Financial woes hamper ANC campaigning in key metros

With municipal elections only six weeks away the ANC has been found wanting in getting the party’s campaign off the ground in key municipalities owing to the party's financial woes.

In some of the metros where the party was dislodged from power in 2016 local leaders blamed the new Political Party Funding Act, which compels parties to disclose their donors, for the empty election coffers.

Brian Maruping, ANC deputy chair for Zone 11 in Johannesburg, which is home to some of the biggest and most closely contested wards in the metro, said local leaders were still waiting for the regional leadership to get the work off the ground as opposition parties were already visible in the battleground wards.

“We have been having challenges with printing resources but we hope we will be picking up after this week. It is bad that other parties are putting up posters and billboards. We had not won some of our wards and we were hoping to boost our campaign, increase our chances and ensure voter turnout,” Maruping said.

In Ward 124, considered to be Johannesburg’s biggest and one of the most highly contested, councillor Mongameni Mnyameni said he was bothered by how this would affect voter turnout.

“We don’t need posters for people to vote for us. Our work is speaking for itself,” Mnyameni said.

Greater Johannesburg ANC regional spokesperson Sasabona Manganyi said the party was taking it upon itself to secure funding that would enable the ANC to get its election machinery going in the economic hub. 

“We are definitely late. We will have to catch up. We have been trying to fundraise, not just for elections, but it is difficult now with the new law to get sponsors to come to the party,” Manganyi said.

The ANC, which had reportedly spent about R1bn on its 2016 local government election campaign, had admitted that its financial troubles had hampered its ability to run some of its affairs.

While the ANC did not lose wards in the 2016 elections in Johannesburg, poor voter turnout in the wards where it enjoyed support had seen it secure less than half of the city’s 270 seats as its public representative (PR) votes shrank.

One of the tightly contested wards in the metro is Ward 7, which includes Ennerdale and Finetown, where the ANC secured a surprise victory in the May by-elections and dislodged the DA.

Ward 7 councillor Amelia Zama, who is also being fielded as a candidate ahead of the polls, said she was not concerned about the ANC’s lack of visibility in the area and the absence of posters bearing her face as she understood the party’s financial challenges.

“Yes, it is important to brand, put posters up and campaign but for the three months that I have been here I have campaigned by providing services,” Zama insisted.

On Thursday some residents of the ward expressed disgruntlement about unfulfilled promises by both the DA and the ANC.

Israel Neshishibe said the DA and the ANC had both given them empty promises and that it did not make a difference whether they campaigned in the township or not, as he was not looking forward to voting.

“The way things are, I don’t see myself voting this time. I have been voting for the ANC but I don’t see why we are voting. DA and ANC councillors come and go. They promise us roads but Finetown is still like this. They will come now and I will just listen but I don’t think I will vote,” Neshishibe said.

Mpho Mazibuko said while she was not looking forward to political parties descending on the township to make another round of promises, she was planning to vote.

Tshwane ANC’s Bafuze Yabo said the region was currently unable to mount posters of councillor candidates across the capital city as there were still raging disputes over the party’s selection process.

“We are not at a stage where we are able to mount posters because our list processes have not been finalised because of disputes. We can’t put up pictures of candidates,” he said.

He said the regional leadership was also approaching funders to help the party in its campaign.

ANC head of elections Fikile Mbalula said the party’s financial difficulties were not new and that they would not result in a loss.

“We have always had difficulties, but we work with what we have. The little that we have will deliver victory for the ANC. We don’t have R1bn on the table. We have got TG [treasurer-general Paul Mashatile] fundraising to get some of the things going,” Mbalula said.