The African National Congress (ANC) is locked in a high-stakes race against the clock as it frantically works to assemble its 2026 Local Government Elections Manifesto. The tedious policy process comes as internal structures struggle to maintain discipline amidst acrimonious candidates nomination battles that continue to rock branches across the country.
At the start of the year, President Cyril Ramaphosa proclaimed 2026 as “The Year of Decisive Action to Fix Local Government and Transform the Economy” during his January 8th Statement at Moruleng Stadium in the North West. The party outlined five critical focus areas aimed at reversing years of service delivery declines and internal decay:
*Fixing Local Government: Rebuilding broken municipal capacity, restoring basic services like water and electricity, and enforcing ethical governance.
*Economic Transformation: Driving inclusive economic growth, accelerating job creation, and advancing key structural economic reforms.
*Fighting Crime and Corruption: Intensifying the national response against systemic corruption, general crime, and gender-based violence.
*Organisational Renewal: Making internal renewal non-negotiable with absolute zero tolerance for factionalism.
*Constitutional Milestones: Celebrating 30 years of South Africa’s democratic Constitution while using its principles to guide local governance.
Policy Workshops and the Crucible at COSATU House
Translating those high-level commitments into a workable, realistic manifesto has proven to be an exhausting exercise. To hammer out the fine details, the ANC’s Manifesto Drafting Committee recently joined forces with its Tripartite Alliance partners for an intense strategic workshop at COSATU House in Braamfontein, Gauteng.
The strategy session brought together National Executive Committee (NEC) members, Local Government Intervention Team members, technical policy experts, communications teams, and representatives from the party’s leagues and alliance partners.
Workshop delegates grappled with a public that is increasingly disillusioned with failing local municipalities, dysfunctional sewage infrastructure, and chronic power cuts. While policy specialists attempted to draft a progressive plan for local development, party strategists had to balance those promises against the harsh fiscal realities facing municipalities nationwide.
Candidate Nomination Chaos Shadows Policy Efforts
While top leaders debate policy in Johannesburg, the ANC’s electoral machinery is being severely tested on the ground. The party is in the final stages of confirming more than 10,000 candidates across the country’s wards and councils. However, the nomination process has been marred by fierce internal squabbles, disputed branch meetings, region-led overreach, and endless appeals to dispute committees.
From provincial dispute resolution committees dealing with unauthorized reruns to branch executive committees collapsing over vote irregularities, internal factionalism threatens to overshadow the manifesto itself.
Addressing journalists during a recent voter registration drive, ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula acknowledged the heavy administrative burden of sorting through the candidate disputes. Mbalula maintained that the party was making significant progress in cleaning out contested lists to ensure every ward is properly contested.
The Final Stretch: Birchwood Adoption and Diepsloot Launch
With the administrative dust slowly settling on candidate lists, the ANC is moving directly into its highest decision-making bodies to adopt the election document.
The party has convened a Special National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting set for Friday, 07 August 2026, at 10h00 at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg. At this crucial gathering, the highest decision-making structure between national conferences will formally debate, refine, and adopt the final text of the 2026 Local Government Elections Manifesto.
Once adopted by the NEC, President Ramaphosa will take the document directly to the voters. The ANC has scheduled its massive national Manifesto Launch for Sunday, 23 August 2026, starting at 07h00 at Riverside in Diepsloot, Gauteng.
Choosing Diepsloot, a working-class township that frequently suffers from service delivery backlogs, is a deliberate tactical choice by the ruling party. It serves as a testing ground for the ANC’s core promise to fix local government where it matters most.
As the party prepares to officially launch its campaign, the true test will not merely be the lofty promises written inside its manifesto, but whether its newly minted candidates can unite fractured branches and persuade sceptical voters at the polls.