By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) launched its local government election manifesto at the Princess Magogo Stadium in Kwa-Mashu, Kwazulu-Natal (KZN) on Sunday, 20 September 2026.
The party’s president Velenkosini Hlabisa presented the IFP’s offering to voters, which he has indicated will focus on practical solutions to challenges facing communities in the country’s municipalities.
The IFP’s Five-Point Manifesto Commitments are as Follows:
- 1. Economic Growth: Creating an enabling environment for businesses and sustainable job creation at the municipal level.
- 2. Service Delivery: Prioritizing reliable infrastructure and consistent basic public services.
- 3. Traditional Leadership: Respecting and partnering with traditional and Khoi-San leadership.
- 4. Anti-Corruption: Enforcing zero tolerance for corruption and ensuring transparent procurement.
- 5. Community Empowerment: Supporting and empowering women, youth, and persons with disabilities
Hlabisa said municipalities must not merely issue bills and collect rates. They must create an environment in which people can work, businesses can grow and local economies can thrive.
“The municipalities must create the environment in which people can work. Business can grow and local economies can thrive, “he said.
The IFP plans to cut red tape and simplify permits and registration processes for entrepreneurs, including allowing applications to be made online or in person without residents being sent from one municipal office to another.
It also plans to establish designated business zones and organised market stalls for local vendors, while providing small businesses with funding support, mentorship, practical training and improved market access.
The party plans to prioritise water, sanitation, electricity, roads and refuse collection in municipal budgets, operational plans and maintenance schedules.
Hlabisa said the party would focus on fixing failing water systems, repairing leaks and burst pipes and reducing water losses rather than relying on emergency water tankers.
He said municipalities would have to work with other spheres of government, communities, civil society and the private sector where they lack technical or operational capacity.
Hlabisa also paid tribute to nine women whose bodies were discovered in Ekurhuleni over the past two months.
He said men could no longer simply distance themselves from gender-based violence by saying crimes were committed “not in our name”.
He said municipalities would have to work with other spheres of government, communities, civil society and the private sector where they lack technical or operational capacity.
The party hopes to increase its electoral haul in the upcoming polls, having garnered just over six percent of the vote nationally in the 2021 local elections and a little over 26 percent of the vote in its stronghold of KwaZulu-Natal.
Meanwhile the newly registered United Democratic Front Party (UDFP) has unveiled its election manifesto in the Western Cape at Rocklands, Mitchells Plain, on the Cape Flats.
It took place at the same venue where the now disbanded UDF was launched on 20th of August 1983 as an anti-apartheid umbrella organisation.
Thirty-five years after the March 1991 decision to disband the UDF, the UDF Party will be contesting one of the most highly contested local government elections in South Africa’s democratic history.
Elsewhere the Afrika Mayibuye Movement launched its 2026 local government elections manifesto in Tembisa.
The movement was officially launched by Floyd Shivambu on 5 September 2025, following his departure from the MK Party. It has since positioned itself as a new political force ahead of the municipal elections.
The movement confirmed it is registered to field candidates across 4,368 wards nationally, aiming to contest major metropolitan areas and local municipalities.
The party promises jobs, water, and reliable service delivery ahead of the municipal elections scheduled for November 4, 2026.