The ANC’s six-point action plan to fix municipalities and stabilise service delivery is unlikely to improve the party’s electoral fortunes in the upcoming local government elections, political analysts warn.
The skepticism follows the governing party's manifesto launch in Diepsloot, Gauteng, where ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa outlined a strategy to turn around failing municipalities. Ramaphosa promised that a centralised monitoring system at Luthuli House would ensure mayors and councillors deliver on campaign pledges.
He also pledged consequences for tender corruption in municipalities and said the party would focus on maintaining municipal infrastructure, securing reliable water and electricity supplies, and strictly applying the party’s "step-aside" rule to criminally charged officials without protection.
“This manifesto was drafted by the people themselves,” Ramaphosa told attendees. “They made input during our engagement with them. We, as the ANC, heard and listened to them, so today we are committing ourselves to do exactly what the people demanded from us.”
Ramaphosa acknowledged past failures while pointing to progress made in ending load-shedding, building houses, and expanding roads. He also announced a five-year review of the municipal funding model.
However, political analyst Professor Ntsikelelo Breakfast cast doubt on whether the plan would resonate with voters, arguing that it offers little novelty and asks the electorate to trust the party to resolve crisis conditions it originally created.
“With the manifesto the president delivered, I do not see the party getting more than 30% of the vote in the election,” Breakfast argued. “There is nothing new, and what the party promises to fix was created by it, so I wonder how people will trust the party that destroyed the same municipal system they now want to rebuild.”
Regarding tender patronage, Breakfast added that because much of the corruption is carried out by party members, it remains unclear how executive oversight alone will prevent recurring abuse.
Echoing Breakfast’s assessment, Professor Musa Xulu noted that the document contained only two notable departures from previous campaigns: the proposed creation of an investment office and the drafting of specific municipal manifestos. Otherwise, he argued, the promises mirror previous declarations.
“Many of the things the president said were said many times before, and we will see after the elections whether it will win votes for the party,” Xulu observed.
The manifesto launch came shortly after the ANC adjusted its campaign schedule; rather than naming its final mayoral candidates over the weekend as originally planned, the party released a list of nominees, deferring final announcements to September.
willem.phungula@nationalmg.co.za