DA's dream has been fulfilled by Ramaphosa

This may be exactly what the Democratic Alliance (DA) has been waiting for: a public endorsement of its governance from ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa.

In a stinging moment of honesty, Ramaphosa admitted this week that DA-led municipalities often outperform those run by the ANC, an extraordinary concession from the head of the ruling party.

His comments, delivered at the ANC’s councillor roll call event in Soweto, have triggered shockwaves inside the ANC and sparked accusations that the president is sacrificing the ANC to collapse single-party governments and strengthen the GNU.

“It hurts me deeply when I continue to see that our municipalities sometimes tend to move even backwards,” Ramaphosa told more than 4,000 ANC councillors and mayors.

“We cannot forever stay at the bottom.” Referring directly to the DA, Ramaphosa urged ANC councillors to learn from municipalities that deliver better results.

“I can name it here because there is nothing wrong with competition. They are often DA-controlled municipalities. We need to ask ourselves, what is it that they are doing that is better than what we are doing?” Ramaphosa said.

“There is nothing wrong with us saying we want to go and see what Cape Town is doing. We want to go and see what Stellenbosch is doing.”

The remarks have left many within the ANC unsettled, with critics accusing Ramaphosa of handing the DA a golden soundbite just months ahead of the critical 2026 local government elections.

Analysts say the president’s public praise of the opposition plays directly into the DA’s narrative that it governs more effectively, particularly in urban areas.

It is a message the DA has begun to amplify, saying ‘even the ANC’s own president admits we govern better’.

Ramaphosa did not stop there. He revealed that the Auditor General had informed him that some ANC-led municipalities were not even preparing their own financial statements — outsourcing the work instead.

“Our country is not short of people who understand numbers. It is not short of people who understand accounting,” he said.

“Let us go and get people who understand accounting.”ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe followed with an even harsher assessment, slamming councillors for being better at singing than running councils.

“I know we have a lot of singing councillors, but we have no councils,” Mantashe said.

“You all sing, but you are not running the municipalities properly.”

These rebukes come at a time of deep vulnerability for the ANC. Under Ramaphosa’s leadership, the party’s electoral support has sharply declined. In the 2021 local government elections, the ANC failed to secure majorities in several metros.

In the 2024 national election, the party dropped below 50 percent for the first time since 1994.

In provinces long considered ANC strongholds, the support plummeted proving the growing dissatisfaction with service delivery and local governance.

While Ramaphosa’s supporters argue that his comments reflect a necessary reckoning with poor performance and a call for renewal, others view them as politically reckless.

With the ANC locked in a tense power-sharing agreement through the GNU, critics say praising the DA publicly weakens the party’s already fragile standing with its base. Within the GNU itself, tensions are evident.

ANC figures like Nomvula Mokonyane have described the DA as “the most irresponsible party” in the coalition, accusing it of trying to govern while simultaneously playing the role of opposition.

Calls have intensified from within ANC ranks for the party to align instead with black-led formations that share its ideological.

And if the president’s honesty costs the ANC even more ground, some in the party may conclude that he did not just try to save the GNU; he may have sacrificed the ANC to do it.