New polling* from The Common Sense and the Social Research Foundation shows that most voters want local government to stay in charge of providing basic services, rather than hand them to the private sector. Voters were reminded that local government is responsible for things like cleanliness, upkeep of infrastructure, water, refuse collection, and electricity. They were then asked which they would prefer for their own community: local government staying in charge, or the private sector taking over. In the polling conducted in October, 55% of voters wanted local government to stay in charge and 41% wanted the private sector to take over. Among black voters, 56% chose local government and 39% the private sector. Among coloured voters, 72% chose local government. White voters leaned the other way: 65% wanted the private sector to take over. The chart below shows how voters, and each population group, answered.

*The figures come from the Social Research Foundation’s October 2026 Market Survey, conducted in conjunction with The Common Sense, a national telephone poll of 3 100 registered voters between 18 September and 12 October 2026, with results weighted to the registered voter population. The survey has a design effect of 3.3044.