Ramaphosa promises service-delivery action during ANC campaign stop in Soweto

ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has promised action on corruption, electricity interruptions and failing municipal services during a campaign visit to Jabulani, Soweto, ahead of the 4 November local government elections.

Ramaphosa met residents as well as faith leaders, traditional leaders and traditional healers on Saturday. The visit formed part of the ANC’s campaign following the launch of its municipal-election manifesto in Diepsloot a week earlier.

Residents raised prolonged power cuts, damaged roads, sewage problems and unemployment. Ramaphosa said the party recognised that municipal performance had fallen short and told the community that corruption and electricity problems were being addressed.

Electricity and municipal failures dominate visit

Speaking during the Soweto stop, Ramaphosa distinguished load reduction from national load shedding and referred to illegal connections that damage transformers. He said the ANC wanted municipal systems to work correctly and linked that effort to improved oversight of local government.

eNCA reported that he also promised employment measures and said the party wanted social grants increased. No amount, implementation date or funded proposal for a grant increase was announced during the visit, so the campaign statement should not be read as a confirmed change to current benefits.

The ANC’s manifesto says it will apply stricter criteria when selecting mayoral and councillor candidates, including competence, ethics and an understanding of local government. Those commitments will be tested against the final candidate lists and the party’s handling of municipalities where audit, billing or service-delivery problems persist.

SABC News reported that the engagement began with religious and traditional groupings. Representatives called for space for religious services, regulation of traditional-healing practice and greater protection of culture. Participants at the event publicly backed the ANC manifesto.

Campaign promises enter a crowded election contest

Political parties are intensifying campaigning before South Africans elect councils in all district, metropolitan and local municipalities. The Electoral Commission has set election day for 4 November and says coordination across national, provincial and municipal government is under way.

For Soweto residents, the immediate questions are practical: when failed transformers will be replaced, how sewage spills will be stopped, whether roads will be repaired and how billing disputes will be resolved. Campaign commitments do not themselves change municipal budgets or service schedules.

Voters can check their registration and voting district through the Electoral Commission’s official voter services. Municipal complaints should still be logged through the relevant city channel so residents have a reference number for escalation.

Ramaphosa’s Soweto visit gave the ANC a platform to acknowledge failures while asking voters for another mandate. The next test is whether the party provides measurable local plans and candidates capable of carrying them out before ballots are cast in November.