There is so much that has become apparent as the ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa unveiled his party’s 2026 local government election manifesto at Riverside Park in Diepsloot north of Johannesburg last Sunday, ahead of the seventh local government elections on November 4.
Whether the manifesto helps the party make a fresh connection with the electorate will not be clear until after the election results are announced, given that the SACP will compete against the ANC for the same votes in several municipal wards.
What is beyond doubt is that this manifesto proclaims that South Africans do not have to do politics and government in the way the country has long been accustomed to.
Imperfect it may be in striking a balance between being a catalogue of wishes and a programme to fix and renew local government, restore public confidence, improve service delivery, grow local economies and, build resilient and thriving communities, the ANC’s manifesto recognises the country cannot keep the political and economic state of affairs going for much longer.
Its biggest achievement is to put several propositions back into the arena that had been thought extinct, given the fragmented current policy and legislative space.
Yet a strong government is required to ensure that all citizens enjoy human rights, basic services, and an improved quality of life, irrespective of their postal code.
That does not mean all the ANC manifesto propositions deserve the same crop of politicians on offer to provide a new lease of life.
Under the current party leadership, many municipalities are a shadow of their pre-2000 era. Most lack the staff and expertise to use their new money and powers well at a time when many are struggling to do the basics such as collecting bins or filling potholes.
Faced with that reality, the manifesto may not persuade those outside the party’s heartland, but it could fire up traditional supporters, as it promises six key actions aimed at rebuilding public trust and improving service delivery including providing reliable water, sanitation and electricity services, boosting local economic growth and job creation, building safer communities and intensifying the fight against Gender Based Violence.
The ANC’s team might have recognised that possibility. Look at the packing order of the election promises and the choice of Diepsloot as a launch venue.
The sketchy details on what the party has done differently and successfully in the past five years and how it will build on that progress stick out as a disappointment.
That is what Ramaphosa might have had in mind when he said, “We make these commitments knowing that trust is earned through concrete action. We therefore invite every South African to hold us accountable for the commitments we make, the progress we achieve, the results we deliver and any mistakes we make”.
Overall, the ANC’s manifesto is a mixed bag of pledges, with some strange inclusions and other surprising omissions.
Though radical in some ways it is conservative in others. The section on improving the operationalisation of standardised and centralised social assistance indigent policy and the distribution of water and electricity subsidies directly to households is detailed and extensive.
However, the future of food security and poverty alleviation interventions in the face of climate change and volatile global economic markets is perfunctory. Not as much sense of the future exists as there many expect should be.
At over 100 pages, this is a long manifesto. But it is not a suicide note. In terms of its social democratic credentials, it mostly resembles the 2006 manifesto, and its achievement is to expand the limits of the thinkable in South African politics.
Its weakness is that it does too little to make the thinkable seem realistic and practical at a time when many voters perceive the ANC as a liability and impediment to socioeconomic development in many parts of the country because of the corruption and incompetence of many of its cadres.
That reflects Ramaphosa’s preference for energising the existing party support rather than persuading those outside it.
This manifesto may not win the ANC the general election convincingly in all the municipalities previously and currently under its control.
But it could cement its support within its remaining strong party constituencies, keeping it in council chambers and tender-awarding committees.
SA is on the cusp of change. Two things are about to happen, one planned and one unexpected. The change everybody knows about is that more and more municipalities will either switch hands through outright majority victory or through power-sharing arrangements, as voter sentiment leans towards punishing incumbents who failed to deliver on previous election promises.
Making municipal councillors sign performance contracts and declaration of interest documents holds a firm promise to tackle incompetence, corruption, and maladministration but the party and many municipal councils are ill-equipped for an enlarged oversight role.
That is why the ANC manifesto’s augmented accountability pledge will be tricky to deliver at local government level. Consider months and years of non-delivery by the ANC at provincial and national levels.
After all these years of no public disclosures of elected representatives’ and public officials’ performance contracts and sloppy consequence management for poor performance even after numerous audit reports, the size and complexity of this project are becoming clearer, an unbelievable election promise.
The ANC also plans to review the municipal funding model, intensify efforts to combat corruption and place communities at the centre of decision-making. Ramaphosa says residents will have greater oversight of municipal performance through improved systems to report and track service delivery.
But it will take time to introduce the enhanced accountability plan and there are wrinkles to iron out – not least how to avoid municipalities run by coalition partners falling behind.
The reforms in the manifesto will also take a long time to bear fruit for a president and a party in a hurry.
There is no doubt that on the road to transfer power from Westminster to local leaders, Burnham will encounter more than a few potholes. But the path is well worth pursuing.
Daily Dispatch
