27 July 2026

To mark 100 days until the 2026 Local Government Elections on November 4th, we've put together 50 actions you take to hold your councillors and municipality accountable, become and active citizen and build stronger neighbourhoods. Get fixing local!

1. Confirm you're registered to vote at the IEC's online portal. Register or re-register if you've moved wards. 
2. Photograph and log potholes, broken lights, or water leaks and other service delivery issues on the fixlocal app. 
3. Organise a local community clean-up and use it as a chance to get to know your neighbours. 
4. Do you have your current ward councillor’s contact details saved on your phone? If not, use fixlocal to get them.
5. Learn the difference between Ward and PR (Proportional Representation) councillors. 
6. Organise a community meeting to discuss and make a plan to address the service delivery issues that your area faces. 
7. Find and read your municipality's latest annual report. Your municipality should publish it online, but contact your councillor if it's not easily accessible.  
8. Help a friend or neighbour register
to vote. 
9. Find out who your Municipal Manager is and what their responsibilities are. Each Municipal Manager has a performance agreement each municipality makes that should be publicly available on your municipality’s website. 
10. Look up your municipality's outcomes from the Auditor General’s report. 
11. Download and read your municipality's IDP (Integrated Development Plan), your municipality’s five year plan. Municipalities have to publish IDPs online, but if you can’t find it, ask your councillor. 
12. Same with annual Service Delivery and Budget Implementation Plan (SDBIP). Read it to find out how your municipality is spending tax and ratepayers money. 
13. Check out Municipal Money to see your municipality's revenue sources and spending patterns. 
14. Find out who is running to be a candidate in your ward. 
15. Find out about manifestos of the parties contesting your ward. 
16. Attend a council meeting. 
17. How are your local parks looking? Take a walk in a park in your neighbourhood to see if grass is being cut and playground equipment is in good condition.  
18. Find out how you can raise money for local community projects. 
19.  Learn how ward committees work and who sits on yours. 
20.  Encourage first-time voters in your family or community to register. Young South Africans can make a big impact if they show up at the polls! 
21. Be inspired by communities making local change around South Africa. Read some stories on fixlocal. 
22. Find out what residents’ associations and neighbourhood groups exist in your area. 
23. Learn about the different people who are responsible for service delivery in your municipality. 
24. Brainstorm projects that your community can lead that will make your area better. Painting kerbs, cleaning stormwater drains, clearing overgrown parks, encouraging neighbours to look after side walks….there are so many possibilities. 
25. Reach out to the heads of municipal government departments (find their contacts on municipal websites) and tell them about a project that your community is working on to see if they can collaborate with you to address your neighbourhood’s issues. You might be surprised! 
26. Ask your councillor what by-laws or resolutions your local council has passed in the last year. 
27. Child care facilities are one of the responsibilities of local government. Find out from your councillor how your municipality is supporting Early Childhood Development. 
28. Visit your local library and get a library card. 
29. Learn the difference between a metro, district, and local municipality, and which type governs your area. 
30. Check whether your municipality's tender register is public. 
31. Organise your community to repair or maintain a local sports ground. 
32. Test the tap water in your home, school or in a nearby river and share the results with your councillor. Organisations like WaterCAN can help you here.  
33. Help coordinate your local community WhatsApp group. 
34. Learn about the different services your municipality should be providing. How many does it actually deliver on? 
35. Follow up on a previously reported issue that wasn't fixed with a strong message.
36. Learn about your rights to peacefully protest and how you can inform your municipality of a protest. 
37. Find out who your mayor is and what their office is responsible for.
38. Offer to volunteer a skill you have to a local civic or community organisation.
39. Recommit to a community project that may have started but lost momentum. 
40. Text the fixlocal chat service (+27 60 061 1111) on WhatsApp to make it easy to access fixlocal resources. 
41. Do you know that ward boundaries sometimes change? Check out the 2026 ward boundary maps to know where your ward starts and ends.  
42. Support a community group, or local organisation who are already making a positive impact in your neighbourhood.  
43. Follow your municipality's official social media accounts
.
44. Adopt a street, empty plot, or small park and keep it litter-free.
45. Go to your local police station and ask about how you can be involved with your Community Policing Forum. 
46. Learn how to use the media to help your community’s issues be heard, and acted on. 
47. Thank a municipal worker like a refuse collector, water technician, or traffic officer who is doing their job well.
48. Sign up as an independent election observer by volunteering with a recognised  civil society organisation such as Defend our Democracy. 
49. Find your voting station on the IEC’s website, and make a plan for how you’ll get there. 
50. Go vote! Remember to bring your ID and take someone with you who might not have voted otherwise.