Mantashe reminds voters not to forget basic services that ANC has delivered for them - IOL
The ANC National Chairperson Gwede Mantashe has asked communities in the Eastern Cape to vote for his party.
With the ANC battling the fallout from years of voter frustration over poor service delivery, National Chairperson Gwede Mantashe has asked voters not to forget the basic services that his party has delivered in three decades.
This is as the party fights to rebuild trust after losing its majority in 2024.
Speaking to ANC supporters in the Eastern Cape over the weekend, Mantashe urged party volunteers to keep reminding communities about the organisation’s record, including RDP housing, access to education, electricity, social grants, healthcare and other government programmes.
“Please vote for the ANC on November 4 and pass the message to others… We don’t want to be in charge, but we want to deliver services to you,” he said.
Mantashe rejected the suggestion that reminding voters about these interventions amounted to buying their support.
“It’s our duty to provide service,” he said.
The party is preparing for the local government elections in November.
But his appeal comes at a difficult moment for the governing party.
Years of poor municipal services, unreliable infrastructure, unemployment and persistent poverty have steadily eroded public confidence in the ANC.
That frustration was brutally reflected in the 2024 general election, when the ANC lost its national majority for the first time since 1994.
The result forced it into a Government of National Unity (GNU) with other political parties, ending decades of outright national dominance.
Against that backdrop, Mantashe’s appeal is not simply about celebrating the ANC’s past; it is an attempt to reconnect the party with voters who increasingly demand visible results from government.
He urged volunteers not to tire of telling that story, but to take it directly into communities as the ANC prepares for the 2026 local government elections.
The challenge, however, is whether recalling past achievements will be enough to overcome voters’ growing demand for functioning municipalities and visible improvements in their daily lives.
The ANC said it remained focused on strengthening local government.
