COSATU statement on the 2021 Local Government Election results
4 November 2021
The Congress of South African Trade Unions salutes the millions of workers and South Africans who came out to vote for the African National Congress {ANC} in the 2021 Local Government Elections.
We congratulate the ANC for remaining the leading choice and trusted political party by most South Africans. We applaud the sterling work that was done by the IEC and all its workers in making sure that the elections were successful, and our democracy is stronger.
The Federation has noted with alarm and disappointment that many registered voters stayed away from elections this year. This voter apathy reflects the anger, distrust, and disdain that many South Africans have for our inefficient and dishonest political system.
Most of our political parties are dishonest and self-serving, and this low voter turnout is an indictment on all of them. They have no credibility and South African voters are clearly not impressed.
We find it disappointing but not shocking to see that the ANC’s share of the national vote has decreased dramatically to below the 50% mark. While these are disheartening developments, it would be insincere to pretend that we did not see this coming.
The narrow focus on internal factional battles, the corruption scandals and the mismanagement of the economy have all contributed to this decline. Voters fired the first shot in 2016, when they ensured that the ANC lost control of major Metropolitan municipalities across the country.
COSATU hopes that these disappointing election results will serve as a wake-up call and will jolt the ANC and its government into action. The upcoming Medium-Term Policy Statement ,next week, will provide the ANC government with an opportunity to prove to South Africans that it is listening to their cries, and it is taking their plight seriously.
COSATU shall use its upcoming Central Executive Committee meeting to assess and do a deeper analysis of these election outcomes. The Federation is calling on all the MDM structures across the board to do an introspection because these results are scandalous, and they are an indictment not only on the ANC but on the entire Mass Democratic Movement.
We expect that all those who have been entrusted with the responsibility to represent and serve communities will honour the commitments they have made to the people. The Federation will also be pushing that all Alliance partners go back to the communities ,and work to fix the problems that were identified and raised by communities during the election campaign.
If the ANC wants to be returned to office with a majority in 2024, then it needs to fix Eskom and ensure that there is reliable and affordable electricity. It needs to decisively deal with corruption and work to ensure those who steal go to jail. The economy needs to be lifted from the doldrums and unemployment decisively reduced. The message is clear, the voters have run out of patience and the ANC is running out of time.
Issued by Sizwe Pamla, National Spokesperson, COSATU, 4 November 2021
