The ANC in the Western Cape has their eyes set on 15 municipalities.
The provincial party's head of communications, Sifiso Mtsweni, said the ANC had gained enough experience to take local government forward.
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa officially launched the governing party’s manifesto this week.
Provincial manifestos are scheduled to take place, but Mtsweni said this would be communicated soon.
Mtsweni spoke to Independent Media about the provincial party’s vision for the upcoming elections.
He said the ANC was vying for the Central Karoo District Municipality which includes Beaufort West, Laingsburg and Prince Albert municipalities. In addition, Mtsweni said the party’s eyes are also set on the municipalities of Matzikama, Bitou, Knysna, Hessequa and Oudtshoorn, to name a few.
“We want to push the DA back in the City of Cape Town. It will be quite a mountain to climb, but we are quite determined to do that. We are looking at the Garden Route District Municipality as well,” he said.
According to Mtsweni, the DA lost the confidence of the people in the Western Cape due to its own challenges and infighting.
“Remember in 2016, the DA in particular had presented quite a number of promises to the people of the Western Cape, but at the same time they produced the mayoral candidates.
“If you look today, five years later, with a specific focus on Cape Town, the person that was actually produced as the mayor of Cape Town is no longer the mayor (Patricia de Lille). In areas such as Beaufort West, Knysna and along the West Coast, the DA has produced mayors and has gone into coalition governments. All those governments have collapsed. Nine municipalities have been returned to an ANC-led coalition and in some cases during by-elections, the DA has been losing wards,” Mtsweni said.
Mtsweni said the service delivery record in many municipalities had been poor, especially in the City of Cape Town. He said the provision of basic services such as sanitation in areas such as Makhaza in Khayelitsha, Nyanga was poor.
“The housing record and provision of electricity in informal settlements has been a big mess. The DA always talks about good governance in the City of Cape Town, but good governance where?
“The DA has really been plagued with many challenges, so the approach of the ANC is to work with other organisations,” Mtsweni said.
There are 95 organisations in the Western Cape that are contesting. Coalitions, Mtsweni said, would be discussed after the elections.
Mtsweni said the ANC was confident of their candidate list as these individuals went through a “very thorough” process.
Ramaphosa revealed this week that there are 9 405 ANC candidates contesting in the upcoming elections.
Of these candidates, 25% are young people, Ramaphosa said, the youngest candidate being 20-years-old.
There are 4 937 proportional representative candidates and 4 468 ward candidates who went through a robust democratic process as the ANC was determined to select the “most capable and committed” representatives.
Mtsweni said part of what the interviews entailed was that prospective candidates are to go through the OR Tambo School of Leadership. They must have completed certain modules, and in the case of candidates serving as speakers, mayors and chief whips, they must have certain requisite qualifications and particular skills.
“The process now appreciates the fact that over the past 20 years of local government, we’ve learnt certain lessons. We’ve made certain mistakes and certain gains, but we think that we have missed the point that the ANC has enough experience to take local government forward,” Mtsweni said.
Political Bureau