ANC presents manifesto ahead of South African municipal elections
The African National Congress (ANC) presented its election manifesto in the Diepsloot area of Johannesburg ahead of municipal elections scheduled for November 4. The event took place in a public park in the Riverside settlement rather than at a large stadium, where the party had held previous presentations of its programs.
As Daily Maverick writes, the ANC considers Riverside an example of a housing project for low-income communities. The settlement is located between impoverished Diepsloot, affluent Fourways and Steyn City. Among its residents are people relocated from uninhabitable land in Alexandra.
The publication notes that Riverside is a project with a mixed income level among residents. At the same time, some residents complain about problems of neglect similar to those faced by other communities. In the author’s view, the small format of the event may also have reduced the risk of empty seats while allowing the party to showcase this housing project.
Delays in candidate selection
Before the manifesto presentation, the ANC missed several deadlines for announcing candidates for mayoral positions in metropolitan areas and smaller cities. The party had said it would publish the nominations at an event in Sandton, but instead of a final list, it presented expanded lists of contenders.
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After that, the ANC’s National Executive Committee held meetings to finalize the lists. The party also said that its local councilors must have a certificate of complete general secondary education or an equivalent qualification. Those who do not have such a document are planned to be given 12 months after the elections to obtain it.
Factional struggle
The Daily Maverick author links the ANC’s current difficulties to a prolonged decline in electoral support and factions’ struggle for control over local structures. The publication recalls that in the 2016 local elections, the party lost its previously guaranteed majority in most metropolitan areas and lost power in major cities in Gauteng province and in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality.
According to the publication’s assessment, the trend intensified in the 2019 and 2024 general elections, as well as in the 2021 local elections. Internal competition in the ANC, the author notes, is linked to the national conference in December 2027, where a successor to party president Cyril Ramaphosa and new leadership are to be elected. Control over local branches is important for building support for candidates at that conference.
