BENONI, Gauteng — As the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) gears up for the 2026 local government elections, Bishop Dalton Adams, an ACDP National Executive Committee (NEC) member, has outlined the party’s comprehensive manifesto aimed at restoring ethical governance and fixing crumbling municipal infrastructure. Launched officially on August 15 at the eMseni Christian Centre in Benoni, the strategic plan sets a clear trajectory for the November 4 polls, emphasizing merit-based appointments, utility grid stability, and community-driven service delivery.
Core Pillars of the ACDP Manifesto
The ACDP’s strategic commitments for the upcoming municipal elections are built on five foundational pillars designed to address the systemic failures in South Africa’s local government:
- Ethical Leadership and Merit-Based Appointments: The party pledges zero tolerance for corruption and an end to cadre deployment. A key focus is robust whistleblower protection, ensuring security and backing for municipal audit staff, forensic investigators, and those exposing corruption.
- Infrastructure Upgrades and Revenue Ring-Fencing: The manifesto proposes ring-fencing municipal revenue generated from water and electricity sales. These funds would be directly reinvested into expanding, maintaining, and upgrading aging grid infrastructure, with explicit budgeting for fixing leaking water networks, repairing damaged sewage pipelines, and resurfacing deteriorating roads.
- Energy Security and Grid Stability: Advocating for a balanced energy mix, the ACDP supports clean coal technology for base-load power while enabling capable municipalities to procure renewable energy directly from independent power producers (IPPs). The plan also includes modernizing local municipal networks, stamping out illegal connections, and allowing commercial enterprises like mines, farms, and factories to generate their own power and feed excess energy back into local grids.
- Community Safety and Bylaw Enforcement: The party plans to enforce municipal bylaws by training and expanding municipal law enforcement officers, capacitating municipal courts, and reviewing fine schedules to address public disorder. Prioritizing local policing resources will focus on protecting vulnerable groups, including women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.
- Social Safety Nets and Faith-Based Partnerships: The ACDP advocates for the active inclusion of faith-based organizations (FBOs), churches, and community nonprofits to assist in providing social services, youth development, and community support. This includes targeted indigent relief and strengthening the indigent register to ensure households living below the poverty line receive reliable free basic water and electricity.
Bridging the Governance Gap
Speaking on the current state of municipalities, Bishop Adams highlighted a massive gulf between the executive administration and the people. Citing recent tragic events involving loss of life due to lawlessness, he emphasized that such incidents are a clear indication that current systems are failing.
“You have to bring the people into the fray,” Bishop Adams stated, noting that the ACDP does not intend to discard existing frameworks. Instead, the party aims to return to base documents like the Constitution, the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), the Municipal Structures Act, and the Municipal Systems Act, ensuring that prescripts and directives are actually followed rather than ignored in favor of untested innovation.
Addressing urban planning, Bishop Adams criticized the historical neglect of townships in favor of inner-city revitalization. He stressed the need to redirect budgets to areas like Alexandra, Orange Farm, and other surrounding communities so that residents experience the same intensity of political will and service delivery as those in the inner city.
Accountability and “Boots on the Ground”
A major theme of the ACDP’s approach is councilor accountability. Bishop Adams argued that underperforming or non-performing councilors currently face no real consequences, often protected by their parties rather than serving the people.
The ACDP proposes a mechanism allowing communities to petition for the removal of failing councilors. Furthermore, the party mandates that its elected representatives maintain a “boots on the ground” presence, requiring them to hold regular public meetings and report back to their communities on council resolutions. Bishop Adams confirmed that the ACDP has already begun measuring its councilors’ performance based on their community engagement and public participation efforts between 2021 and the 2026 election cycle.
Tackling Utility Crises and Economic Dependency
On the critical issues of water and electricity, Bishop Adams addressed the culture of non-payment and the strain on the fiscus. He called for rigorous audits of the indigent register to ensure that exemptions for electricity and water are correctly applied to the elderly and those who genuinely cannot afford to pay, while holding the broader resident base accountable for contributing revenue.
With municipal debtors’ books reaching an estimated R200 billion and annual provincial grants totaling R96 billion, Bishop Adams stressed that this is insufficient without private sector investment. Rebuilding trust between investors and local government is essential to combat the corruption and malfeasance that have historically deterred private funding.
To combat catastrophic youth unemployment, the ACDP advocates for localized job creation. The party proposes training community members to service their own areas, reopening local factories, and providing strictly accountable business grants to local entrepreneurs. Bishop Adams also outlined a vision to transition individuals away from long-term dependency on grants and vegetable parcels by integrating skills development programs (such as hairdressing or nail technology) with community work, such as cleaning up illegal dumping, to foster self-sustainability.
Values, Faith, and Community Safety
The ACDP manifesto also addresses the moral fabric of society, echoing Nelson Mandela’s vision of parallel reconstruction: rebuilding both physical infrastructure and the “soul” of the nation. Bishop Adams emphasized that this begins with restoring family values, respect in schools, and the Ubuntu principle of communal responsibility.
Addressing the party’s stance on biblical law, Bishop Adams clarified that while the ACDP is firmly rooted in biblical principles—noting that over 85% of the country identifies as Christian—the party respects freedom of religion. The focus is on promoting universal, unwritten laws of mutual respect and shared values across all faiths.
Additionally, the party has taken a firm stance against false accusations (often referred to as “bombasaka”), advocating for strict consequence management. If a court finds that an accusation was made maliciously and without proof, the accuser should face the same severity of consequence as the alleged crime, protecting the reputations of innocent individuals from being permanently ruined.
As the November 4 local government elections approach, the ACDP positions itself as a stabilizing partner in coalition governments, ready to deliver a balanced, ethical, and community-focused alternative for South Africa’s municipalities.
