The Local Government Elections (LGE) are the most important elections for citizens and communities as they provide an opportunity to vote for leadership that will improve and uplift communities and municipalities. As it stands, most municipalities in South Africa are underserviced and lack the resources to remedy their shortcomings. As South Africa moves closer to the 2026 LGEs on the 4th of November, the online conversation around political parties and candidates is already underway. As Moxii Africa, we will use the Meltwater platform to conduct social media monitoring and provide concise weekly briefs

highlighting key conversations, trends, sentiment, and insights. This brief is the first in a series of weekly social media monitoring reports tracking how citizens, candidates and parties are engaging in the digital public sphere in the lead up to the LGE.

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