For the majority of South Africans these local elections would be the first time they would have ahd the opportunity to actually influence the running of their communities and local areas. Because politics in the past - particularly over the past few years - has always been about national problems, and national change, there is an understandable ignorance of the value and importance of accountable and representative local government.
The role of the media in the local elections was then, more than simply one of fairly reporting the elections, but educating and informing the voting public as to what candidates and parties policies were all about and the importance of effective and accountable local government. It was in this respect that the media had performed poorly.
The simultaneous running of the local elections in most parts of the country had made vote canvassing and politicking a seemingly easier task. However, the result was that the political campaigns of the major parties were fought on a national level with national figures and in the national media. Consequently, while the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), for example may have given fair and relatively even coverage to the major political parties, the coverage was generally been uninformative, and quite often the focus of news stories was on the personality and not the issues.
Not that the blame is entirely the fault of the parties. The media generally failed to commit itself to covering political speeches, rallies and events which did not feature high profile leaders. What was more, the local elections were not national - KwaZulu/Natal and parts of the Western Cape will only vote next year, yet one did not get this impression from the national media.
While the national media may be excused for failing to provide local detail, the regional and community radio stations and newspapers may not. Community radio especially, was well placed to give informative coverage to voters in a variety of areas. With so much promise, they failed to deliver. Hiding behind Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) rulings and the South African Press Association (SAPA) newswire, they carried very little local election information. Community newspapers, largely catering to affluent white areas, were better, but their blinkered approach to white areas and issues, meant that for the majority of South Africans there was no reliable and informative local or regional news source.
The national broadcaster didn't make much effort either. Despite generating publicity about how much they would spend on election coverage, the focus of most of their attention (and money) was on reporting the results. While getting the results across to the public is undoubtedly important, by failing to adequately inform voters, they failed in their primary task of serving the public.
Elections are a test of a government or party's popularity, they are also a test of the media which to a significant degree carries the burden of publicising them. As such the relative success of an election is a comment on the media's effectiveness in communicating that election. Judging a successful election is no easy task but simplistic assertions about the relatively good turnout have hidden the critical point. Whatever the reason for the media's poor performance, they have played into the hands of a political elite, who have been elected on undeclared promises and unpublicised policies. Without candidate accountability and an ignorant public, the success of local government hangs in the balance.