ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says those who disagreed with President Cyril Ramaphosa's remarks regarding ANC-run municipalities would have already produced evidence that proves otherwise.
This comes after Ramaphosa urged ANC councillors to seek advice from DA councillors of well-performing municipalities on how they are doing it. He said it was painful that each time the auditor-general presents reports to the cabinet, it highlights that ANC municipalities are not doing well.
Speaking to journalists on Sunday on the sidelines of a meeting attended by ANC councillors as the race to the 2026 local government elections gains momentum, Mbalula said those who listened to Ramaphosa’s understood the message.
We must govern and govern well and not go to other political parties in terms of what they are doing. And that’s what is important for the ANC,
— Fikile Mbalula, ANC secretary-general
He also commented on the reaction of those who heard them.
“If the president can say that no ANC municipalities that we control are doing well in terms of the auditor-general’s report, they [those who disagree] would have produced equally as much evidence that Ramaphosa is not telling the truth, and that is it.
“The masses understood very well what the president was talking about. What is important is for us to do the things we have said in terms of the plan of action. We must do them and do them well.
“We must govern and govern well and not go to other political parties in terms of what they are doing. And that’s what is important for the ANC,” he explained.
Mbalula then turned directly to the fraught question of capacity at the local government level.
“We have admitted where there is no capacity, we must deal with that. We have trained our councillors and many of them have responded to that question of capacity. When we go to the communities and ask people to be voted for in the wards and all of that, they are voted for by the people based on their activism. And some of them, indeed, don’t have the necessary capacity, but we train them. And the majority of them have responded to that,” he said.
As the country looks forward to the local government elections, Mbalula said the party is in coalition governments in some metros and that in Joburg, the mayor is an ANC councillor. Therefore, they must lead decisively, he said.
“A public representative announcement will come next year when we conclude our list process and all of that.
“So we don’t run an election campaign based on the personalities; we run the election campaign in terms of what the ANC has done for the people.
“Our public representative process will come to an end. For now, we are focused on the task of delivering to our people and fulfilling the mandate, either within coalition governments or where we govern on our own,” Mbalula explained.
Reacting to the Madlanga commission and Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s statements as the commission's first witness, Mbalula said South Africans must be patient and let the legal process “connect the dots”.
“Because you and I, it means we don’t have a state, we don’t have a government. We are run by cartels and thugs at random. That’s what the judge is probing. And let those who can prove that the country and our police system have challenges come to the fore. Mkhwanazi have spoken, the president has responded to that, we have a commission. We have asked for it, it is happening,” he said.
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