The ANC acknowledges its failures, but can it fix the problems it created? We put its local government election pitch through our Manifesto Test.
The most interesting part of the ANC’s election manifesto is how honest it is about the party’s failings: “Many municipalities do not work as they should.”
“Citizens know this from the tap that runs out of water too often, from the streetlight on the corner that goes dark too often, from the bill that arrives with a number that nobody can explain,” it reads.
Communities continue to experience “unreliable services, deteriorating infrastructure, slow implementation, financial distress and, in some municipalities, corruption and weak leadership”, it adds.
Here is how the ANC’s promises measure against the Daily Maverick Manifesto Test.
The ANC says communities continue to experience “dry taps, burst pipes, sewer spillages” and ageing infrastructure.
It promises to “provide reliable water and dignified sanitation by repairing and upgrading ageing infrastructure, reducing water losses and leaks, eliminating sewer spillages, improving water demand management and wastewater treatment”.
Municipalities must also develop alternative water sources, including “groundwater, water reuse, desalination and rainwater harvesting”.
The manifesto sets one important numerical target: non-revenue water must fall below 30% in every metropolitan municipality.
It also says every municipality must invest at least 8% of the value of its assets annually in infrastructure maintenance and renewal.
**Verdict: **It’s an unambitious promise. Controlling leaks and budgeting for infrastructure maintenance is Governance 101.
The ANC says the national progress in ending load shedding “must be matched by improvements in our municipalities”.
It promises to “deliver reliable, affordable and resilient electricity” by upgrading municipal distribution networks, expanding network capacity and smart metering, reducing outages and improving fault response times.
Municipalities must also reduce technical and non-technical losses, strengthen their ability to generate electricity and protect infrastructure from theft, vandalism and illegal connections.
Residents are promised a “transparent, unbundled municipal electricity bill so that residents can clearly see what they are paying for”.
Verdict: The party also places an emphasis on streetlight repairs as a foundation for a women’s safety platform. Again, this is a 1994 promise in 2026 – an example of failure, not of progress.
ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa at the ANC manifesto launch in Johannesburg on 23 August 2026. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sharon Seretlo)
The first 100 days begin with the basics.
The ANC says that in every ward it will “repair streetlights, fix potholes, stop water leaks and sewer spills, clear illegal dumping sites, unblock stormwater drains, cut overgrown vegetation, clean public spaces, and repair road markings and signage”.
Over the full term, municipalities must “fix the roads we own”, including potholes, bridges, drainage and stormwater infrastructure.
On transport, the ANC promises to upgrade taxi ranks with “shelter, ablutions, lighting, cameras and trading spaces” and formally engage the taxi industry through municipal integrated transport plans.
Verdict: What can we say? This is Governance 101 – fixing failures does not a good manifesto make.
The manifesto repeatedly acknowledges sewer failures.
The ANC says municipalities must eliminate sewer spillages, improve wastewater treatment and strengthen water quality through the Blue Drop and Green Drop programmes – these are national reports on the quality of drinking and wastewater.
“E. coli and sewage contamination of rivers and other water sources will be treated as urgent public health risks requiring immediate action.”
Verdict: Can you fix a problem you created at the same level of thinking at which it was created? That’s what voters must decide. We have the right leaders at a national level but failed leaders of infrastructure and water provision at provincial and local spheres of government.
The ANC says: “Poorly lit streets, neglected public spaces and weak emergency services deepen” people’s exposure to crime.
It also draws a clear line around municipal responsibility: “Policing remains primarily the responsibility of SAPS, but local government has a real role to play.”
That role includes street lighting, public spaces, by-law and traffic enforcement, protecting infrastructure and strengthening fire and disaster services.
Within the first 100 days, mayors must convene a Community Safety Forum with SAPS, Community Policing Forums, traditional leaders, faith organisations, women’s organisations and business.
The ANC promises “a monitored camera and lighting plan for every identified crime hotspot”.
Over the term, it says municipalities will strengthen municipal law enforcement and metro police, combat infrastructure theft and extortion and make roads, pedestrian routes, taxi ranks and transport facilities safer.
Verdict: A good plan.
Again, the ANC starts with what is visibly broken.
Its 100-day promise is to “clear illegal dumping sites”, cut overgrown vegetation and clean public spaces.
Over five years, it promises “safer, cleaner and more liveable communities” through maintaining streetlights, parks, taxi ranks, cemeteries, sports facilities and community halls, while addressing “illegal dumping, neglected spaces and abandoned properties”.
Verdict: The manifesto says less, however, about the nuts and bolts of dependable household refuse collection.
The ANC says municipalities should be places “where people can find work, workers can earn a decent income, businesses can grow and invest, and entrepreneurs can build enterprises”.
It also lists what currently gets in the way: “lack of capacity”, “political interference”, “poor strategic leadership”, “lack of efficient bureaucracy”, corruption and inadequate infrastructure.
Its answer is to create “investment-ready municipalities”: digitised business services, reduced licensing backlogs, published turnaround times for planning approvals, building plans and rezoning, and a single municipal point of contact for investors and entrepreneurs.
CBDs, town centres and township business districts are to be revitalised through better infrastructure, safety and cleanliness, as well as “City Improvement Districts, precinct renewal and public-private partnerships”.
Municipalities must pay every compliant supplier within 30 days.
By 2031, the ANC wants municipal procurement to move towards 40% for women-owned businesses, 20% for youth-owned businesses and 3% for enterprises owned by people with disabilities.
**Verdict: **Procurement shouldn’t drive local economic development thinking – it’s a recipe for patronage politics.
The ANC says it will “build sustainable and integrated human settlements” by completing existing projects, upgrading informal settlements, expanding serviced sites, improving land-use planning and supporting affordable and social housing.
It says development must reverse apartheid spatial patterns by reducing “the distance and cost between homes, work, education and services”.
On homelessness, the wording is particularly explicit.
Municipalities must “support homeless residents with dignity while maintaining safe public spaces”, expand shelters and social services and work on reintegration.
“Enforcement must come with referral and support, not simply moving people from one public space to another.”
The ANC also promises to reclaim hijacked buildings and unlawfully occupied properties and restore them to uses including “affordable housing, student accommodation and community facilities”.
Verdict: The ANC has made these promises repeatedly: more homeless shelters; planning to end spatial apartheid; more social housing.
ANC manifesto launch posters near Riverside Park ahead of the 23 August 2026 event. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)
The ANC identifies “drug abuse” as among the threats facing communities.
Its municipal response is to “tackle substance abuse and drug-related harm” by enforcing by-laws against unlawful liquor outlets and public nuisances, strengthening referrals to treatment and social services and working with schools, health services, SAPS and communities on drug-related crime.
Verdict: There is no large new municipal treatment or rehabilitation programme set out in the manifesto.
Here the ANC again supplies its own critique.
“Too often, municipalities build these facilities and fail to maintain and manage them properly.”
“Multipurpose centres become white elephants and vandalised without regular programmes and maintenance.”
Then comes one of the manifesto’s best lines: “The answer is not more concrete. It is a calendar and a caretaker.”
The ANC says municipalities must provide parks, libraries, sports fields, swimming pools, community halls and other spaces in which people can “live active, dignified and fulfilling lives”.
Its five-year target is that every municipal sports facility, community hall and library in an ANC-led municipality should be “opened, lit, accessible, programmed and connected”.
On participation, the ANC promises monthly public ward meetings where councillors report on delivery.
It also proposes a monthly “repair clock”, published by ward, covering water, sewerage, electricity, streetlights, potholes and refuse, with service standards met in at least 85% of cases.
And within the first 100 days, every ANC-led municipality must publish a Ward Delivery Schedule listing funded national and provincial projects, the responsible department, project name and plan.
The ANC puts it this way: “A promise you can hold us to is a promise with a project name and a timeline attached.”
Verdict: If you plan to vote for the ANC, pin up its 100-day promises and knock on doors, WhatsApp your councillor and camp out at its offices. We like the calendar and caretaker, not more concrete.
The ANC starts with the electoral reality.
Its national municipal vote dropped from 53.9% in 2016 to 45.59% in 2021, while the number of hung councils rose from 27 to 66. It says voters “were no longer prepared to give us an automatic mandate”.
For 2026, the party says every ANC coalition agreement must be “written and publicly available”.
Coalition agreements must protect “the budget process, professional administration and service delivery from political deadlock”.
And the ANC says: “The ANC will not enter or sustain arrangements that place narrow political interests above those of residents”.
**Verdict: **Ask which parties your chosen party will enter coalition agreements with.
The ANC’s 100-day pledges hold its candidates to a clock. This is interesting and the first time the party offers a clear accountability timeline.
The ruin of the local state by the ANC means its manifesto is good to look at, nice to read, but hard to believe. DM
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