President Cyril Ramaphosa dropped a truth bomb at the ANC’s councillor roll call in Soweto on Monday, admitting that ANC-run municipalities are lagging behind – and, in a plot twist, suggested they take notes from DA-led ones like Cape Town and Stellenbosch. 😲
Yep, you read that right.
This rare nod to the opposition, delivered to over 4000 ANC councillors, highlighted the dire state of local governance, with Auditor General reports showing ANC-led municipalities spiralling into dysfunction over the years.
Ramaphosa admitted it “pains” him that DA-led municipalities often secure better audit outcomes and deliver services more effectively. “We need to ask what they’re doing better than us,” he said, pointing to Cape Town as a model. ANC chair Gwede Mantashe piled on, joking that ANC councillors are great at singing but lack “capacity dololo” (nothing). 😅
The DA’s Helen Zille gleefully welcomed the praise, saying it proves their focus on clean governance. But ANC councillors like Phelelani Sindani called it “sabotage,” arguing it undermines the party ahead of elections. Cosatu echoed this, blasting Ramaphosa for comparing ANC councils to the DA’s.
Mapetla ward 16 councillor Gift Mathe also pushed back, saying ANC councillors quietly deliver—securing water, food parcels, and burials—without the DA’s PR flair. Analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast warned that the DA model isn’t flawless, pointing to stark inequalities in Cape Town between the glossy CBD and struggling areas like Langa.
Still, Johannesburg is Exhibit A when it comes to the ANC’s failures. In decline for over a decade, the city is currently in the grip of a worsening water crisis, with some communities left dry for over a week. Residents in Westbury and Coronationville, hit by week-long outages, faced rubber bullets during protests last week.
Mayor Dada Morero has promised fixes – and insists the R4 billion that was mentioned as missing in a recent parliament session from Joburg Water’s accounts was just reallocated for citywide expenses like salaries and roads.
But critics aren’t convinced: projects are stalling, contractors remain unpaid, and residents’ taps are still dry. Activist group WaterCAN’s Ferrial Adam has demanded proof of where the money’s gone when infrastructure’s crumbling. 💦
Ramaphosa’s call for the ANC to learn from the DA is a rare moment of candour. Whether the ANC councillors in question actually listen (and if mayors like Morero can turn promises into working taps) will partially determine if the ANC lives to fight another term come next year’s local elections.
