ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe has dismissed rival parties as “spoilers” bent on eating away at the ANC’s support, as early results show his party far below its 2021 showing.
Speaking to journalists at the Results Operations Centre (ROC) on Thursday, Mantashe refused to concede that the ANC’s decline was a verdict on its own record.
He blamed smaller parties for corroding the ANC base, and blamed the media for obsessing over the ANC while ignoring the other 805 parties on the ballot.
“Others are not competing. Others are spoilers. You get used to that and you allow them to play their role. What is important is that others don’t want to win anything, but they want to corrode that base. What we should be doing is to affirm our position, affirm our views and confirm our programme, because our programme is reliable and resilient,” Mantashe said.
With nearly 30% of votes counted early on Thursday, the ANC was on about 32% and the DA on 30%. The ANC won 46% in the 2021 municipal elections.
The CSIR’s projection, based on 11.5% of voting districts, points the other way from Mantashe’s optimism. It projects the ANC will finish at about 32% and the DA at 26%.
Mantashe insisted the ANC could still recover, arguing that major areas had not yet been counted.
“It is 32% at this point. It is not the final result. We may improve. We may go up to 40. We can go beyond 40. We are at 32 now, and major areas, down south and other areas, have not been counted yet. So it is premature to have a concrete outcome from what you see now,” he said.
Asked what was driving voters away in areas the ANC was losing, he said voters wanted something new, not necessarily something better.
“There are many factors. One factor is that when you are on a journey for a long time, you always hope that something new will help you. It happened many years ago to other people. They think that they have travelled, and they think that something new will change things,” Mantashe said.
He then turned his fire on the media for focusing on the ANC.
“There are 806 registered parties. It is interesting that it’s only about the ANC. It tells the story and the mindset, one of you as a journalist, and two of the people you are talking for. Because there are 806 registered parties in the IEC, but you talk about the ANC only. That’s why everybody, when they campaign, only insults the ANC. We don’t insult anybody. We don’t criticise anybody. We talk about ourselves,” he said.
Mantashe said the ANC had not prepared for coalitions, insisting that planning for a hung council before results are final would be defeatist.
“No, no. You see, if you prepare coalitions before you see the results, you are being very pessimistic. You don’t do that. You contest elections to win outright. If you don’t, then you look into coalitions. That’s how it works,” he said.
He defended the ANC’s record on services, pointing to houses, water and electricity as proof that the party still delivers, even if slower than promised.
“If we say we build houses, we do build houses, sometimes slower than we predicted, but we do build houses. If we say there will be water, there will be water. I always remind people that in 1994 only 34% of South Africans had access to electricity. Today 95% have access to electricity. People ignore that because they have the electricity. When they have problems of access, they think that is the only problem in the world. But those are problems that go with access. Same with water. We no longer stay at the rivers and wait there. Taps are in the streets and in the lanes. That is the work of the ANC over the last 32 years,” Mantashe said.
Mantashe further called on his party to accept the outcome of the 2026 local government elections, warning against actions that could damage the ANC’s credibility.
He said the ANC would not attack the IEC, whatever the outcome.
“Whether we like the results or not, we’ll still keep the integrity of the IEC intact. We are not going to dent it. Many people will celebrate denting the credibility of the IEC. We are not going to do that,” he said.