‘Capacity dololo’ — Mantashe slams singing ANC councillors

Mantashe

Johannesburg – At an ANC roll-call meeting in Soweto, ANC National Chairperson Gwede Mantashe rebuked the party’s municipal councillors, accusing them of lacking capacity and being disruptive during proceedings.

The gathering was aimed at issuing service-delivery directives and preparing for local government elections.

“I know that there is a lot of singing, concillors, but there are no councils. You all sing well, but capacity dololo,” Mantashe said.

“Comrades who are councillors, leaders of the ANC, who make noise when a meeting is underway, what kind of leadership is that? There is no such leadership comrades.

“Ideally, when a dome like this is full of councillors, we would be saying that is the biggest resource the ANC has. The resource that fills this dome is the resource of the ANC, that is what makes a difference between a collapsing ANC and a renewed ANC,” he said.

The remarks follow mounting internal backlash over the ANC’s local government record, marked by poor service delivery, collapsing municipalities and growing public frustration.

Over the weekend, President Cyril Ramaphosa blamed underperforming ANC councillors and deployees for rising service delivery protests, warning that absent leaders fuel public frustration.

Speaking at an NEC meeting in Boksburg, he said honest consultation can ease tensions and announced plans to unveil a new action plan to improve service delivery and rebuild public trust ahead of the 2026 local government elections.

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