By Correspondent
In 2021, the ANC won 45.59% in Council elections, marking a decline from the 66.3% it had achieved in 2006.
Of the 8 metros in South Africa, in 2021, the liberation party won just over 50%.
As SA faces the impending local government elections in 2026, polls predict that it’s likely to get a measly 20%.
There has been a gradual but consistent trend for the ANC to lose its grip on local authorities since 2000.
President Cyril Ramaphosa kicked off ANC local government campaign by summoning all party councillors to a meeting at FNB Stadium.
He condemned corruption, laziness, patronage and arrogance, citing them as reasons for the negative swing in the party’s fortunes.
Similarities In Problems
The swing is a mirror of the fate ZANU PF has faced in urban local authorities as residents shift allegiances.
Before scooping random seats due to the implosion of the main opposition, it had lost nearly all urban Councils.
In a bid to reverse this, the ANC early this year held a special National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.
There, it developed and presented an “action plan” which is to be used to turn things around.
The agenda is to rebuild local government, emphasising service delivery improvement, good governance and tackling corruption.
The same scourges afflicted and continue to afflict many urban cities in Zimbabwe.
Unlike in SA, where the DA has won in some towns and gone on to turn things around, it’s not the same in Zimbabwe.
The opposition, in the towns and cities where it controls, has still failed to shift things around.
The Power of DA
In Midvaal, a DA-run municipality, they are moving towards energy independence with plans to break from Eskom.
The municipality also stands as a model of good governance, achieving its 10th successive clean audit and attracting millions in investment.
Ramaphosa has conceded the same at the meeting with his own councillors.
“We control a number of municipalities.
“It is hugely painful each time when the Auditor General comes to report to Cabinet, and those municipalities that do best are not ANC-controlled municipalities.
“I can name it here, there’s nothing wrong with competition, they are often DA-controlled municipalities.
“We need to ask ourselves what it is that they are doing that is better than what we are doing.
“There is nothing wrong with us saying we want to go and see what Cape Town is doing, what is Stellenbosch doing, how they craft everything,” he said.
No Respite For Zimbabweans
Unfortunately for the Zimbabwean context, the same sentiments cannot be applied as the opposition has failed to turn anything around.
Water shortages and rationing persist while service delivery remains chaotic at best and non-existent at worst.
However, for Zimbabwean residents, there is very little difference between having a municipality that is led by ZANU-PF councillors or installing opposition politicians.
In Harare, the opposition councillors have led the disembowelment of a former Council cash-cow, Rufaro Marketing.
Millions of dollars generated by the entity have disappeared, leaving a trail of mismanagement and unaccounted funds.
Meanwhile, in Bulawayo, the Chairman of the Finance and Development Committee, Mpumelelo Moyo was jailed for corruption involving US$20,000.
It’s a familiar scenario across many local authorities where the councillors have failed to make a difference.
While in South Africa, Ramaphosa is envious of the progress brought by the DA as his own party implodes, in Zimbabwe, both main parties are failing to offer anything new.
