By 
With local elections well in sight, the African National Congress (ANC) in the Free State Province is faced with a mammoth task to deal with a plethora of issues affecting the province and its economy. The PEC is current engaged in a special meeting to discuss pressing matters affecting the party and the province at large.
The latest quarterly labour force survey by Stats SA showed that the Free State has increased on its unemployment rate reaching a worrisome 38.5% in the second quarter of 2025. This is despite the 12 000 jobs created, the province is sinking into poverty gradually with a deteriorating life expectancy of 57.3 for males and 64.2 for females.
These results show that the quality of life in the province continues to decline under the leadership of the liberation party. This can be evidenced in the state of municipalities across the province with poor service delivery and underperforming municipalities. These were exposed during the joint parliamentary and legislature oversight visit headed by Dr Zweli Mkhize in Mangaung Metro.
Mayors could not even answer for some of the funds spent. Municipalities are in critical administrative conditions
The economy is not performing so well either. The Free State boasts a number of sectors with the potential to create jobs; however, the agriculture sector is the star player even became the second largest in the country to contribute towards the country’s GDP.
According to Stats SA; the provinces contributing the most to total income in 2023 was Western Cape (R100,9 billion of the national total), followed by Free State (R80,2 billion), Gauteng (R55,5 billion), Mpumalanga (R52,2 billion) and North West (R52,2 billion).
Amongst others, one can expect the PEC to discuss the dropping confidence towards the party and find ways to reignite the affections of the people towards the party. As they are playing their cards close to their chest going into the meeting, the ANC has a lot of ground to cover ahead of the local elections.
