Ramaphosa sends a warning to the ANC

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told his African National Congress party that a failure to tackle municipal dysfunction in next year’s local government elections could cost it dearly.

Ramaphosa’s warning, made at the opening of a meeting of the National Executive Committee of South Africa’s biggest party, comes after reports in local media of plunging support in cities such as Johannesburg. Those reports cited internal polls done for the Democratic Alliance, the ANC’s biggest rival.

“Failure at the local government level feeds into a narrative about a failing and declining ANC and thus provides further ammunition for our detractors,” he said at the meeting east of Johannesburg on Saturday.

“This is going to be a true litmus test for us as the African National Congress, particularly in the forthcoming local government elections.”

The ANC convened the meeting to strategise ahead of the elections amid a drumbeat of newspaper headlines about corruption scandals and municipal failings in the country’s biggest cities.

The party leads shaky coalitions in Johannesburg, the country’s biggest city, and Tshwane, a municipal area that includes the capital Pretoria. It also runs the coastal city of Durban, while the DA is in charge of Cape Town. 

“Corruption, mismanagement, and an outrageous lack of consequence management and accountability allow dysfunctionality to continue with impunity,” he said.

“The ANC therefore needs to be bold in taking action to resolve the dysfunctionality at the local government level by dealing with this elephant of corruption and malfeasance.”