The African National Congress (ANC) has been in power since 1994. In 2019, it faced South African voters for the sixth time. But what is the status of promises it has made to voters in the last 10 years?
We will open two new universities to students in the next five years
Progress

When made: January 2014 Where made: ANC manifesto The governing party can remove this promise from its to-do list. In October 2013 there were 23 higher education institutions in South Africa, according to the department of higher education. Of these, 11 were traditional universities and six were universities of technology (former technikons). The remaining six were… Read more »
The number of people on antiretrovirals will be doubled from the present 2.4 million to 4.6 million by 2016
Progress

When made: January 2014 Where: Party manifesto If the promise was kept, then at least 4.6 million HIV-positive people should have been on antiretrovirals by the end of 2016 (double would be 4.8 million people). This did not happen. Some 3.8 million people were on antiretrovirals at the end of March 2017, according to the… Read more »
In the next five years, the ANC will establish a National Health Insurance Fund
Progress

When made: January 2014 Where made: Party manifesto The National Health Insurance (NHI) aims to provide “essential healthcare” to South Africans, regardless of their financial status. The NHI Fund would buy services from healthcare providers and deliver them to the public, who would not have to pay at the point of care. The fund has… Read more »
In the next five years, the ANC will massively expand public works programmes to create 6 million work opportunities
Progress

When made: January 2014 Where made: Party manifesto A “work opportunity” is paid work on any of the expanded public works programme (EPWP) projects. The EPWP aims to provide “poverty and income relief through temporary work for the unemployed”. Work opportunities can run for any period of time, but typically last a few months. They include… Read more »
Ensure that all schools and health facilities have access to basic infrastructure such as water and electricity by 2014
Progress

When made: 2009 Where made: Party manifesto A May 2011 report by the department of basic education found thousands of public schools did not have key facilities. Under its Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative programme started in 2011, the ANC provides key infrastructure such as water and electricity to schools. In its 2015/2016 annual plan,… Read more »
ANC policies will further increase women representation in parliament and government to 50% by 2009
Progress

When made: 2009 Where made: Party manifesto In its 2009 manifesto the ANC prefaced this by noting that 15 years of struggle for gender equality meant 30% of all parliamentarians, provincial legislature members and councillors were now women and, in cabinet, 43%. It would now push this to 50%, but gave itself just a year… Read more »
An additional 1.6 million homes will be connected to the electricity grid over the next five years
Progress

When made: January 2014 Where made: Party manifesto In 2014 – when the ANC made this promise – close to 12.8 million households had access to mains electricity, according to Statistics South Africa’s General Household Survey. This increased by 1.3 million households to 14.1 million in 2018 (the latest available data). The mineral resources and energy department (formerly the… Read more »
[In the next five years] a further 1.3 million homes will be installed with solar water heaters, bringing the total to 1.75 million homes, covering more than 7 million South Africans
Progress

When made: January 2014 Where made: Party manifesto At the start of the 2014/15 financial year, 400,046 solar water heaters had been installed. To keep this promise, the government should have installed at least another 1.3 million solar water heaters by the end of 2018/19. Department of energy (now mineral resources and energy) annual reports record that… Read more »
In the next five years we will eliminate the backlog of title deeds
Progress

When made: January 2014 Where made: Party manifesto In 2014, the title deed backlog was estimated to be 900,000 to 1.5 million. This was updated to 818,057 in the department of human settlements’ revised strategic plan for 2015 to 2020. The backlog is made up of 83,628 title deeds from before 1994 and 734,429 from after 1994. Dr Mark… Read more »