The ANC in the Northwest has blamed counterrevolutionary forces for its poor showing in the local government elections in the province.
According to the party, electricity cables and water valves were stolen in some areas in the province prior to the elections to make people angry and discourage them from voting for the ANC in last week’s local government elections.
The party’s electoral support has dipped below 50% for the first time in the province.
The ANC has acknowledged that worsening service delivery has affected its electoral performance, but it also says there was clear sabotage through infrastructure vandalism.
Provincial chairperson Nono Maloyi says, “People are deliberately stealing cables and deliberately making sure that there is no electricity. And once there is no electricity, you then don’t get water. That deliberately destroys infrastructure, which is very critical. And that thing was rife before these elections, by the way. Because these counter-revolutionary forces were doing it deliberately. That people must be angry with the ANC. And it was a well-planned thing. Let’s do it. Let’s make people angry. They must be angry against the African National Congress and not go and vote for the ANC.”
However, political analyst Professor Andre Duvenhage says the ANC’s poor showing is due to governance failures at municipalities.
“I don’t think there’s any merit in blaming counter-revolutionary forces; it has to do with a lack of service delivery and inability to keep infrastructure and maintain infrastructure. And these are the challenges. Also, an inability to create jobs. We have seen some of the worst municipalities in the country in our province, for example, Ditsobotla.”
LGE 2026 | Mixed reaction to results in North West:
Reporting: Tsholofelo Sekwena