The ANC’s election campaign finally got out of the starting blocks on Thursday, a week after opposition parties launched their battle plans for the local government elections as a cash crunch and disputes over candidate lists sidetracked the governing party.
The party's chances of reversing setbacks in the 2016 local polls, which saw it lose control of metros such as Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape and the City of Johannesburg were almost dealt a fatal blow when it missed a deadline to field candidates on time in dozens of constituencies.
Having first tried to blame that on technical problems at the Electoral Commission of SA before owning up to its own organisational chaos, it was given a lifeline when the IEC decided earlier in September to reopen the process to register candidates for an elections that was already set to be the toughest for the ANC since it won power nationally in 1994.
“We have always had difficulties,” ANC head of elections Fikile Mbalula said at a briefing on Thursday as the party insisted it had resolved a series of crises in recent weeks. “The little that we have will deliver victory for the ANC,” he said, alluding to the party’s well-publicised financial problems.
Staff at its Luthuli House headquarters in Johannesburg have endured irregular payments of salaries for years, and the list nomination process of the ANC has been fraught with challenges including threats of court action, protests and violence at branches. That was one of the factors behind its failure to submit candidates in 93 municipalities in time for the IEC’s initial deadline of August 23.
The party said the matter of candidate registration will be finalised at a special national executive committee (NEC) this weekend ahead of the IEC’s new deadline next week.
Mbalula said it was likely some of the disputes would be resolved after the elections, scheduled for November 1. The party’s electoral committee, chaired by former president Kgalema Motlanthe will deal with all disputes.
“The electoral committee has directed that all the disputes lodged in accordance with the rules must be attended to. In some instances there are serious allegations of transgressions including the manipulation of candidate lists,” Mbalula said at the media briefing.
The ANC will launch its manifesto on September 27 in Tshwane. The launch will be a subdued affair compared with previous years, with the party allowing 500 in physical attendance, in accordance with Covid-19 restrictions.
In an election that will also be a test on whether President Cyril Ramaphosa’s pitch that he is renewing and cleansing the party after what he has described as “wasted years” under his predecessor, recent polling suggests that the ANC will struggle. Its reputation has been further tarnished by more recent scandals, while the government’s Covid-19 response contributed to the deepest economic slump in a century and the loss of more than 1-million jobs.
An Ipsos poll last week showed declining support for the ANC, putting it at 49% nationally, down from the 57.5% it won in the 2019 general election. The DA, the polling indicates, failed to capitalise and is down three percentage points to 18%. The EFF posted significant growth at 15%, up from 11%.
Mbalula said though the party will not be campaigning to enter into coalitions, it was not opposed to entering into them should the need arise.
“There is no principled position that we wouldn’t work with this one ... there are no holy cows. If people are prepared to share power with us going forward we are ready to do that,” he said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.