S.Africa's ruling party disappointed at loss of some municipalities in elections

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) said on Sunday that it was disappointed at the loss of a number of key municipalities and failing to retain its majority in some major metropolitan municipalities.

This came after the ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC) met in Pretoria on August 11-14 to conduct "a vigorous, honest, open and thorough" assessment of the local government election outcomes.

In particular, the NEC analyzed the ANC overall performance and appreciated the winning of wards in many municipalities.

"We were nevertheless disappointed at the loss of a number of key municipalities and failing to retain our majority in the metropolitan municipalities of Tshwane, Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay, Ekurhuleni and other municipalities," the NEC said in a statement.

This was the biggest setback for the ANC since it took power following the end of apartheid in 1994.

The NEC reaffirmed the commitment of the ANC as the liberation movement and governing party since 1994, to continue the agenda of transforming South Africa from an oppressive and exploitative society to a democratic South Africa that is free, united, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous.

The ANC's poor performance in the 2016 local government elections, held on August 3, "is a serious setback to the cause of social transformation," the NEC said.

The NEC unanimously agreed to take collective responsibility for the poor performance of the ANC during the elections and resolved to take immediate and bold actions to address the weaknesses and shortcomings that led to the decline of the ANC's electoral support.

"We are convinced that the African National Congress remains the hope of the vast majority of South Africans, black and white, and particularly those who are still trapped in poverty and other social ills inherited from apartheid colonialism," the NEC said.

The NEC said it viewed the outcome of the elections as a clarion call of the people to the liberation movement to urgently take steps to speed up the programs of change, and rectify the many subjective weaknesses affecting its capacity to play its historic role.

This requires serious, objective and robust introspection within the movement itself, starting with the leadership at all levels, said the NEC.

The NEC expressed belief that arresting the electoral decline would require the ANC to immediately and courageously embark on bold strategies to re-energize its structures and supporters.

"This will require us to deal with perceptions of the ANC being arrogant, self serving, soft on corruption and increasingly distant from its social base," the NEC said.

"The people have spoken and we acknowledge and accept the message," it noted. Endit