Opinion piece by Errol Naidoo; Family Policy Institute
Voters will head to the polls in the Municipal Elections within 9 weeks to select the candidates they hope are capable of providing basic service delivery. Despite billions being allocated for services, the majority of municipalities are dysfunctional and bankrupt.
South Africa’s economy is bleeding profusely at local government level thanks to the ANC criminal network. Wherever the party “governs,” its cadre deployment policy ensures the most incapable & corrupt individuals are appointed to mismanage and loot municipalities.
The latest polling suggests the ANC will lose control of most of the major metros in SA. The once invincible former ruling party can no longer fill stadiums for its rallies because most citizens realise the ANC “governs” only in the interest of its corrupt cadres and not citizens.
The ANC’s Manifesto Launch was uninspiring. Unsurprisingly, the Manifesto shamelessly repeats the failed and unfulfilled promises of past Municipal Elections. The ANC reveals its utter contempt for voters by not even trying to come up with fresh and innovative ideas.
The factional in-fighting in the ANC prevented party leaders from announcing its promised mayoral candidate list this past weekend. Political killings have spiked as ANC cadres fight for key positions in municipalities – and more importantly, access to tax-payer billions.
The former ruling party released a list of failed mayors implicated in corruption and municipal mismanagement. The list includes a convicted criminal – exposing President Cyril Ramaphosa’s true agenda – promise to root out corruption but protect corrupt cadres.
The level of corruption, fraud, money laundering and the wanton destruction of public infrastructure in ANC run municipalities are manifestly criminal. City Power, an agency of the City of JHB granted a so-called “pastor” R500 million in fraudulent contracts despite the agency accusing him of fraud. City Power, in turn, ran up debt to taxpayers of R16,3 billion.
And while ANC cadres order hits on political rivals, the media reports, once they win these coveted municipal posts, councillors mostly bunk council meetings while earning lucrative taxpayer funded salaries and benefits. The ANC enables this malfeasance.
Ramaphosa and the ANC leadership’s latest ploy is promising to deploy “qualified and competent candidates” for the Municipal Elections “this time.” They failed to clarify where they would find these candidates. Most of the ANC mayors and councillors – vetted by Ramaphosa and the ANC “integrity committee” are grossly incompetent and corrupt.
In 2018, following the shocking State Capture revelations, President Ramaphosa promised to institute lifestyle audits for all public officials to prevent a repeat of the horrors of the Zuma administration. Like most of the president’s promises, it remains unfulfilled.
Corruption, tender-fraud, money laundering, racketeering and the capture of state institutions for personal gain all skyrocketed under Ramaphosa’s presidency. Organised crime took control of SAPS, crime intelligence and even state procurement mechanisms.
The ANC run City of JHB appointed an ANC cadre – flagged as “high risk” by the SIU – as its Public Safety chief. The ANC follows the example of its leader who recently appointed Dina Pule as Minister of Social Development – a woman fired from cabinet for corruption.
The ANC has neither the capabilities or interest to govern South Africa honestly and efficiently. It has no motivation to do so. The only thing it craves is political power because this is what gives it access to tax-payer billions – which it can loot with merciless impunity.
The ANC’s primary goal is to enrich its corrupt and inept cadres at the expense and harm of the SA tax-payer. This criminal network, left unchecked will destroy the country and loot all its precious resources – to the detriment of 62 million citizens – most of them needy.
Civil leadership must do more to rescue the nation from the clutches of these criminals. Pastors must use their influence to boldly proclaim the truth and warn citizens about the consequences of supporting parties with proven records of corruption & mismanagement.
The Church led the struggle against the apartheid system. It must recover its moral voice to once again courageously expose and denounce the evils of state facilitated corruption and the destruction of critical public resources. Evil prospers when good men do nothing.
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Date published: 01/09/2026
Feature image: Sourced from Magnific; for illustration purposes only
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