Two Hankey residents cast their votes on 4 November 2026, local government election day, and described a community where young people lack support and promises remain unfulfilled.TSindiswa Nkohlo, a current DA supporter who has lived in Hankey almost all her life, said she was hopeful after voting.
“I’m happy for today,” she said. “And we will see the change from today.”
Jennifer Smith, a resident of Centerton on the western edge of Hankey, said she cannot work after an operation. She started a ladies’ soccer team for young women, but it collapsed when two municipal employees who supported it died.
“I used to have a soccer team, a ladies’ soccer team that I created myself,” she said. “But since two supporters who worked at the municipality died, there was no one that was helping us. So our team just ended like that.”
Centerton falls in Ward 13, which also includes Weston and Patensie Town. The loss of Smith’s team came despite the upgrade of the Centerton Sports Field. The Kouga Municipality refurbished the facility at a cost of R1 million and opened it in October 2024, according to a municipal media release. The field, equipped for soccer, cricket and netball, resulted from a partnership between the municipality and the Amandla Omoya Trust, a community development trust linked to the Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm.
The Ward 13 councillor is Vuyani Zana of the ANC.Smith said the consequences were visible in the community. “Most of our kids there have four, five babies,” she said.
Smith, who cast her vote, said politicians across the board had let her down. When asked whether she cared who won, she was blunt.
“I don’t care if anyone wins now,” she said. “Even if the EFF or if Freedom Front Plus can win, I’ll be happy. I don’t care now.”
Ward 13 contest
In the 2021 local government elections, the ANC won Ward 13 with 71.7% of the vote, followed by the DA at 23.5%, according to IEC results. The EFF took 2.4%, the FF+ 1.8% and the Patriotic Alliance 0.4%.
Flood damage and sewage concerns
Hankey suffered some of the worst damage during the May 2026 floods. At a Special Council Meeting on 14 May 2026 a meeting of all Kouga councillors the municipality estimated the damage at approximately R170 million. It submitted an application to the Sarah Baartman District Municipality to declare the floods a local state of disaster.
Floods forced residents into community halls. The South African Human Rights Commission’s 2026 investigative report found that Kouga Municipality’s wastewater treatment works at Jeffreys Bay and KwaNomzamo failed to meet compliance standards. The report, released in July 2026, covered Kouga, Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City municipalities. It recorded E. coli levels at the KwaNomzamo works that exceeded licensed limits by at least 142%.
The Hankey landfill site scored just 44% in AfriForum’s 2026 landfill audit. AfriForum, a civil rights organisation, audits municipal landfill sites annually. The Hankey score matched its 2024 result and fell well below the 80% minimum threshold.
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