{
  "id": 5574218,
  "title": "LOCAL ELECTIONS 2026: Manifesto Test — UDM promises to maintain, maintain, maintain!",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/04/local-elections-2026-manifesto-test-udm-promises-to-maintain-maintain",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-04T14:42:29.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Daily Maverick",
    "slug": "daily-maverick",
    "url": "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-09-04-manifesto-test-udm-promises-to-maintain-maintain-maintain/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The UDM's 2026 local election manifesto prioritizes maintaining existing municipal infrastructure and competence over ambitious new projects. Led by seasoned politician General Bantu Holomisa, the party holds 51 council seats, primarily in the Eastern Cape with some in Gauteng. The party's strongest insight is that municipal collapse is often a gradual result of poor planning, weak administration, bad appointments, and more, rather than a sudden event.\n\nThe manifesto promises to maintain water and sanitation infrastructure, including leak detection and reduction, preventative maintenance, asset management, and fast response systems for failures. It also calls for clear service-delivery schedules and public reporting. When it comes to electricity, the UDM pledges reliable distribution, grid protection, preventative maintenance, and protection against theft and vandalism. Their financial plan includes realistic funded budgets, stronger revenue collection, better billing, and regular monitoring of municipal debt and creditors.\n\nIn terms of infrastructure, the manifesto outlines road, stormwater, and public transport maintenance, including improved planning, traffic management, and spatial planning. The party emphasizes roads as assets requiring continual maintenance. For sewage and sanitation, the UDM focuses on water and sanitation maintenance, leak reduction, preventative maintenance, asset management, and rapid responses to failures. They connect failing sanitation and dirty water to public health concerns.\n\nThe manifesto also includes measures to keep streetlights working, protect public spaces from vandalism, and maintain clean and safe neighborhoods. Regular refuse removal is a core promise, along with action against illegal dumping and cleaner public spaces. The UDM's plan to make it easier to work, run a business, and create jobs emphasizes municipalities as \"enablers of opportunity\" rather than obstacles to development. This includes support for small businesses, reduced red tape, better management of trading spaces, supplier development, and information about grants and private investment.\n\nThe party's approach to housing is integrated, recognizing housing as a shared responsibility between national, provincial, and municipal governments. The UDM proposes releasing well-located land, upgrading informal settlements, better managing rental stock, and ensuring housing is near jobs, schools, and transport. However, the manifesto falls short when addressing homelessness itself. Lastly, the UDM acknowledges the drug problem and proposes creating spaces for young people to develop, avoiding crime, drugs, and hopelessness through sport, recreation, arts, and cultural programs.",
  "summary": "The UDM manifesto promises that democracy should be a lived process, not only an election event.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}