In the run-up to the local government elections in 2016, Gwede Mantashe, who was secretary-general of the ANC at the time, lamented how contestation for municipal positions by party members had become a matter of life and death. 

At the time it was evident that the ANC was going to lose electoral support thanks to its dismal management of municipalities across the country, as well as Jacob Zuma's disastrous leadership. ..