ANC Tshwane promises to reclaim the city with township service focus

The ANC in Tshwane has vowed to win the hearts and minds of residents in townships by adopting a township-based service delivery approach ahead of the 2026 local government elections.

In his closing remarks at the 12th Greater Tshwane ANC regional conference on Sunday evening in Pretoria, newly-elected chairperson Eugene "Bonzo" Modise announced that the city will intensify service delivery in townships.

Modise, who is Tshwane Deputy Mayor, said the ANC, as part of the multiparty coalition government in Tshwane, wants to ensure that township residents directly benefit from the work of the city.

"The ANC will turn decisively to communities which were neglected for eight years by the DA racist government. A township-based service delivery module will be implemented to ensure that the people of Tshwane directly benefit from the work of the city. As we move towards the local government elections, fresh from a successful national general council, our focus must not be on the post-conference hangovers," he said.

He told ANC delegates that the task before them is "crystal-clear, reclaiming the city we love and convincing the electorate that this remains the ANC of Nelson Mandela, Harry Gwala, Oliver Tambo, Chris Hani and for all those who fought for this freedom".

He used the opportunity to take stock of the work done by the ANC since it formed a coalition government last year with the EFF and ActionSA as the key parties in Tshwane council.

The ANC occupies five portfolios in a 10-member mayoral committee (MMC), the EFF has two seats and ActionSA also has two, including the mayorship occupied by Nasiphi Moya. The GOOD Party councillor Sarah Mabotsa is the MMC for Economic Development and Spatial Planning.

Modise said: "The ANC-led government of local unity in Tshwane has made tangible progress. Over the past year significant expenditure has been directed towards human settlements, roads and transport, utilities, finance and social services." 

He remarked that for the first time in years Tshwane passed a fully-funded budget for the 2025/2026 financial year.

He attributed the fully-funded budget to disciplined ANC governance and responsible financial management.

"This budget must be spent fully and ethically without corruption and its main objective is to serve our people," he said.

He said public-private partnership will be strategically employed in the city to address infrastructure backlogs and capacity constraints.

"A comprehensive service delivery roadmap guided by the national and provincial leadership will be shared with cadres to ensure alignment within all spheres of government and our campaign," Modise said.

He added that to sustain the party's work "the ANC must serve all people of Tshwane equitably with the same vigor we displayed during the election campaign".

"We will also develop alternative and innovative campaign strategies to ensure that we reach every household, voter and community. We have a strategy for the gated community which we are going to review and align it with our project of bringing Tshwane back," he said.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula told the delegates that the party is facing “a mammoth task” of reclaiming power lost in Tshwane during the 2016 municipal elections.

“You know what it means to be out of power. It is not easy to come back. Comrades, we have deployed in the municipality and are doing us proud and we are proud of them. We see you and we feel very excited when you are fixing those roads. You must now redouble that effort on the ground,” he said.

Modise pleaded with delegates to throw their weight behind the new leadership as part of their responsibility.

"A united ANC can never collude with opposition forces to undermine leaders elected democratically by branches. Such conduct is counter-revolutionary and will be confronted without any fear or doubt," he said.

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za