Global leaders want to emulate ANC governance – Fikile Mbalula

African National Congress (ANC) Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula believes that others around the world aspire to emulate South Africa’s ANC-led government.

The Secretary General’s comments came after South Africa was mentioned by the new Mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, during his inauguration speech on 1 January.

Addressing the public of New York City, Mamdani said that his administration will ‘deliver an agenda of safety, affordability, and abundance, where governance looks and lives like the people it represents.’

“In so doing, we will provide our own answer to that age-old question – who does New York belong to?” he said. 

“Well, my friends, we can look to Madiba and the South African Freedom Charter: New York ‘belongs to all who live in it’,” Mamdani said, quoting the Freedom Charter.

Mamdani used Nelson Mandela’s administration to illustrate how he plans to transform New York from a city governed only “by the 1%” or by the rich, into a multicultural society, guided by respect for all those who live in New York. 

Sharing media coverage of the speech on social media platform X, with the headline “Mayor Mamdani: South Africa is the model for New York,” Mbalula said that ANC policies have made it a global example of what democracy should look like. 

“The ANC-led South Africa, with all its challenges, remains the example of what a democratic society should look like and operate,” he said. 

“This country at the tip of Africa safeguards the rights of the poorest, holds free and fair elections, protects the rights of the most vulnerable in society, women and children, and provides basic social relief.”

The Secretary General said that the ANC’s policies and successes in providing RDP housing, free basic education, NSFAS, minimum wage and accessible healthcare have made it such an example.

“It’s not a surprise then that our model of governance is an example that others around the globe want to emulate,” he said. 

“Without sounding exceptional, South Africa, through ANC resolutions and policies, remains the shining lighthouse on a hill.”

ANC policies a shining example of good governance – Mbalula

Mbalula’s praise for the ANC’s allocation of RDP housing comes only one day after he made a speech in the North West province, telling the crowd that “we need to resolve the issue of the allocation of RDP houses.”

He added, speaking on the sidelines of the North West event, that the community said there was a “general problem with NSFAS”.

Additionally, the most recent Household Affordability Index from the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group found that the national minimum wage of R28.79 per hour, or R4,836.72, is not enough to survive on.

“The wage workers earn is not just to sustain themselves alone, it is used to support the entire family. For black South African workers, one wage must typically support 3.9 people,” the index said. 

The cost of a basic nutritional food basket for a family of four stands at R3,678.87 in December 2025, and the index found that electricity and transport costs take up over 60% of a worker’s wage. 

Mamadani’s reference to South Africa’s Freedom Charter comes at a time when relations between the United States and the South African government are strained. 

Following the imposition of an export tariff and the US’s boycott of the 2025 G20 Leaders Summit hosted by South Africa, US President Donald Trump vowed that South Africa will not be invited to any G20 events hosted by the US, which took over the G20 presidency for 2026. 

In the latest clash, the ANC has widely condemned the US military action in Venezuela that saw President Nicolas Maduro and his wife captured. 

Speaking on these recent events, Mbalula said that the ANC is “making its stance very clear that what has happened [in Venezuela], we define as imperial aggression by the superpower that is the United States.”