Is Ramaphosa's Service Delivery Gambit Too Little, Too Late?

Prof. Bheki Mngomezulu

Following ongoing protests around the country due to a lack of service delivery, ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa summoned ANC mayors and councillors to FNB Stadium in Soweto. According to his confidantes and comrades, the purpose of his decision was to give councillors “marching orders” so that they would not embarrass the organisation.

Intriguingly, Ramaphosa unequivocally admitted that most of the municipalities that are currently doing well are led by the DA. The same cannot be said about municipalities that are led by the ANC. He pleaded with his comrades to learn from the DA and serve their people better. Importantly, Ramaphosa instructed his councillors to act swiftly whenever there is a leaking pipe, infrastructure damage, or anything that makes people’s lives difficult. Lastly, he lamented the fact that some councillors do not live within the communities they lead. 

Such a decision and such comments received mixed reactions, both from within the ANC and from outside. On the one hand, some applauded Ramaphosa for his rationality and for being mindful of the current situation in the country. They hailed him as a good leader who responds to prevailing situations and provides astute leadership.

On the other hand, there are some who raised questions about such a decision and questioned Ramaphosa’s honesty and rationality. In their view, the decision was taken too late after the damage had already been done. Even Rev. Frank Chikane, who is one of the ANC stalwarts, stood on the fence. He began by praising Ramaphosa for convening such a meeting. However, he went on to say that he wished that the meeting had happened earlier.

What do we make of Ramaphosa’s decision? This is a question that has many ramifications. To address it properly, we must keep emotions aside and deal with the reality that everyone is aware of. In so doing, a series of questions begs for attention. Among them are the following:

Why did Ramaphosa convene such a meeting at the tail end of the term of office of his councillors? If the aim was to give them “marching orders” as the claim was made, are these soldiers marching away from the battlefield and marching home after having failed to implement the decision and instruction given to them by their Commander-in-Chief following the 2021 Local Government Election (LGE)? Was the decision prompted by the ANC’s dismal performance in the 2024 general election and fear that the party might be embarrassed again in the upcoming 2026 LGE? If the latter is the case, was Ramaphosa genuine, or was he playing politics?

In trying to answer these and many other questions, one must do a cogent and objective analysis.

Firstly, as the leader of the ANC, it was within Ramaphosa’s powers to convene such a meeting. If ANC-led municipalities lag in service delivery, this reflects negatively on the ANC as an organisation he leads. The onus is therefore on him to protect the integrity of the ANC.

But the question arises: where was he all along? Ideally, rationality dictates that if Ramaphosa was genuine, he would have given ANC councillors “marching orders” soon after the 2021 LGE before they assumed their responsibilities. Midway, he should have assessed their performance, informed by service delivery trajectories where these occurred, and a meticulous analysis of the performance of his councillors, even in areas where people receive poor services but have not yet taken to the streets. This did not happen.

Given the number of service delivery protests over issues such as lack of water supply, lack of electricity, sewage spillage, and related matters nationally, Ramaphosa could have acted as the President of the country, not as ANC president, to address these issues through his Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Velenkosini Hlabisa. He failed to do so.

After establishing the multiparty coalition in 2024, Ramaphosa could have convened a meeting with all coalition partners to devise strategies to address service delivery challenges nationally, especially in those municipalities that are run by coalition partners. This too did not happen.

By his own admission, DA-led municipalities are performing better than those that are led by ANC councillors. Since the DA is part of the coalition government, what has he done to bring ANC and DA councillors under one roof and to ask them to share good practices?

There have been instances where the Auditor-General has made damning findings against certain municipalities. Has enough been done to rectify the situation and to implement consequent management where necessary? It is commendable that the ANC in the Free State decided to remove leaders who brought the ANC into disrepute. But this seems to have been an exception, not the norm.

Perhaps before summoning these councillors, the ANC should have convened a meeting to discuss factionalism. Most of these service delivery challenges were occasioned by this scourge, which is destroying the once popular ANC. Failure to adopt meritocracy in deploying councillors, opting to be guided by factional politics, saw people with no requisite skill and knowledge becoming councillors. 

Ironically, the party expected these cadres to perform miracles. As service delivery went down, no immediate action was taken until now, when more damage has already been done. This is not a good approach to redeeming the image of the ANC some of us once knew and making it regain its tag of being dubbed ‘the leader of society.’

South Africa must draw lessons from recent developments in Nepal. Tacitly subscribing to the Frustration Aggression theory, people took to the streets, resulting in the resignation of Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli on Tuesday. Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki replaced Oli as the country’s Interim Prime Minister. Does South Africa want to go that route? At what cost?

LGEs are coming soon. Some current ANC councillors will return. Have they repented? Will they follow Ramaphosa’s “marching orders”? As people’s anger surges, the ANC must dig deeper to regain public trust. 

* Prof. Bheki Mngomezulu is Director of the Centre for the Advancement of Non-Racialism and Democracy at Nelson Mandela University.

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL, Independent Media or The African.