Fifteen key points on the ANC manifesto

Want to know what the ANC is offering voters in municipalities where they get to govern after the August 3 elections? We digested the party’s manifesto in 15 easy steps for you.

1. The ANC will continue to be led by the Constitution, which also stipulates socioeconomic rights – mostly delivered by local government. 
2. Communities will be involved in choosing councillors and they will be made to give regular feedback and sign performance agreements.
3. The ANC government has made progress in improving the lives of people since 2011, and will continue to expand electricity provision, water, sanitation, refuse removal as well as social grants and the expanded public works programme, health care, and basic and higher education.
4. Municipalities will be guided by the National Development Plan to respond to slow economic growth and unemployment, while at the national level the ANC is implementing a nine-point plan involving the ocean economy, agriculture, mining, energy, information and technology, water and sanitation, tourism, and more.
5. Municipalities will strengthen local economic development structures, and incorporate science and technology into this, while the ANC will continue to support the township and village economies by buying goods and services from them. Action against illegal trading will be stepped up.
6. To promote food security, the ANC will give residents information on sustainable agriculture and assist smallholder farmers to access municipal land for food production and agriculture. The party will also work with traditional leaders to make communal land available for development.
7. The ANC will expand broadband access in municipalities as well as free wi-fi areas.
8. The ANC will “discourage” municipalities from outsourcing basic services they should render themselves, or else develop “sound regulatory and monitoring mechanisms” for the outsourced services.
9. The ANC will work to establish “flexible shifts” that will give people better access to municipal services.
10. ANC municipalities will upgrade informal settlements and overhaul ageing infrastructure, while improving transport, roads and bridges. Sports and recreation facilities will also be upgraded.
11. The fight against crime, corruption and fraud will continue, and municipal officials and councillors and their families will be barred from doing business with municipalities. Corrupt municipal officials and councilors will be liable for losses incurred due to their actions. Community safety forums will be strengthened and street committees formed to fight crime, and in rural areas traditional leaders will be involved.
12. The ANC will establish and develop the municipal capacity to manage disaster risks that come from a changing climate.
13. The Back to Basics programme will continue adding engineering, project planning and financial management skills to municipalities.
14. The ANC will build long-term planning capacity as well as monitoring and evaluation in municipalities, including early warning mechanisms for problem areas.
15. The ANC will ensure bulk suppliers get paid and the money owed to municipalities by communities, government departments and businesses is recovered. It will also “address challenges related to billing systems” and step up the system to protect indigent households.