Ahead of South Africa’s 2026 local government election, the African National Congress (ANC) has committed itself to restore functionality and credibility in local government.

Speaking during a media briefing on Thursday, ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula assured that this would be done through professionalising the interface between municipal political leadership and administrative leadership, strengthening financial management and billing systems, eliminating unfunded budgets, filling funded vacancies with skilled personnel, and enforcing consequence management for maladministration and corruption.

He said the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) Lekgotla declared 2026 the Year of Decisive Action to Fix Local Government, affirming the implementation of the Local Government Action Plan, adopted at the Councillor roll-call in September.

He highlighted that water provision, electricity supply, road maintenance, sanitation, refuse removal, human settlements and local economic development were central to restoring public confidence and dignity.

He also promised that service delivery 'war rooms' were being restructured, consolidated and strengthened on the back of lessons learned from the local, district/metro, provincial and national levels and revealed that the ANC would soon launch a toll-free service delivery hotline.

Mbalula explained that the Lekgotla further resolved that rapid-response technical teams should be deployed to priority municipalities, and that weekly monitoring of delivery performance be instituted.

“Priority workstreams include water reticulation, road rehabilitation, energy network stability, clean towns and cities, human settlements delivery, climate-resilient infrastructure and local job creation,” he said.

Mbalula blamed uneven execution, coordination and capacity, rather than a lack of policies, as the major challenge.

The NEC Lekgotla resolved to strengthen intergovernmental coordination, align planning and budgeting across spheres, and speed up the professionalisation of public service.

The ANC also promised to intensify oversight over governance performance, while supporting capacity-building interventions.

The Lekgotla further reaffirmed the importance of strengthening the tripartite alliance as well as partnerships with labour, business, civil society, traditional leaders and progressive formations.

MULTILATERALISM

Meanwhile, the NEC Lekgotla reaffirmed South Africa’s commitment to progressive internationalism, pan-Africanism and principled multilateralism.

Mbalula said the Lekgotla noted the erosion of multilateral institutions, the rise of unilateralism and the persistence of global inequality, which he said posed serious challenges to peace, development and sovereignty, particularly for developing countries.

“In this context, South Africa’s foreign policy remains firmly anchored in the values of justice, equality, solidarity, peaceful resolution of conflict and respect for international law.

“The NEC Lekgotla reaffirmed that Africa remains the primary pillar of South Africa’s international engagement. South Africa will continue to strengthen African unity and regional integration through active participation in continental and regional structures, prioritising political stability, peacebuilding, economic integration, infrastructure connectivity and industrial development, as envisaged in the African Union’s Agenda 2063,” he stated.

At a global level, he said South Africa would continue to work with “like-minded countries” of the Global South to promote a more equitable international economic order, fair trade, development financing, solidarity, peace and inclusive global decision-making. Multilateralism remained essential to addressing global challenges such as climate change, conflict, poverty and inequality, he added.

“Our country will neither be bullied nor be reckless, but will act in a principled, sovereign and responsible manner, guided by national interests and constitutional values,” he stated.