ANC says service delivery has improved since 2021 local elections

The African National Congress (ANC) says there have been improvements in the delivery of certain services in the country based on its 2021 local government elections manifesto review.

At a media briefing at Luthuli House, ANC national executive committee members reviewed developments in housing, water, and energy over the past five years.

While reporting some positive developments, the ANC noted that more work needed to be done to ensure that more skilled people are employed in the delivery of key services and that reliability, especially in water delivery, is prioritized.

ANC NEC member Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, who also serves as the minister of electricity, noted that in the period under review, load shedding had been eliminated.

But stressed that load reduction remained an outstanding issue in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

While acknowledging that electricity supply was now in surplus, he noted that it had become increasingly unaffordable, especially for poorer households, and that policy was being formulated to deal with this.

Separately, unions have raised their concerns about the establishment of a transmission systems operator, equating it to the privatization of the electricity sector.

Ramokgopa says he’s going to be engaging unions and other stakeholders on the process.

“I want to say this unequivocally: transmission will never be privatized. It’s a naturally occurring monopoly—that much we are agreed on, and the president has made that quite unequivocal. What we remain to resolve, and it’s an assignment that the president has given to myself, finance minister Enoch Godongwana, and minister Tshavheni, assisted by the technical team, is the movement of the assets from the Eskom group going into the TSO, because it’s going to attract some fiscal exposure, fair market value of that asset, and because the TSO is a wholly-owned entity, when you move these assets from the Eskom balance sheet to this new entity, you must compensate Eskom.”

[WATCH] On the positive gains of the implementation of the Energy Action Plan, and the commitment to resolve load reduction. #VoteANC2026 #YearOfDecisiveAction pic.twitter.com/NppM2v9XkC

ANC NEC Member and Minister of Electricity and Energy Cde Kgosientsho Ramokgopa addresses concerns around privatisation, clarifying that the proposed independent Transmission System Operator will remain state-owned, while outlining the process… https://t.co/QTK26WNNAn pic.twitter.com/ifWsMFVZzt

NEC member Thembi Simelane, who is also the minister of human settlements, said informal settlements had decreased from 16.2% to 8.1% and that the aim was not only to invest in mixed development projects for citizens but also to address the economic impediment of spatial injustice.

“The scale of the current human settlement programs demonstrates the extent of the investment being made across the country. The portfolio contains about 1,887 selected projects across nine provinces. The 174 municipalities representing a recorded investment value of over 160 billion rand. These projects are expected to deliver approximately 900 units or related outputs benefiting over 385,000 households.