ANC: sources
Every fact on the ANC page with its full citation: the document, the page or section, and the date. The dates things were last checked live here rather than on the page itself. Candidates for the 4 November 2026 election are on the IEC’s certified candidate lists and the party’s website.
The header
Leader shown: Cyril Ramaphosa, President, since December 2017. Source: Our New ANC Officials, 2026
Founded: 8 January 1912. Source: Statement of the National Executive Committee on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the ANC, address section: 'On the 8th of January 1912, the South African Native National Congress was then founded at the Waaihoek church ... here in Bloemfontein';..., 8 January 2012
The header tiles use the IEC results and the offices listed under Results and offices below.
What it promises
Manifesto shown: A Better Life for All: ANC 2026 Local Government Manifesto. Let Us Continue Building Better Communities, Together (launched 23 August 2026 at Riverside Park, Diepsloot, Johannesburg; 64 pages).
The five are the first five items of the first list of the manifesto's own commitments, leaving aside any list inside a foreword or leader's message, in the manifesto's own order. Taken from the ten numbered 'First 100 Days' commitments, items 1 to 5, p. 13 (section divider p. 12). The President's message (p. 6) and the review of the last five years (pp. 7 to 11) come before it.. The short heading on each commitment is the site’s plain-language label; the quoted words are the manifesto’s own.
- Get the basics working: Get the basics working / launch the Masakhe: "Within a hundred days, in every ward: repair streetlights, fix potholes, stop water leaks and sewer spills, clear illegal dumping sites ..." (p. 13)
- Mayors who lead from the front: ANC mayors lead from the front and councillors within reach: "Every ANC Mayor will hold an opening Community Imbizo ... and publish the municipality's 100-Day Programme." (p. 13)
- Tell the truth about the municipality: Tell the truth about the municipality: "Within sixty days, publish a State of the Municipality Report - the governance, financial and service position, what is working and what isn't ..." (p. 13)
- Get local economies moving: Get local economies moving: "Every municipality will ramp up its LED to become a one-stop-desk to identify its catalytic projects, priority sectors, business and investment opportunities and barriers to business ..." (p. 13)
- A compact with traditional leaders: Compact with traditional and Khoi and San leaders: where the ANC is elected with an outright majority and the municipality has traditional and Khoi and San authorities in its area, "the Mayor will convene a Mayor and Traditional Authority Forum ... and agree on the Compact" (p. 13)
Where it stands
Water and electricity
- Agrees – Municipalities should keep the right to buy electricity from private power companies as well as from Eskom.
Source: A Better Life for All: ANC 2026 Local Government Manifesto, p. 20; p. 22; p. 54, 23 August 2026 - Agrees – Unpaid household electricity debts should be collected, not cancelled.
Source: A Better Life for All: ANC 2026 Local Government Manifesto, p. 39, 23 August 2026 - In between – Eskom's older coal power stations should close on their planned dates.
Source: Statement on the outcomes of the African National Congress National Executive Committee meeting held from 21..., Section: Emergency interventions to address the electricity crisis, 25 April 2023 - Disagrees – Where a municipality cannot keep the water running, it should hire a private company to run its water system.
Source: A Better Life for All: ANC 2026 Local Government Manifesto, p. 59; see also p. 39, 23 August 2026
Housing and land
- Disagrees – The state should give a free house to every household that cannot afford to buy one, not only the poorest.
Source: ANC 2024 Elections Manifesto: Let's Do More, Together, p. 37 to 38; summary p. 9, 24 February 2024 - Disagrees – The law should make it quicker to remove people who have recently moved onto land without permission.
Source: A Better Life for All: ANC 2026 Local Government Manifesto, p. 34, 23 August 2026 - Agrees – In some cases the state should be able to take land for housing or public use without paying the owner.
Source: ANC 54th National Conference 2017: Report and Resolutions, p. 31, 20 December 2017
Crime and policing
- Disagrees – Provinces should be allowed to run their own police services that can investigate crime, alongside the national police.
Source: Ramaphosa rejects DA call for policing by provinces, 19 September 2022 - Disagrees – The death penalty should be brought back for murder.
Source: Be careful what you wish for, ANC cautions advocates for death penalty, 6 April 2021
Foreign nationals
- In between – Only South African citizens and permanent residents should be allowed to own spaza shops and other small township businesses.
Source: A Better Life for All: ANC 2026 Local Government Manifesto, pp. 28 to 29; p. 36, 23 August 2026
No published position found in the documents checked, as at 13 October 2026, on: Foreign nationals without legal status should get only emergency care at public clinics and hospitals.
Jobs, grants and tax
- Agrees – Yearly increases to the national minimum wage should be no more than about the rate of inflation.
Source: ANC 2024 Elections Manifesto: Let's Do More, Together, p. 31, 24 February 2024 - Disagrees – Labour laws should make it easier for businesses to hire and dismiss workers.
Source: From the Desk of the President: weekly letter on Workers' Day and labour rights, 5 May 2025 - Agrees – Municipalities should employ their security guards, cleaners and other contract workers directly, rather than through contractors.
Source: A Better Life for All: ANC 2026 Local Government Manifesto, p. 58-59, 23 August 2026 - Agrees – Unemployed adults should get a basic income grant well above the current R370 a month.
Source: ANC 2024 Elections Manifesto: Let's Do More, Together, p. 31; see also p. 8, 24 February 2024 - Agrees – People earning more than about R1.9 million a year should pay more tax than they do now.
Source: ANC 2024 Elections Manifesto: Let's Do More, Together, p. 27, 24 February 2024
Councils and government
- Agrees – When awarding tenders, municipalities should keep giving extra points to black-owned businesses.
Source: ANC 55th National Conference Resolutions: Economic Transformation, p. 8 and Preferential Procurement), 20 December 2022 - Agrees – Party leaders outside the council should have a say in who gets senior municipal jobs such as municipal manager.
Source: Mbalula: appointments will be based on competence over cadre deployment, Mbalula to journalists at the Windmill Casino, Bloemfontein, 10 March 2025, after the national working committee's visit to the Free State: a skills audit for..., 11 March 2025 - Agrees – Parties should be required by law to make women at least half of their candidates.
Source: Engagement with CGE on Women's Representation in the 2021 Local Government Elections, 25 June 2026 - In between – Provincial governments should be scrapped, with their work handed to national government and municipalities.
Source: ANC 53rd National Conference Resolutions, December 2012, p. 28, 20 December 2012 - Disagrees – The Western Cape should hold a referendum on whether to become an independent country.
Source: Ramaphosa rules out referendum on Western Cape secession, 31 December 2025
No published position found in the documents checked, as at 13 October 2026, on: A party should need at least 1% of the vote to get a seat on a council.
National questions
- Agrees – The National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme should go ahead.
Source: ANC 2024 Elections Manifesto: Let's Do More, Together, p. 31; p. 36, 24 February 2024 - Disagrees – The school's governing body should have the final say on the language the school teaches in.
Source: ANC Study Group on Basic Education urges the President to promulgate commencement of all sections of the BELA..., 5 November 2024 - In between – Public universities and colleges should be free for all students, not only for those from poorer homes.
Source: ANC 55th National Conference Resolutions: Education, Health, Science and Technology, p. 22 to 23, section 4.6 Higher Education and Training, resolution 4.6.1 The funding of higher education, 24 February 2023 - In between – The government should sell SAA, the national airline.
Source: ANC 55th National Conference Resolutions: Economic Transformation, On SOEs, 'Resolved that', December 2022 - Disagrees – The mines should be brought under state ownership.
Source: ANC 53rd National Conference Resolutions, December 2012, p. 23, 20 December 2012 - Disagrees – Government should end race-based measures such as BEE in jobs, contracts and benefits.
Source: ANC 2024 Elections Manifesto: Let's Do More, Together, p. 21; p. 24; summary p. 4 to 5, 24 February 2024 - Agrees – The courts should keep the power to cancel a law that breaks the Constitution.
Source: The ANC statement on the Constitutional Court judgment, 8 May 2026 - Disagrees – Government should play a smaller part in the economy than it does now.
Source: ANC 2024 Elections Manifesto: Let's Do More, Together, p. 19; p. 42; p. 23 to 24, 24 February 2024
Where it leans and party similarity
The dials and the radar use the positions listed above; each dial is the average of the party’s positions on its statements. Statements behind each dial: Economy: 7 of 7 statements; Services: 4 of 4 statements; Redistribution: 6 of 6 statements; Order and borders: 3 of 4 statements; Where power sits: 4 of 4 statements.
Party similarity is scored the way the quiz scores a person, on the statements where both parties have a published position: EFF: 25 shared statements; MK: 18 shared statements; ActionSA: 22 shared statements; PA: 16 shared statements; IFP: 18 shared statements; DA: 27 shared statements; FF Plus: 24 shared statements.
Results
National elections: share of the national ballot. Local elections: share of the proportional-representation ballot across all municipalities.
- 2014 national: 62.15% of the vote, 249 of 400 seats. Source: IEC 2014 National Election, Results Report - National
- 2019 national: 57.50% of the vote, 230 of 400 seats. Source: IEC 2019 National Election, Results Report - National
- 2024 national: 40.18% of the vote, 159 of 400 seats. Source: IEC 2024 National Election, National Ballot, Results Report - National
- 2016 local: 54.48% of the vote. Source: IEC Local Government Election 2016, Results Summary - All Ballots, National
- 2021 local: 46.14% of the vote. Source: IEC Local Government Election 2021, Results Summary - All Ballots, National
2024 provincial vote
- Limpopo: 73.30%, 48 of 64 seats
- Eastern Cape: 62.16%, 45 of 72 seats
- North West: 57.73%, 23 of 38 seats
- Free State: 51.87%, 16 of 30 seats
- Mpumalanga: 51.15%, 27 of 51 seats
- Northern Cape: 49.34%, 15 of 30 seats
- Gauteng: 34.75%, 28 of 80 seats
- Western Cape: 19.55%, 8 of 42 seats
- KwaZulu-Natal: 16.99%, 14 of 80 seats
Source: IEC 2024 Provincial Election, Results Report - Eastern Cape
Provincial legislature seats in 2024: 224 across the nine legislatures.
Offices
Offices as at 13 October 2026. Mayoralties may change after the 4 November 2026 local election; this page is updated once the new councils have met.
- Premier, Eastern Cape: Oscar Mabuyane, since May 2019. Source: Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane, Mr
- Premier, Free State: Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae, since June 2024. Source: MaQueen Joyce Letsoha-Mathae, Ms
- Premier, Gauteng: Panyaza Lesufi, since October 2022. Source: Panyaza Lesufi, Mr
- Premier, Limpopo: Phophi Ramathuba, since June 2024. Source: Phophi Ramathuba, Dr
- Premier, Mpumalanga: Mandla Ndlovu, since June 2024. Source: Mandla Ndlovu, Mr
- Premier, North West: Lazarus (Lazzy) Mokgosi, since June 2024. Source: Premier Mokgosi undertakes leave and appoints MEC for Finance to act on his behalf, May 2025
- Premier, Northern Cape: Zamani Saul, since May 2019. Source: Zamani Saul, Dr
- Executive mayor, Johannesburg: Dada Morero, since August 2024. Source: Mayor of Johannesburg
- Executive mayor, Ekurhuleni: Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, since April 2024. Source: Mayor of Ekurhuleni
- Executive mayor, eThekwini: Cyril Xaba, since July 2024. Source: ANC names 42 possible mayoral candidates for only eight metros, 22 August 2026
- Executive mayor, Nelson Mandela Bay: Babalwa Lobishe, since October 2024. Source: Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay
- Executive mayor, Buffalo City: Princess Faku, since March 2023. Source: Mayor of Buffalo City
- Executive mayor, Mangaung: Gregory Nthatisi, since October 2023. Source: Gregory Nthatisi
- Part of the national government (the Government of National Unity). Source: Statement by President Cyril Ramaphosa on the appointment of members of the national executive, 30 June 2024
- Largest party in 2024, by provincial vote: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Northern Cape (worked out from the IEC’s 2024 provincial results above).
In its own words
The site applies no ideology label of its own; the quotation is the party’s own description of itself, from its founding document, constitution or values page.
Facts
- Founded 8 January 1912 (earlier name: South African Native National Congress (1912-1923)). Source: Statement of the National Executive Committee on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the ANC, address section: 'On the 8th of January 1912, the South African Native National Congress was then founded at the Waaihoek church ... here in Bloemfontein';..., 8 January 2012
- Origins: founded in 1912 in Bloemfontein as the South African Native National Congress by a convention of prominent Black South Africans, including chiefs, ministers and teachers Source: The formation of the SANNC/ANC, opening paragraphs: 'On 8 January 1912, several hundred members of South Africa's educated elite met at Bloemfontein'; 'professional men, businessmen,..., 20 July 2026
- Leader Nelson Mandela, 1991 to 1997. Source: African National Congress office bearers, 20 July 2026
- Leader Thabo Mbeki, 1997 to 2007. Source: African National Congress office bearers, 20 July 2026
- Leader Jacob Zuma, 2007 to 2017. Source: African National Congress office bearers, 20 July 2026
- Leader Cyril Ramaphosa, 2017 to date. Source: Cyril Ramaphosa elected ANC President, 18 December 2017
Funding
- 2021/22: public funding R70.7 million; declared donations R66.1 million
- 2022/23: public funding R148.5 million; declared donations R51.5 million
- 2023/24: public funding R282.5 million; declared donations R46.8 million
- 2024/25: public funding R219.2 million; declared donations R53.2 million
Totals, April 2021 to March 2025: public funding R720.9 million; declared donations R217.6 million.
Parties must tell the IEC about any donor who gives more than R100,000 a year (R200,000 a year since August 2025). Smaller gifts are not made public. Parties with seats in Parliament or a provincial legislature also receive public money from the Represented Political Parties' Fund (renamed the Political Representatives Fund in 2024), shown as public funding. Neither figure is the party's total income. The 2024/25 year is the latest covered by an IEC annual report; the IEC's quarterly reports for April 2025 onwards are on the IEC's political funding page, and these figures are updated when the next annual report appears.
Reports: Political Party Funding 2022 Annual Report, 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022; IEC Political Party Funding Annual Report for 2022/23, as reported by Cape Times/Sunday Independent...; Political Party Funding Annual Report 2024, 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024; Political Funding Report 2025, financial year ended 31 March 2025; IEC quarterly disclosure statements Q1 to Q4 2022/23.
Note: the 2022/23 public funding figure is as the press reported it from the IEC's annual report, to one decimal place in millions, because that report could not be opened, so the four-year total may be out by up to R100,000; the 2022/23 donations figure is the sum of the IEC's four quarterly statements.