Ramaphosa urges ANC to fix service delivery failures ahead of expected bruising polls

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday urged his co-ruling African National Congress to address its dismal record on providing basic services, ahead of local elections in which the ANC’s share of the vote is widely expected to slide.

Africa’s most industrialised country must hold local elections before November, and the ANC often does worse in local polls than national, as voters vent their frustrations over leaky water pipes, sewage discharges and crumbling roads.

“The first task for our movement in 2026 is to fix local government and improve services,” Ramaphosa told his party at a televised event in Rustenburg, Northwest Province, to celebrate its 114th birthday.

In the 2021 local election, the ANC won less than half of the votes for the first time since the 1994 end of white minority rule, in what turned out to be a forerunner for national polls less than three years later when the party lost its majority.

“Municipalities must … fulfill their basic obligations,” Ramaphosa said. “They must fix potholes, remove refuse regularly (and) provide clean water and sanitation”.

The ANC was celebrated for unifying a country divided along race lines, and for one of the world’s most progressive constitutions and judiciaries. 

It punches above its weight diplomatically, bringing a genocide case against Israel and securing a G20 summit declaration despite a U.S. boycott.

At the same time, its record on more mundane tasks, such as repairing drains and staffing schools, has been poor.

Ramaphosa said chronic power shortages had ended, but some municipalities continued to have local outages. He pledged 54 billion rand ($3.28 billion) in state funding for water and power infrastructure.

Though growth has improved, unemployment remains high, and many young people were starting to “question whether our democracy … and indeed our movement really work for them,” Ramaphosa said.

• Reporting by Tim Cocks