The SACP's lack of governing experience shows up in its manifesto, which has some strengths but weaknesses too.

The SACP is for the first time contesting an election on its own steam outside the tripartite alliance with which it has historically been in a political pact. The ANC has insisted dual members pick sides, making this an important part of the electoral race to watch. The SACP's manifesto is refreshingly short and principled. Its brevity, however, does reveal the absence of hard experience of governing.

1. Turn on the taps

This is one of the SACP's strongest sections: "Water that flows. Lights that work. Streets that are cared for."

The party promises ward-by-ward audits of water and sanitation, public maintenance plans, rapid-response teams for leaks and sewer spills, and properly staffed municipal technical units. Importantly, it explicitly shifts the emphasis from emergency response to preventative maintenance, saying it wants to end dry taps and the reliance on water tankers.

The ideological difference compared with the DA manifesto is stark: rather than concessioning or private sector participation, the SACP's solution is to rebuild municipal capacity and insource essential work.

Verdict: There is little detail about where the capital investment required to repair ageing water infrastructure will come from, or how dysfunctional water utilities and municipalities would acquire the technical...