‘ANC is doing things differently’
President Cyril Ramaphosa will tomorrow plead with South Africans to give the ANC another shot at governing, when he launches the party’s election manifesto in Pretoria.
Ramaphosa will tell voters that his party will adopt the district development model, to improve the running of municipalities.
This would ensure that the national and provincial governments are involved in the planning, budgeting and monitoring of projects — and make it easier for the national government to intervene when things go wrong.
Ramaphosa’s party hopes to regain control of metros it lost in the 2016 local government elections. The only metros that the ANC governs with a majority are eThekwini, Buffalo City and Mangaung. It runs Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni through coalitions with smaller parties.
The president is expected to tell potential voters that his party has done things differently this time around to ensure good governance at local level — by involving communities in its councillor candidate selection processes.
According to an ANC document seen by the Sunday Times, Ramaphosa will hinge his speech on a claim that the party has done a lot to ensure it installs capable people as mayors and senior municipal officials.
The ANC has implemented a policy that requires all mayors to be taken through an interview and vetting process, and they are expected to submit to a lifestyle audit.
The party has also relied on community meetings to decide who it nominates as councillors. This, Ramaphosa will say tomorrow, is all aimed at improving the quality of service delivery.
“To improve quality of leadership in local government, the ANC has done things differently and better this time by improving consultation and oversight by involving communities in the selection of ANC ward candidates,” the party’s manifesto reads.
It speaks of “thoroughly interviewing all mayoral candidates and checking their backgrounds to determine their strengths and weaknesses and ensure the best candidates are selected”.
On electricity, Ramaphosa will promise that his party will ensure more people are connected by tackling the waiting period between applying for and getting power.
“At present, people, especially in rural areas, wait for six months to one year or more after applying for household electricity connection. We will reduce this waiting period to not more than 90 days,” reads the document.
He is also expected to tell supporters that his government will focus on improving local economies to boost job creation.
The ANC promises to support those who sell fresh produce at the side of roads by placing them and their stalls on “busy streets and at nodes with pedestrians”.
It will also “develop fresh produce markets and promote sale of foodstuffs in townships in [community-owned] stores”.
Ramaphosa is also expected to promise that should his party be given another chance at governing, it will “establish business activities, particularly manufacturing, in and close to townships so that people can live closer to their places of work”.
It will also “reduce red tape for SMMEs and informal business by speeding up approvals and reducing licensing costs”.
More Wi-Fi hotspots will be rolled out in communities at libraries, hospitals, clinics and schools, among others.
He will also say that the ANC will develop a “night-time economy” by calling on businesses, retailers and sporting and leisure venues to stay open until late.
Ramaphosa is also expected to acknowledge that governance at local level is “too complex and slow-moving”.
“While we have good policies and laws, we recognise that we must improve our performance; leadership is often weak and there is insufficient engagement with local communities.
“Many municipalities are not functioning well and many councillors are not focused on serving communities that elected them,” he is expected to say.