South Africa’s municipalities The ruling party’s mismanagement of cities may relegate it to the rural backwaters The ruling African National Congress (ANC) risks relegation to rural party status for mismanaging many of South Africa’s major cities, opening the field for opposition parties to control the country’s economic strongholds. After intense competition from the Democratic Alliance (DA), the liberal official opposition, and the new populist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) during May’s general election, the ANC won just over 62% of the vote, down from previous pinnacles of nearly 70% during the 1999 and 2004 elections. In power for 20 years, the…
