The Political Economy of Municipal Governance: /Political Contestation, Coalition Stability and Local Economic Development in Post-2026 South Africa: A Systematic Review with Reference to eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality

Introduction: Political contestation and coalition instability have become important features of South African municipal governance. The supplied evidence links unstable political arrangements with leadership turnover, delayed budgets, interrupted services and weakened long-term planning, while also indicating that coalition government is not uniformly harmful. Local economic development (LED) is additionally shaped by institutional capacity, policy coherence, stakeholder participation, resources and accountability. Methods: The researcher-selected databases and information sources were Google Scholar, ERIC. The eligibility protocol restricted publication years to 2017–2026. The exact calendar date of search execution was not recorded in the verified identification provenance; this is distinct from the publication-year eligibility range. A systematic review was conducted using Google Scholar and ERIC for English-language peer-reviewed studies published from 2017 to 2026. The recorded search strategy combined municipal governance, political contestation and LED concepts. Results: The synthesis found that coalition instability can redirect municipal attention from LED and service delivery toward political survival, but effects vary with coalition cohesion and institutional arrangements. LED performance was constrained by unclear mandates, weak skills, insufficient finance, limited coordination and inadequate monitoring. Political economy dynamics shaped whose interests were represented, with eThekwini-specific evidence indicating preferential treatment of formal businesses over street traders. Durable trajectories required political accommodation to be institutionalised through shared priorities, coherent planning, accountability and participation. Discussion/Conclusion: Political contestation influences LED through its interaction with administrative capacity, institutional rules and distributive power rather than through a simple coalition-versus-performance relationship. The evidence does not permit a firm prediction of eThekwini's post-2026 trajectory because direct evidence on its coalition dynamics and LED implementation remains limited.