EKURHULENI, GAUTENG — The African National Congress (ANC) is making a decisive push to govern alone in South Africa’s key municipalities, launching a critical voter registration campaign in Ekurhuleni to reverse recent electoral declines. With President Cyril Ramaphosa leading the grassroots mobilization, the ruling party is targeting a solo majority ahead of the upcoming November 4 polls, acknowledging that reclaiming lost ground in coalition-heavy metros will be a formidable challenge.
Reclaiming Lost Ground in Coalition-Heavy Metros
Ramaphosa kicked off the weekend registration drive at a primary school in Ward 80, an area where the party’s political dominance has severely eroded over the past decade. While the ANC held a clean majority in the Ekurhuleni metro less than ten years ago, its support plummeted below the 50 percent threshold in 2016. By the 2021 local elections, the party secured only 86 out of 224 council seats.
This steep decline has resulted in fragile coalition politics and administrative instability, highlighted by recent shake-ups to the local mayoral committee in February. Addressing the party’s strategic turnaround, ANC Acting National Spokesperson Nonceba Mhlauli noted that while the organization naturally prefers to govern alone as the country’s largest political force, they respect the electorate’s previous mandates for coalition governance. However, Mhlauli emphasized that the party has a four-month window to put its best foot forward and prove its worth to voters.
Fixing Local Government and Cleaning the Rot
To combat these electoral losses, the ANC declared 2026 the “year to fix local government and transform the economy” during its January 8th statement. This initiative builds upon a local government action plan adopted last year and recently reviewed to address the exact service delivery failures that caused their 2016 slump. Mhlauli pointed to emerging “green shoots” and renewed stability in certain municipalities as evidence that the strategy is working.
A significant hurdle to voter mobilization remains the party’s public image, which has been battered by successive scandals, load shedding, and various commissions of inquiry. These include the Zondo Commission and the ongoing Madlanga commission of inquiry, before which Ekurhuleni has recently featured for unfavorable reasons.
Despite the political damage, Mhlauli defended the establishment of the Madlanga commission, welcoming Ramaphosa’s commitment to transparency. She highlighted that the inquiry is actively cleaning out institutional rot, with several individuals already in the dock facing accountability. The push for clean governance has resonated enough with the public that Mhlauli quipped some citizens now joke the commission should remain in place permanently.
Mobilizing the Youth for the November Polls
Overcoming youth voter apathy, which was highly visible in 2024, is another central pillar of the current strategy. Party officials recognize a direct correlation between the volume of new registrations secured during weekend drives and ultimate success at the ballot box.
Coinciding with Youth Month and the 50th anniversary of the June 16 uprisings, Ramaphosa has directly appealed to the younger demographic to take ownership of their democracy, arguing that the next half-century of the nation’s trajectory will be dictated by today’s youth.
As the presidential campaign trail moves through various wards and local shopping centers, the overarching narrative is one of political recovery. Yet, historical trends suggest a steep uphill battle; the ANC has traditionally struggled to regain control of major metros once its grip on power has slipped. The upcoming local government elections will ultimately reveal whether this renewed registration blitz and anti-corruption rhetoric can successfully claw back the electorate’s trust.