ACT leader Ace Magashule made the pledge during the party’s local government election manifesto launch in Welkom in the Free State on Saturday (3/10). Among its priorities is replacing outsourced municipal work with direct, permanent employment carrying full benefits, particularly for road repairs, water infrastructure maintenance, and neighbourhood cleaning.

The party also argues that a matric certificate should not automatically disqualify prospective councillors. It says community experience and local knowledge should receive greater consideration when selecting candidates, putting its approach at odds with stricter qualification requirements introduced by some other political parties.

The ANC has directed councillor candidates without matric to sign a pledge committing them to obtain a matric certificate or equivalent NQF Level 4 qualification within 12 months of taking office. Candidates who fail to meet that undertaking could face removal under the party’s rules.

ACT also plans to prioritise youth employment programmes, digital hubs and apprenticeships. The party says young people should be treated as immediate participants in local economies rather than only as future beneficiaries of development programmes, with municipalities expected to play a more direct role in skills development and employment.

The party says it will field 637 councillor candidates across the Free State, North West, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

In the Free State, it intends to contest every municipality except Letsemeng. Magashule said ACT administrations would use their first hundred days to engage residents about municipal conditions and community priorities.

“In these first hundred days, we should consult residents and say this is what we find in government, in your municipalities,” he said. “We must move together with the public, with communities, and we must respect them.”

ACT candidates would have to intensify their groundwork before election day and learn from mistakes made by both the party and its competitors. 

Magashule argued that voters were increasingly interested in visible improvements rather than political slogans and said elected representatives would be expected to demonstrate discipline and accountability.

The scene at the ACT manifesto launch held in Welkom. Photo supplied

“We are going to deliver, working together with you. No leader must complain, no leader must be drunk in public. Leaders must behave like leaders so that they inspire, agitate, and motivate our hopeless people today, black and white.”

Magashule has also indicated that he would be willing to serve as mayor after the elections. 

Campaign material circulated in July suggested he could contest the mayoral position in Matjhabeng.

The former Free State premier and ANC secretary-general said he was prepared to serve wherever ACT believed he could make a difference. 

“It’s not about position and status, it’s about serving,” Magashule said. 

“I’m prepared to serve anywhere, whether it’s a small town or whatever, as long as we serve and show people how to govern and how to deliver quality services.”

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi cvs

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