ANC Unveils 2026 Local Government Election Manifesto with Six Point Plan

President Cyril Ramaphosa launched the African National Congress (ANC) manifesto for the 2026 local government elections on Sunday, August 23, at Riverside in Diepsloot, Johannesburg. The manifesto is centered on a six point plan of action focusing on the delivery of basic services, job creation, community safety, municipal finance, and accountable leadership. Key promises include providing affordable water and electricity, upgrading informal settlements, and reducing municipal debt owed to Eskom and water boards by at least 30 percent by 2031. The party also targets a 50 percent rate of clean or unqualified audit outcomes for municipalities and pledges to eliminate unfunded budgets within the first two years of the new term.

To fund infrastructure and reduce debt, the ANC plans to diversify revenue instruments and mobilize investment through the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the Infrastructure Finance and Implementation Support Agency, and private sector financing. On service delivery, the party intends to reduce reliance on consultants and outsourcing by building internal municipal capacity. Ramaphosa highlighted the country's progress in ending load shedding, though reports on the duration of this progress varied between 100 and 400 days.

Center left coverage framed the event as a reheating of old promises made in 2021, noting that the party is campaigning from a position of weakness due to plummeting support and a failure to name mayoral candidates for eight metros. In contrast, center right coverage focused on the specific technical targets of the plan, such as the debt reduction percentages and the proposed overhaul of the municipal funding model. Separately, the South African Communist Party (SACP) is contesting the elections independently for the first time, proposing a manifesto based on public ownership and insourcing essential work rather than private sector participation.