The number of hung municipalities jumped from 27 after the 2016 election to 66 after 2021, according to the Mapubungwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (Mistra)’s Coalitions Barometer. What followed was a visible collapse of continuity. Mayors were removed within months of taking office, projects were reset with each reshuffle, and water, sanitation, electricity and housing backlogs grew another year longer in the townships and informal settlements where South Africa’s youth are most concentrated.

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