Ramaphosa asks voters to give ANC another chance as party admits failures

President Cyril Ramaphosa urged voters to give the ANC another chance as the party launched its manifesto in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, ahead of the 4 November local government elections. In his address the party president acknowledged both the ANC’s achievements since 1994 and its failures in service delivery.

Honest admission and a plea for renewal

Ramaphosa said the ANC would not shy away from admitting mistakes.

“We will not mince our words and not run away from the reality that confronts our people. We will admit that, yes, we’ve worked together with our people to make tremendous progress, but we will similarly say there had been weaknesses, there had been failures and we will admit them as the ANC,”

The president asked voters to judge the party on its willingness to confront weaknesses, correct mistakes and choose better leaders.

“We do not ask people to forget what did not work. We ask them to judge us on our willingness to confront failure, to confront the weaknesses, to correct our mistakes, to choose better leaders and to enforce accountability,”

Service delivery: progress and remaining challenges

Ramaphosa highlighted progress on service delivery, including an end to nationwide load shedding. He noted that 460 days had passed since the country last experienced load shedding and said seven of nine provinces were free from load reduction, naming Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal as exceptions the department of electricity was working to resolve.

Mayoral candidates and party caution

The ANC said it had only released shortlisted mayoral candidates rather than final names and undertook to publicise the final list next month. Independent political analyst Goodenough Mashego told the publication it was understandable the party held off announcing full lists, saying it was an ANC tradition not to hurry such announcements and that

“They don’t want to put targets on the back of people.”

Mashego also said the ANC faced strong opposition in metros such as Johannesburg and that the party might seek a high-profile candidate, adding it was

“in panic because it is facing strong opposition candidates in metros like Joburg, where they might want a ‘big fish’ candidate like Frank Chikane.”

Commitments on local government delivery

Ramaphosa said the next phase of local government must focus on implementing ANC policies and delivering results. He pledged the party would accelerate upgrading informal settlements and deliver title deeds, and said every metro must become an engine of local development, not an obstacle to it.

On municipal administration, he warned municipalities against delaying trading licences and approvals, and said capable people would be deployed while those who did not perform would be removed.