ANC to go on roadshow showcasing work done to improve service delivery

The African National Congress (ANC) said it will be going on a roadshow to metro municipalities to showcase the work it has done to improve service delivery as it gears up for the local government election campaign.

ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula has suggested service delivery failures, particularly in Johannesburg, began when the city started being governed by a coalition of parties.

Mbalula said the ANC’s campaign in the upcoming elections will focus on winning an outright majority and not to govern with other parties.

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The ANC said it’s not its preference to govern with other parties, and the instability in Johannesburg, with six mayors since the 2021 elections, has led to the many service delivery problems.

Mbalula maintains that under the mayorships of Parks Tau and Amos Masondo, Johannesburg was well-governed.

He said the party is in favour of a legislative proposal to introduce a threshold for smaller parties to enter councils.

“We have made people in this country with one seat, mayors. Do we have a choice? We don’t, we have to sing along. Even if we know we have capabilities, but for us to govern, we need that person.”

The party said interventions it has introduced as part of its campaign to fix municipalities, including removing mayors, have already led to better outcomes.

It will now go on a road trip to highlight the impact.

“Everywhere where you are in charge, people judge you on the standards of what you have done and your good intentions through your manifesto of what you say you can do, and on the basis of that, people make up their mind.”

Mbalula said the ANC is unfussed by the Democratic Alliance (DA)’s Helen Zille drawing attention to service delivery failures in Johannesburg through quirky videos, saying he considers those to be a public relations stunt, rather than an electoral campaign.