ANC’s 2026 manifesto pitches free basic services to nearly 30 million South Africans

The African National Congress has used its manifesto for South Africa’s 2026 local government elections to promise free basic services to nearly 30 million people, a pledge that fiscal analysts are already questioning, according to Semafor.

Local government elections, held every five years to choose councils across South Africa’s municipalities, are a crucial test of public confidence. The 2026 vote comes as the ANC continues to grapple with its worst electoral performance since the end of apartheid. The party lost its outright majority in national polls in 2024 for the first time and shed support in several metropolitan councils.

The pledge of “free basic services” extends a policy that South African law has long required municipalities to provide. National framework legislation obliges councils to supply a modest minimum amount of water, electricity, and sanitation to indigent households, with the cost absorbed by cross-subsidies from higher-paying users and, in some cases, national transfers. Extending that entitlement more broadly would represent a significant expansion rather than a wholly new programme.

The fiscal arithmetic, however, remains unresolved. South Africa’s municipalities collectively face chronic shortfalls, with many struggling to maintain existing infrastructure or to recover revenue from current customers. National Treasury has for years warned that local government is the weakest link in the public finances, and proposals to widen free services typically compete with an extensive backlog in maintenance and debt recovery.

For the ANC, the 2026 manifesto is also a fight for relevance in councils it has long dominated. Opposition parties, including the Democratic Alliance and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, are expected to campaign heavily on service-delivery failures in townships and rural districts. Whether a pledge of expanded free services wins voters or deepens scepticism about the state’s capacity to deliver will be one of the defining questions of the campaign.

Sources

This report was written from coverage published by the following news organisations. Follow the links for the original reporting.

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