Young candidates chase council seats to uplift struggling youth
A number of young candidates are fighting for a seat at the table in local councils in an effort to help bring change for the struggling youth.
As the country grapples with a high youth unemployment rate, they say communities need more energetic youth with bold ideas.
However, data from the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) shows that young people are still inadequately represented on party lists.
Young people between 18 and 39 years make up 32 per cent of all the candidates vying for seats in the November 4th local government elections.
SABC News spoke to three ward candidates from different political parties in eThekwini about their motivation to contest the elections.
Young candidates have thrown their hats in the ring in this election in an effort to improve service delivery and the plight of their peers.
The decades-old sprawling Kennedy Road informal settlement in Ward 25 is nestled between industrial and residential areas in northern Durban.
It is home to 35-year-old Mlekeleli Doncabe, who is an Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) candidate.
For years, he worked in his community, helping residents.
Many residents live in congested shacks that frequently get razed by fires.
Doncabe hopes to swap his day job to improve services and access to opportunities to help uplift young people.
“Young people are overlooked when it comes to job opportunities; older people benefit while young people are left behind. That is why some turn to crime. That is why, if I am elected Ward Councillor, I want to prioritise helping people. Living conditions in this slum are terrible, so we also need to push for better housing”.
In the Morningside suburb of Durban, 26-year-old Yunus Sayed is trying to balance his medical school exams and campaigning in Ward 30.
He is a candidate for the Active Citizens Coalition (ACC).
It was formed in 2019 by his father, Imtiaz, the party’s mayoral candidate in eThekwini
In 2021, the ACC joined other smaller parties to help the African National Congress (ANC) retain control of eThekwini.
Sayed, who has a degree in optometry, is not a new face in his neighbourhood. He had done community policing forum work alongside his father.
The second-year medical student believes service delivery should reach both the poor and affluent communities equally.
“Over the past ten years, I have watched the ward being run by the same person who is grey and white, and he’s scared to go into the community he’s charged with taking off. Nothing is happening. The child who is in Bonela and doesn’t have lights and she’s going to school, how is she supposed to uplift herself? Is that not the job of the Ward Councillor? So that’s where the initiative comes from.”
West of Durban is the rural community of KwaXimba; the frustrations are similar.
The area falls under Ward 1, which has traditionally been an ANC stronghold.
While it developed over the years, the persistent challenges drew 34-year-old Lwazi Siyanda Khanyile to stand as a candidate for the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK PARTY).
Khanyile, an employed graduate with a Bachelor of Commerce and Business Management Degree, has a list of things he believes young people and his community desperately need.
“Skills development, job opportunities, infrastructure development. There are many things that we need as a community. We want a college in this area as well.”
Young candidates insist they are challenging the political status quo to help bring about positive change that restores hope in communities.
When the electioneering is over, their only hope is that the voters will give them a chance on November 4.
RELATED VIDEO | Young people’s vision for Local Government
VIDEO | Young people’s vision for Local Government
https://t.co/SfKn9XJiYf— SABC News (@SABCNews) October 21, 2026
-Report by Zanele Buthelezi
