{
  "id": 16449586,
  "title": "Ramaphosa hails Mangaung cleanup gains as ANC battles to win voter confidence",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/25/ramaphosa-hails-mangaung-cleanup-gains-as-anc-battles-to-win-voter",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-25T08:17:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "IOL",
    "slug": "iol",
    "url": "https://iol.co.za/news/politics/2026-10-25-ramaphosa-hails-mangaung-cleanup-gains-as-anc-battles-to-win-voter-confidence/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa has praised the progress made in Mangaung’s cleanup initiative while reaffirming his party’s resolve for the upcoming elections. During a tour of Ward 51 in Phase 7, Bloemfontein, Ramaphosa noted that the conditions in the struggling metro had improved since his last visit, giving credit to local leaders for addressing residents’ concerns. He admitted that there were still challenges, but said community meetings had helped him see both ongoing issues and improvements in service delivery. The trip puts the ANC’s pledges of cleaner neighborhoods and improved local governance to the test, as voters will gauge the party’s performance based on their day-to-day experiences. Ramaphosa faced the challenge of convincing voters that the ANC could fix local governance issues while still delivering on its wider promises. He highlighted the progress in Mangaung as evidence that efforts to resolve service delivery problems continue. He also dismissed claims that internal party disputes were damaging the election campaign, stating that candidate registration issues had been resolved. \"We are united as an organisation. Like any other organisation, there will always be issues that arise. Like we had an election registration issue of candidates but we are over that now, and that is now behind us,\" he said. Ramaphosa emphasized that overcoming internal problems is a testament to the ANC’s ability to move forward. \"The good thing about the ANC was that when we encounter challenges and problems, we find solutions, and once those solutions are found, we unite, we close ranks, and we move forward.\"",
  "summary": "Ramaphosa said conditions in the troubled metro had improved since his previous visit, crediting provincial and municipal leaders with responding to residents’ concerns.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}