JOHANNESBURG - Traditional leaders have accused politicians of repeatedly misleading South Africans with promises they fail to keep, urging voters to use elections to hold leaders accountable.
The remarks came as the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) met with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
Contralesa secretary-general Zolani Mkiva said there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the country’s institutions or electoral structures. Instead, he blamed politicians for eroding public trust.
“There is nothing wrong with the structures and the institutions of state,” Mkiva said.
“But what is wrong is politicians would choose to be bloody liars and fool our people every time.”
He accused political parties of making promises to voters during elections, only to fail to deliver once in power.
According to Mkiva, this behaviour has left many South Africans increasingly disillusioned with both individual politicians and political parties.
“People have lost trust in politicians. People have lost trust in political parties that are self-serving,” he said, arguing that some political formations put their own interests ahead of the country and its people.
READ | 7,000 volunteers sought to monitor 2026 municipal elections
Despite this frustration, Mkiva urged voters not to turn their backs on elections.
Instead, he called on traditional leaders to use their credibility in communities to encourage people to participate in the democratic process and make their votes count.
He said voters should support leaders they trust and remove those who have failed to deliver on their promises.
Read more: ‘ANC cannot be trusted to fix what it has broken’ - DA