We Need to Talk About Our Situationship With the ANC

Is it possible to be in a situationship with the government? I hate to admit it but I think so. The local government elections are coming up on the 4th of November 2026 and although this is not a national election and the ruling party may not change until 2029 and even then that’s a hard ‘may, there is a link to be made between what happens locally to what it can signal nationally.

To that end, the ruling party, the ANC, reminds me of a long lost ex. The one who did you so dirty that sometimes, when you remember him, you actually can’t help but laugh and shake your head in disbelief. The one who treated you so well in the beginning and then suddenly switched up on you. The one you never blocked so every now and then he pops up with grand promises and gestures, telling you that if you just give him one more chance, this time will be different. That’s how the ANC treats us.

And while I will be the first to admit that watching President Cyril Ramaphosa, speaking to the youth at the ANC’s recent manifesto launch in Diepsloot and use Gen Z slang was quite endearing, we should not forget that being able to “clock it” is not actually being able to fix it.

If you take the time to read through the ANC’s 2026 local government manifesto, their 65-page plan sounds good. Reliable basic services and infrastructure, tackling the economy and unemployment, stronger communities, sustainable financing, stamping out corruption and holding those responsible for service failure to account but why are thesepromises of what will be done when we should be looking at evidence of what has been done?

With that said though, nobody is disputing what the ANC did for this country over thirty years ago. My ten year old daughter knows that the ANC fought for our freedom and our rights and that many people sacrificed their lives for the democracy that we have today. That history matters and should be acknowledged and respected but for how long will we hold on to them for what they did for us whilst not holding them accountable for what they are doing to us?

I know I’m not the only one with these thoughts. Political loyalties are continuously beingtested and even die-hard ANC supporters are beginning to wane. We saw this in the 2024 national elections when the ANC received just 40.18% of the national vote, losing its parliamentary majority for the first time since 1994. In KwaZulu-Natal, its support fell to 17.62%, while former President Jacob Zuma’suMkhonto weSizwe Partyemerged as the largest party in the province. And now, in 2026 there is a fierce political battle over the country’s economic hub, Johannesburg, with the opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, looking like they might just win this round.

However the DA has its own issues too, not to mention all the other smaller parties and their strange tactics as well but politics is politics and our job as the voter isn’t to find a saint or a political martyr, we are simply choosing the best people and parties to manage our money, our municipalities, our infrastructure and our communities.

If the ANC wants another chance, that’s fine. But another chance shouldn’t come simply because their manifesto sounds good on paper and the same school of thought should apply to every other political party asking for our vote.

So who should we vote for? I don’t know. I don’t have the answers and according to Kanye West, neither does Sway but what I do have is questions. How can we turn things around? How can we fix this? Do we give the ANC another chance? Or do we try somebody new? I don’t know, but what I do know is that it’s time to judge politicians on what they do and not what they say they will do, just like that ex of ours.