South Africa: #LGE2026 - Seven Claims From the DA's Election Manifesto Fact-Checked

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has outlined several claims in its 2026 local government election manifesto regarding service delivery. This report fact-checks seven of these claims.

Electricity tariffs have risen sharply over the past two decades. According to Eskom data, tariffs increased by 1,077% between 2007/08 and 2025/26. This is significantly higher than the cumulative inflation increase of 173.5% over the same period, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).

Jugal Mahabir, a programme lead at the Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI), explained that while South Africa has a free basic electricity policy for poor households, the amount provided might not be sufficient. For those who don't qualify, they may need to cut back on other essentials or use electricity without paying, increasing municipal debt.

However, the surge in electricity tariffs was beyond the control of municipalities due to external factors like insufficient generation capacity.

The DA's manifesto also addresses household refuse collection. Based on the latest General Household Survey (GHS) from Stats SA, the proportion of households with weekly refuse collection has fluctuated between 59.7% and 65.4% from 2016 to 2025. However, disparities persist between urban and rural areas, with urban areas generally having better service than rural ones.

The DA's claim regarding crime costs being up to 10% of GDP is partially accurate. The World Bank report cited by the DA estimated the total cost of crime at around 10% of GDP, grouping costs into transfer, protection, and opportunity costs. The protection cost category, which includes spending on security and insurance, accounted for about 4.2% of GDP.

The DA's claim slightly underestimates the World Bank's finding by not including other potential costs, such as medical expenses and trauma, which the report suggests could be significant.