South Africa’s municipalities must settle on stable coalitions over the next 14 days if the country is to escape its narrow 1%-2% gross domestic product (GDP) growth corridor, North-West University (NWU) Business School economist Raymond Parsons said.

Parsons’s mechanism is direct: political co-operation, improved municipal governance and reliable service delivery strengthen investor confidence, support local economic growth and help create jobs. None works as an isolated administrative fix, because municipal stability shapes the environment in which businesses operate and hire.

Parsons put the immediate choice plainly: “The ‘horse trading’ that now takes place over the next 14 days must ensure political stability, if local economic development is to be maximised. Less partisanship and more progress will be needed.”

That makes the next 14 days economically consequential. The stakes are immediate. In Parsons’s assessment, unstable administrations would weaken the conditions businesses need, while settled administrations can improve the investment climate and make local development more likely to generate employment.

What do the election results signal?

The 2026 local government election results point to a further shift towards multiparty coalitions, placing stability and effectiveness at the centre of the incoming municipal administrations’ mandate.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) projects that competition will remain close: the ANC will secure about 31% of the national vote in the final tally, and the DA will take 24.5%.

That projected split makes coalition formation central to the next phase of municipal government. Parsons said the incoming political leadership now has to build administrations capable of turning political agreement into effective governance and reliable service delivery.

Parsons said all parties have previously committed to urgently fixing municipal governance and service delivery as their overriding priority. He said they must now be held accountable, adding that effective and stable local governance is needed to improve the investment climate for job-rich growth.

Can local government break the growth corridor?

“For South Africa to break out of its current narrow 1%-2% GDP growth corridor, much will depend on functional local governments and their ability to maintain a positive environment for business activity,” Parsons said.

The statement links municipal competence to national growth without treating either as automatic. In Parsons’s account, functional administrations maintain the business environment; effective local governance improves investor confidence; and stronger confidence can support local growth and employment.

Stable governance alone does not complete that chain in Parsons’s account, because service delivery remains an overriding commitment. Effective administrations must maintain services while creating conditions for investment and job-rich growth.

Why does business need a seat at the table?

Beyond political stability and improved municipal performance, Parsons highlights collaboration between government and business on the country’s infrastructure and service-delivery challenges. His assessment of their scale is blunt: the challenges facing villages, towns and cities require a collective effort.

Collaboration in local government is therefore vital to positive and sustainable outcomes, Parsons said. The proposed response is a constructive business role, including effective public-private partnerships (PPPs), which combine public and private capacity to accelerate delivery and job creation at local level.

Parsons also urged stronger engagement between business, new political leadership and the new municipal governments. He said they should reproduce the advantages already evident in existing co-operation between the Government of National Unity (GNU) and the private sector.

What must the incoming coalitions do?

Four obligations follow from Parsons’s account:

• Secure political stability through negotiations over the next 14 days, prioritising local economic development over partisanship.
• Make municipal governance and service delivery urgent, overriding priorities, consistent with the commitment previously made by all parties.
• Maintain a positive environment for business activity so municipalities can improve investor confidence and support job-rich growth.
• Use public-private partnerships to accelerate infrastructure, service delivery and local job creation.

Accountability runs through each obligation. Parsons said all parties must now answer for promises made on municipal governance and services, while incoming administrations must demonstrate that political stability produces tangible improvements in the investment climate.

Arithmetic first. Delivery next. South Africa’s projected 31% ANC and 24.5% DA shares will shape coalition-building, but only stable, accountable administrations can convert negotiations into growth.