Abstention in the 2021 local government election was largely driven by a combination of individual and administrative barriers.
Guillem Sartorio/AFP via Getty Images
The South African electorate is becoming less tied to race and identity-based voting but are increasingly making a wider evaluation of the performance of political incumbents.
Election posters on street poles in Cape Town. The top one in Afrikaans says ‘Cape Town Works. Let’s do more’.
EFE-EPA/Nic Bothma
The increased and diverse number of contestants shows a citizenry that is unwilling to leave its fate in the hands of ineffective incumbents.
Almay
Addressing serious disconnects between Labour and its ‘traditional’ constituencies remains a key challenge for Keir Starmer’s party.
Not the result he expected.
EPA
Conservative rival Shaun Bailey gave the mayor a much harder fight than expected.