Mokonyane refuses to bury ANC as voters deliver crushing verdict

ANC deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane says her party is "yet to be condemned", even as early results show its support at its lowest in a municipal election.

Asked at Thursday's results briefing whether this marked the beginning of the ANC's demise, as with other liberation movements on the continent, Mokonyane pointed to comebacks elsewhere.

"Remember what happened in Brazil and what happened in Nicaragua. The struggle continues. We are renewing ourselves. In fact, this gives us an opportunity to repackage and renew the ANC. Renewal is ongoing. It's not time-bound.

"The ANC is yet to be condemned. What you see now compared to 2024 is totally different. In Soweto, for example, MKP would have won four wards. The ANC has come back and we have wiped out the MKP. If you look at 2024 and 2026, had we had local government elections in 2024, we would have been in a worse-off situation compared to where we are now," she said.

Mokonyane admitted that the delay in the ANC's candidate list process had cost it campaign time.

"The delay in the list process also affected the timeframes for canvassing and going out to the voters, which is something we will reflect on, including the conferences that coincided with our election process. These are lessons to be learned," she said.

She blamed the DA for problems in Johannesburg's townships.

"They found themselves facing the challenges of water. They found themselves in a situation where some of their properties, in Soweto and the old townships of Johannesburg, where over the past eight years of DA rule the indigent policy was cut, have been attached.

"Any South African believes, therefore, that it is the responsibility of the African National Congress to resolve such issues. Hence we are saying our renewal must go beyond just building ANC branches. It must be about building relationships, and about resolving people's issues even where we are not governing," Mokonyane said.

The DA held the Johannesburg mayoralty for about four and a half years: under Herman Mashaba from 2016 to 2019, and under Mpho Phalatse from late 2021 to early 2023. The ANC has governed the city in coalition since then.

With about 12% of votes counted early on Thursday, the ANC was on about 32% nationally.

It won 46% in the 2021 municipal elections, which was already its worst result. The CSIR projects the ANC will finish at about 32%.