THEMBISA, Gauteng — The African National Congress (ANC) has intensified its Ekurhuleni campaign, with President Cyril Ramaphosa leading door-to-door voter outreach ahead of the 4 November local government elections. During this grassroots push, the ANC leadership directly confronted pressing service delivery failures and ongoing administrative hurdles regarding candidate list submissions.
President Ramaphosa and provincial officials spent the day interacting with local residents in Thembisa, Extension 6. The campaign trail consistently drew large crowds, with a notable presence of young voters engaging directly with the President about community-specific challenges.
A stark example of these challenges was highlighted by residents regarding local infrastructure. In Thembisa Extension 6, one side of a street has electricity, while the other side has been without power for five years, soon turning into six. A local resident explained to the campaign team that the prolonged outage is due to an unresolved transformer issue.
Upon hearing this, President Ramaphosa, alongside the Premier and the Mayor of Ekurhuleni, expressed strong dissatisfaction. Ramaphosa explicitly labeled the situation as “unacceptable,” warning that such service delivery failures will guarantee the loss of votes for the ANC. He made a personal promise to the community to return and ensure the transformer issue is rectified, acknowledging that electricity and water remain the dominant concerns for residents.
Beyond service delivery, the ANC is navigating an administrative headache concerning the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). Following the IEC’s 28 August deadline, the party faced challenges in registering some of its candidate lists. While over 90% of the candidate lists were successfully submitted, the ANC has opted to take the matter to the electoral court. President Ramaphosa addressed this by stating that the electoral court exists precisely to test such issues, adding that it is premature to speculate on the outcome or how it might affect the ANC’s electoral performance.
The stakes remain exceptionally high for the ANC in the Ekurhuleni Metro and other major metropolitan areas. Current political speculation suggests the party may face stiff competition and could potentially lose its outright majority in several of these key municipalities as the 4 November elections approach.
