ANC Local Government Promises Face Governance 101 Test

The ANC’s 2026 election manifesto makes an unusually direct admission about the state of local government, acknowledging that many municipalities are failing to provide reliable services, maintain infrastructure and manage their finances effectively.

The manifesto says residents experience these failures through recurring water shortages, broken streetlights and confusing municipal bills. It also acknowledges deteriorating infrastructure, slow implementation, financial distress, corruption and weak leadership in some municipalities.

But measured against the Daily Maverick Manifesto Test, many of the party’s proposed solutions amount to restoring basic municipal functions rather than setting out a transformative programme for local government.

Water And Sanitation Remain Basic Tests Of Government

The ANC promises to address recurring water and sanitation failures by repairing and upgrading ageing infrastructure, reducing leaks and water losses, preventing sewer spillages, improving water demand management and strengthening wastewater treatment.

It also wants municipalities to develop alternative water sources, including groundwater, water reuse, desalination and rainwater harvesting.

One of the manifesto’s measurable targets is to reduce non-revenue water — water that is produced but does not generate revenue, often because of leaks or other losses — to below 30% in every metropolitan municipality.

The party further says municipalities should spend at least 8% of the value of their assets each year on infrastructure maintenance and renewal.

These commitments address some of the most visible failures experienced by residents, but they also raise a basic question about the level of ambition.

Repairing leaks, maintaining infrastructure and allocating money to prevent the deterioration of municipal assets are fundamental responsibilities of functioning local government. Their inclusion as headline election promises therefore highlights the extent to which basic municipal administration remains a political challenge.

Electricity, Streetlights And Roads

The manifesto similarly places reliable municipal electricity services at the centre of its local government programme.

The ANC says the progress made nationally in ending load shedding needs to be reflected at municipal level. It proposes upgrades to municipal electricity distribution networks, greater network capacity, smart metering, improved fault response and measures to reduce technical and non-technical losses.

Municipalities would also be expected to strengthen their electricity-generation capabilities and protect infrastructure from theft, vandalism and illegal connections.

The manifesto promises greater transparency in electricity billing, including an unbundled municipal bill that allows residents to see clearly what they are being charged for.

Streetlights receive particular attention, including in connection with the party’s approach to women’s safety.

Yet, as with water infrastructure, repairing failed streetlights is hardly a new ambition for local government. The fact that such repairs remain an election commitment in 2026 underlines the persistence of problems that municipalities have been expected to address for decades.

Road maintenance receives similar treatment.

The ANC proposes that the first 100 days of municipal government should focus on visible basic services in every ward, including repairing potholes and streetlights, fixing water leaks and sewer problems, clearing illegal dumping, unblocking stormwater drains, cutting overgrown vegetation, cleaning public spaces and repairing road markings and signage.

Over the full municipal term, it promises to repair roads under municipal control, including potholes, bridges, drainage and stormwater infrastructure.

The party also proposes improvements to taxi ranks, including shelters, ablution facilities, lighting, cameras and trading areas. It says municipalities should engage formally with the taxi industry through integrated transport plans.

Again, these are largely measures aimed at restoring municipal infrastructure and services rather than introducing a fundamentally different model of local government.

The Manifesto Acknowledges The Scale Of Failure

The significance of the ANC’s local government proposals lies partly in the frankness with which the manifesto describes the problems they are intended to solve.

It acknowledges that communities continue to experience unreliable services and deteriorating infrastructure, while some municipalities face financial distress, corruption and weak leadership.

The manifesto’s programme is therefore built around a familiar list of municipal failures: unreliable water supplies, sewer spillages, electricity disruptions, damaged roads, broken streetlights, illegal dumping and poorly maintained public infrastructure.

Its proposed response is to make municipalities more functional by repairing infrastructure, improving maintenance, reducing losses and strengthening service delivery.

That may address immediate problems facing residents, but the commitments also expose the limited distance between what the ANC is promising in 2026 and what residents have long expected municipalities to deliver as a matter of course.

The manifesto’s challenge is therefore not simply whether its promises are desirable. It is whether commitments to fix potholes, repair streetlights, stop leaks, maintain infrastructure and provide reliable basic services represent a sufficiently ambitious programme for a governing party confronting persistent local-government failures.

The supplied manifesto material also identifies sewer failures as a recurring problem, although the available section does not provide further specific commitments beyond the broader sanitation measures outlined above.