, start fixing it now,” the 34-year-old said.
Nearby, 19-year-old Neo Mogale is preparing to vote for the first time. She wants reliable electricity, working sanitation and councillors who listen, but has not decided which party deserves her support.
Their different choices illustrate the challenge facing parties ahead of the November 4 municipal elections: persuading dissatisfied residents both to support them and to vote.
During its visit, IOL saw rubbish, sewage spills, potholes and deteriorating infrastructure. Residents described electricity outages, water shortages and overcrowded housing, although their experiences of individual services differed.
Johannesburg is expected to be one of the country's most closely watched electoral battlegrounds, with several parties fielding prominent candidates in the race to lead South Africa's economic hub.
The city continues to grapple with electricity and water outages, crime, corruption, hijacked buildings, expanding informal settlements, malfunctioning traffic lights and streetlights, water losses and poor sanitation.
Residents of f Alexandra, however, said the election is about whether the next administration can address the daily challenges affecting their lives.
‘If they say they are going to fix Alexandra, start fixing it now’
Karabo, 34, who has lived in Alexandra since 2015, said he would not vote in the upcoming elections.
The resident, who claimed he previously voted for the ANC, said he had grown tired of hearing promises that had not translated into meaningful improvements in service delivery.
“I've been staying here for a period of 10 years and heard all the promises made by our political parties, including the ANC, but there's been little to no movement in the way of service delivery,” he said.
According to Karabo, the only municipal service that consistently worked in his area was waste collection by Pikitup, Johannesburg's waste management entity.
“Apart from the rubbish pick-up, whether it is water, sanitation or electricity, we have been promised that all these things will be fixed, but it never materialised,” he said.
He said he had decided not to cast his vote because previous elections had failed to bring about the change he had hoped for.
“I just decided to sit it out because I voted for change on many occasions, and nothing has changed. I last voted for the ANC years ago, but everyone around keeps going back to the same old thing, and I feel like, at this point, I am just running around in circles,” he said.
Karabo said political parties campaigning in the township continued to offer similar promises without explaining how they intended to fulfil them.
“No, they are promising us basically what the ANC did many moons ago, and nothing of the sort has been done. If I at least saw one change, I would be convinced that this is the direction we are going to take,” he said.
He said political parties needed to demonstrate tangible progress rather than rely on campaign promises to win votes.
“Now I think it's no longer about promises, but let's just get an action plan, or what you are going to do. Give us a breakdown,” he said.
“If they say they are going to fix Alexandra, start fixing it now.”
Karabo also raised concerns about crime, saying residents had lost confidence in those responsible for protecting them.
“You learn to live with it, and there's really nothing you can do about it because there are people who are meant to be protecting us but are doing the exact opposite and helping the people who affect us in terms of crime,” he said.
He said prolonged electricity outages and overcrowded housing further compounded residents' difficulties.
“At some point, the electricity can go off for two weeks, and there is no valid reason given or any timeframe for it to return,” he said.
“With the housing issue, as you can see, we are crammed into small spaces, mostly shacks and one-room structures. In that kind of confined space, hygiene becomes a problem.”
‘Enough is enough with the ANC’
Another Alexandra resident, who was born and raised in the township, blamed the ANC for failing to improve living conditions, accusing the party of corruption and prioritising tenders over service delivery.
The 33-year-old said residents continued to struggle with water and electricity shortages, inadequate housing and overcrowded yards where children had little space to play.
“The electricity issue is the worst of them all. Some people have gone for about eight months without electricity, and I don't think the ANC is doing anything for us,” he said.
“Whichever party we are going to put in power next has to do something different from the ANC, because clearly the ANC has been failing since day one.”
He said complaints about the ANC's performance had persisted across generations.
“Even since I was born, our grandmothers have been complaining, saying the ANC is not doing anything. I am old now and have children, and I can still see the same things our grandmothers used to complain about, which is totally wrong and unacceptable,” he said.
“We need leaders who can see that we need some change. Enough is enough with the ANC. They only get tenders and chow the people without delivering any services.”
The resident said he had been considering voting for the Democratic Alliance (DA), pointing to its performance in the Western Cape, but remained uncertain whether the party would deliver the same standard of services in predominantly black communities.
He also questioned whether the DA would adequately address the needs of residents in townships such as Alexandra.
His concerns come amid longstanding frustrations over housing.
In August 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa apologised in Parliament for creating the impression that the government would build one million houses in Alexandra.
The issue was raised by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema, who questioned what progress had been made following Ramaphosa's April 2019 remarks about housing for residents of the Stjwetla informal settlement, situated along the Jukskei River.
Ramaphosa maintained that the one-million-house target was a national five-year goal, rather than a commitment to build all the houses in Alexandra. He said 40,000 houses had been earmarked for Stjwetla.
He also cited the shortage of available land in Alexandra and the pressure on existing resources caused by population growth and housing demand.
First-time voter wants leaders who listen
Neo Mogale, 19, who was born and raised in the area, said she was excited to vote for the first time but had not yet decided which party to support.
She said residents continued to face electricity outages, sewage spills, burst pipes, unemployment, water shortages and inadequate housing.
Mogale said she wanted the next administration to appoint reliable councillors who would listen to residents and respond to their concerns.
“What I would like from the new party that is going to be in charge is to deliver services and put reliable councillors in our township,” she said.
“Sometimes when you call the councillors, they do not come or listen to our voices. It's frustrating, especially when there's no electricity.”
She accused political parties of becoming more visible in communities during election campaigns, only to disappear once elections were over.
“It's a strategy, because I don't think they would really deliver. When it's time for elections, that's when they come to do door-to-door visits, give us food parcels and fix whatever they promised to fix four or five years ago,” she said.
Mogale urged voters to read party manifestos and assess what parties were committing to do before casting their ballots.
She also called for greater political awareness among young people and older residents.
“It's time we focus on new things and give the youth a chance,” she said.
Long-standing housing frustrations
Emily Itumeleng Mokoa, 42, said she had previously supported the DA but intended to vote for the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party in the upcoming elections.
She said her decision was influenced by her dissatisfaction with the services delivered by the parties she had previously supported.
“I'm happy with the MK Party, even though I am not an MK Party member, but a DA member. For me, I feel like the DA has never done anything for me,” she said.
Nancy Ntshana, 50, who has lived in Alexandra for 25 years, said she had applied for a Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) house in 2001 but had yet to receive one.
She said residents had repeatedly voted in the hope of improving their circumstances, only to remain without the housing and services they had been promised.
“We have been voting, but there are no changes. We are now asking for those who are going to improve our lives here,” she said.
Ntshana alleged that houses intended for local residents had been allocated to foreign nationals, including Nigerians and Zimbabweans. The allegation could not be independently verified.
“When I went to the Department of Human Settlements, I was told the house was out. So now we want to know if their promises are true or not. They are corrupt, and what about us? We vote for them, but we later get nothing,” she said.
Despite her frustration, Ntshana said she intended to vote because she believed the ballot could help bring about change.
Johannesburg's electoral battleground
The dissatisfaction among residents comes as parties compete for support in Johannesburg, where the next council will face difficult decisions about service delivery, infrastructure and municipal finances.
In the 2021 local government elections, the DA won Ward 109, securing 3,225 ward votes.
The ANC received 2,461 ward votes, while ActionSA received 1,342. The Patriotic Alliance (PA) received 93 ward votes.
The Johannesburg mayoral race features several prominent political figures, including DA candidate Helen Zille, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba, EFF candidate Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, Patriotic Alliance candidate Kenny Kunene, Inkatha Freedom Party candidate (IFP) Mlungisi Mabaso, Rise Mzansi's Lukhona Mnguni, Build One South Africa's (BOSA) Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster and African Transformation Movement (ATM) leader Vuyo Zungula.
The ANC has considered incumbent mayor Dada Morero, his deputy, Loyiso Masuku, and party veteran Rev Frank Chikane as potential mayoral candidates.
The party said final selection will be confirmed after the elections.
Polls point to a competitive race
Opinion polls have offered differing assessments of the Johannesburg contest, highlighting uncertainty around voter preferences.
A July poll by the Social Research Foundation, conducted by Victory Research, put the DA ahead in Johannesburg with 42% support, followed by the ANC on 18%, the MK Party on 13%, ActionSA on 10% and the EFF on 8%.
The Johannesburg sample comprised 504 registered voters, with a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.
The survey indicated that MK Party support had risen from 8% in March to 13% in July, while ANC support had declined from 30% to 18%.
A September Ipsos survey presented a different picture, placing the ANC ahead of the DA in Johannesburg, with 31% and 27% support, respectively.
Nationally, the Ipsos Pulse of the People poll put the ANC on 31%, the DA on 25%, the MK Party on 14%, the EFF on 11%, ActionSA on 6%, the IFP on 3% and the Patriotic Alliance on 2%.
The News24/Sabi poll also placed the DA ahead in Johannesburg, with 29.2% support, followed by the ANC on 22.6%, the MK Party on 12% and ActionSA on 7%.
In the mayoral contest, the poll put Zille on 36%, the ANC candidate on 27% and Mashaba on 13%.
Analyst: accountability key to restoring trust
Governance expert and political analyst Dr Bernard Sebake, dean of students at the University of Mpumalanga, said the ANC's declining public confidence was partly linked to its failure to implement its developmental local government agenda and ensure accountability.
He said ordinary residents had not been sufficiently involved in shaping local government priorities.
“They have not been accountable, and they have not demonstrated much in the way of accountability or public participation involving ordinary citizens,” Sebake said.
He said residents' frustration with service delivery had contributed to a loss of confidence in political parties, particularly those that had governed Johannesburg.
Sebake argued that political leaders needed to communicate more effectively about the pressures facing municipalities, including population growth, limited public finances and poverty.
However, he said these challenges could not excuse corruption or failures in municipal administration.
“Some administrators, managers and politicians themselves have allowed the government to become engulfed in growing corruption in municipalities, which does not inspire public confidence,” he said.
Sebake said the ANC needed to demonstrate that it was serious about tackling corruption by showing what resources had been recovered and whether convictions had increased.
Asked why political parties continued to make promises they often failed to fulfil, particularly during election campaigns, he said voters ultimately judged them by whether their commitments improved people's lives.
“The only thing that convinces people in South Africa is to tell them that their democratic right to choose you as a leader of society will benefit them by improving their lives,” he said.
He said a significant gap often remained between party manifestos and the actual results of service delivery.
“Because of the electioneering mechanism that we have, it forces politicians to promise the same things but use different concepts to explain them,” he said.
Coalition politics could shape Johannesburg's future
Sebake said restoring trust in the ANC ahead of the elections would be difficult, given the party's record and the concerns raised by voters.
He said the party would need to demonstrate that it had learnt from past failures and could improve municipal performance.
Sebake the MK Party and the South African Communist Party (SACP), could complicate the ANC's electoral prospects.
The SACP has been at odds with the ANC over the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU) following the 2024 national elections, when the ANC lost its parliamentary majority.
The communist party has criticised the participation of the DA and the Freedom Front Plus in the coalition.
Sebake said the emergence of the MK Party had created additional choices for voters who might previously have supported the ANC.
He cautioned that the outcome in Johannesburg remained difficult to predict but said coalition politics would probably play a significant role in determining who governs the city.
“Surely, the council of the City of Johannesburg will still be led by a coalition, a structure that will have to decide on the administration, the future and service delivery in the city,” he said.
simon.majadibodu@iol.co.za
IOL Politics