JOHANNESBURG – ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has admitted to his party’s failures over the years but has promised South Africans that they will do better.
Ramaphosa was unveiling the ANC’s six-point turnaround plan to win back votes ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections.
South Africans head to the polls on 4 November.
“We have now built millions of houses. We have laid kilometers and kilometers of water pipes and electricity lines. We have constructed roads; we have built clinics, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities and opened opportunities that did not exist before for people of our country.
“Much of this progress has been achieved through an ANC-led government.
“We must also speak with honesty: in too many municipalities, comrades, services are unreliable. Infrastructure is deteriorating and communities wait too long to have their problems solved.
“There are water treatment plants that are not properly maintained; the pipes that should deliver and transport the water are aging and are deteriorating, which is a continuous problem.
“Streetlights that remain broken and refuse that is not collected.
“There are municipalities, we must admit, that are in financial trouble. There are municipalities that have been weakened by poor leadership, political instability, corruption and the appointment of people who do not have the skills required for the work that they must perform.
“Now, as the ANC, we comrades accept responsibility both for the progress that has been made, but we also accept responsibility for the failures and shortcomings where we govern.
“We will not mince our words and we will not run away from the reality that confronts our people. We will not seek to explain away the frustration of our people. We feel our people's frustration. We will not dismiss the anger that our people feel. We will not ask communities to accept our excuses where they have a right to expect us to do more,” he said.
He said if citizens vote them into power, work will begin immediately after election day.
“The work will begin on the first day after the election. We are going to clock it. We're going to clock it. ANC mayors and councilors must publish their priorities. They must establish service delivery baselines and show measurable progress on the most urgent problems facing the communities.
“The 2026 local government manifesto of the African National Congress includes a tracking mechanism through which councillors will account for implementation. Yesterday I said this mechanism is going to be like a radar screen where you see everything that's happening in our municipalities.
“That just goes to show the level of seriousness by the African National Congress on ensuring that this time around, we are serious about rebuilding our municipalities.”
Here are the six priorities the ANC promises to focus on:
Provide Water, electricity and basic services
Create More Work and Attract Investment
Build Safer Streets, Cleaner Neighborhoods, and Healthier Communities
Ensure Sound Municipal Finances
Build Municipalities Led Well and Run Honestly
Build Municipalities That Listen to Residents and Account to Them