My Vote Counts

11/10/2026

THE PEOPLE WILL LEAD THE REVOLUTION.

What does it actually take to build a movement?

Not a workshop.
Not another conference.
Not another glossy strategy document.

It takes people organising themselves.

In Episode 4 of popEd, we sit down with Noncedo Madubedube to talk about youth organising, political education, internal democracy, FeesMustFall, the lessons movements leave behind, and what it means to build power that belongs to people themselves.

From the classrooms of Equal Education to the streets of FeesMustFall, Noncedo reflects on what happens when young people stop being treated as beneficiaries, “the youth”, or an audience, and start shaping the politics themselves.

The people will lead the revolution.

🎙️ popEd Episode 4: The People Will Lead the Revolution: https://youtube.com/shorts/LUpVY7-nOqU?feature=share

Coming this week.

10/10/2026

🚨 HAPPENING NOW IN SALT RIVER!

The community has spoken - and now the candidates are in the room. 👀✊🏾

MVC is at Community House, Salt River, Cape Town with Umbrella Civic 92+ for a town hall putting community priorities, councillor commitments and accountability front and centre.

The goal? Representatives who listen, respond and remain accountable, long after election day.

Your ward. Your manifesto. Your power.
That’s democracy from below. ✊🏾

08/10/2026

Out and about with our partners 🤝🏾

Yesterday, members of the My Vote Counts team joined the Civil Society Working Group on State Capture (CSWG) for an in-person workshop at Community House in Cape Town.

We shared insights from our work on political party funding and disclosure, including a deeper look at what existing disclosure frameworks tell voters, and what they may still leave unanswered about who is ultimately behind significant political donations.

The workshop also brought civil society partners together to share updates, reflect on key developments and identify opportunities for collaboration around accountability, transparency and democratic oversight.

Good conversations, sharp questions and collective work across the democracy sector.

07/10/2026

What kind of society are we fighting for? 👀

In Episode 3 of popEd, Koketso Moeti takes us beyond the headlines and into some of the biggest questions facing South Africa right now.

What happens when we lose trust in our institutions?
What happens when communities become more divided and isolated?
What happens when collective organising is weakened - and people start believing that democracy cannot change their lives?

Koketso doesn't shy away from the crisis.

But she also reminds us that there are already people organising, protecting one another and building solidarity in their communities.

For her, the challenge is to connect those pockets of resistance and imagine a different political future - one where everyone can belong, participate and thrive.

🎙️ popEd Episode 3 with Koketso Moeti is out now.

Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/S0w7kiYnk2Y

"

popEd Episode 3: Koketso Moeti on Democracy, Belonging and Building...

06/10/2026

Your ward councillor will make decisions about your housing, your services, your parks and your children's futures. But how do you know what they'll actually do once they're elected? This Saturday, 10 October, you can ask them directly.

Umbrella Civic 92+ will present the Community Manifesto, developed with residents across Ward 92, to the councillor candidates, and ask each of them to commit to it.

The manifesto asks for:
Housing and affordability
Working municipal services
Quality public spaces for community
A focus on youth and other vulnerable groups

And it asks for accountability:
Regular public meetings and feedback
An open, representative and democratically elected ward committee
Community-led monitoring and evaluation (a scorecard)

Candidates will be there, so join in, listen, ask your questions and make an informed decision about your vote.

See our full manifesto and endorse it here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeqTzqyiruZaCqLSawhfsu0JOOV2oa60R-rd7cozloox8KKdQ/viewform

Or create your own for your community! You can find a template and simple guide here: https://mailchi.mp/actubumbano/newsletter-may-2026?e=cb467d906e

05/10/2026

🚨 WE’VE LAUNCHED: The Municipal People’s Analysis of Manifestos (M-PAM)

Ahead of the 4 November 2026 Local Government Elections, My Vote Counts has launched the Municipal People’s Analysis of Manifestos (M-PAM), a citizen-centred analysis that helps voters assess political promises against what their communities actually need.

Building on our 2024 People’s Analysis of Manifestos, M-PAM brings this approach to local government.

This time, we start with people.

What should local government be delivering?
What are communities experiencing?
What standards are municipalities expected to meet?
And how do political parties’ promises measure up?

M-PAM looks at the issues that affect people’s everyday lives, including water, sanitation, electricity, waste, roads, housing, safety, jobs, health, governance and accountability. It places community demands alongside the promises of the ANC, DA, EFF and ActionSA.

It also considers the growing reality of coalition government and the question that comes with it:

When parties share power in a municipality, who is accountable when things go wrong?

M-PAM does not tell you who to vote for.

It gives you a framework to ask better questions, interrogate political promises and use your own experience of local government as evidence.

Your vote is more than a cross on a ballot paper. It is a tool for accountability.

📖 Read the full Municipal People’s Analysis of Manifestos here:https://myvotecounts.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Municipal-Peoples-Analysis-of-Manifestos.pdf

04/10/2026

This Wednesday on popEd: Koketso Moeti

30/09/2026

🎙️ Episode 2 of popEd is now live.

South Africa does not have a shortage of political parties.

Yet when progressive forces confront a political crisis, the proposed solution is often the same: form another one.

Veteran trade unionist and political educator Dinga Sikwebu calls this “party mania” - the belief that the challenges facing working-class people can be solved by creating the correct political party.

Drawing on his experience in NUMSA and the United Front, Dinga reflects on how the pressure to become an electoral vehicle can displace the slower work of organising communities, building campaigns and winning concrete changes in people’s lives.

If another party is not the answer, what kind of political organising do we need?

🎧 Watch Episode 2 of popEd, a podcast by My Vote Counts: https://youtu.be/MloJmmPNzE4

28/09/2026

🎙️ Next on popEd: Dinga Sikwebu

Marikana was a massacre - and a brutal political education.

When the police moved against striking mineworkers, veteran trade unionist Dinga Sikwebu says the relationship between the state and mining capital became impossible to ignore.

For workers inside NUMSA, Marikana also forced a political reckoning. The union had recently reaffirmed its support for the ANC alliance. But workers insisted: that decision was made before Marikana happened.

What followed would reshape the labour movement, contribute to NUMSA’s break with the ANC and inspire an attempt to build a new United Front.

Fourteen years later, what did Marikana teach us - and did our politics learn the lesson?

🎧 Coming this week on popEd, a podcast by My Vote Counts.

23/09/2026

🎙️ Episode 1 of popEd is now live.

In 1994, millions of South Africans expected a democratic state that would stand on the side of ordinary people.

Thirty years later, what happens when the state protects power, capital and exclusion instead?

In our opening episode, human rights lawyer and SERI Executive Director Nomzamo Zondo examines what Marikana, xenophobic mobilisation and the PIE Amendment Bill reveal about the condition of South Africa’s democracy.

She also reflects on the communities and movements that continue to organise, resist and insist on a country in which everyone matters.

🎧 Watch Episode 1 of popEd, a podcast by My Vote Counts: https://youtu.be/i4V7xRsVID

What does solidarity look like when it has to put its body on the l...