By Simon Nare
President Cyril Ramaphosa has blamed the loss of the ANC at the polls on weakened branches and called for efforts to revive them so that the party can win back the trust of the people and govern on its own again.
Delivering the January 8 statement at Khayelitsha outside Cape Town on Saturday, Ramaphosa said even though it remained the most popular party in the country and had the most MPs in the National Assembly, the ANC has had a strategic set back in that it now needed other parties to govern.
Ramaphosa added that some the reasons for the loss of support were the party’s organisational weakness and it being a damaged brand in the eyes of the voters. This led to the ANC’s traditional voters staying away from the polls or voting for the other parties.
The president said this reality was painful, but the healing process was based on accepting the depth of disfunction in the party’s structures, members and leadership.
“If we have to be honest, one of the reasons we lost is because our branches have become weak. Our branches are no longer functioning at the way they used to.
“For any majority party to lose power is a strategic set back. We have to be honest that the outcome of the May elections was a really sad moment for the ANC. It was a huge setback for the ANC. Without an effective response such a setback can halt or derail the progress of socio-economic cohesion,” said the president.
Ramaphosa said the question the party needed to immediately answer was how it was going to safeguard the national development revolution and re-establish itself as a credible and well supported force for progressive change in society.
He added that the national executive committee has moved swiftly to start mapping out various scenarios and options based on the objective reality of an unfavourable electoral performance.
“As the ANC, we are determined to regain public confidence and return as a majority party in the next elections. In the meantime, we will work with other political parties, even those with whom we have fundamental differences, to secure space for addressing the needs of our people as articulated in our 2024 election manifesto.
“The false notion that the character of the ANC and strategic objective of the NDR has now been redefined by a single tactic of forming a broadly inclusive GNU is a distortion of the realities our movement faced and should be dismissed out of hand,’ said Ramaphosa.
He said the ANC’s experience and the experiences of many revolutionary movements showed that there were moments where conditions required the movement to work with its opponents to secure space for the revolution to regain momentum.
Therefore, the movement had to ensure that the tactical initiative to form an- ANC-led GNU was used effectively to open space to strategically advance for the benefit of all South Africans.
“The ANC remains committed to forge national consensus on fundamental issues that affect our diverse nation. While being flexible on tactics, we maintain firmness of principle in our determination to implement transformative laws and policies adopted by Parliament, such as the BELA Act, National Health Insurance and other pieces of legislation,” he said.
He emphasised that the strategic task of advancing the National Democratic Revolution did not change year after year because the task was based on the resolutions of the National Conference.
The order of priority actions and specific tasks would change from time to time and additional tasks may arise in each year, depending on the changes in the objective conditions.
“Renewal of the ANC remains the number one priority, while resolving the water crisis, fixing local government and fixing the economy remain the top priorities in the six tasks for this year.
“Our first priority is decisive and visible action to renew the ANC. The 2024 elections results confirm that we face an existential crisis. This is a moment wherein the ANC should either renew or perish,” he said.
Ramaphosa implored comrades within the movement to do much more work, with greater urgency and determination, adding that the cornerstone of the renewal agenda remained building the movement’s capacity to discharge its historical mission.
This included strengthening the presence of the ANC in communities through strong ANC branches as centres of development that engaged and listened to citizens and sectors and worked with them to address challenges and grievances.
“The work of building strong branches is the responsibility of all structures of the ANC. Investing in the ideological development of ANC members and improving their skills will enhance the movement’s ability to implement its manifesto and govern our country effectively and ethically.
“Renewal is as much about fixing the ANC as it is about improving the quality of governance and service delivery and fast-tracking fundamental socio-economic transformation,” he said.
Ramaphosa also touched on ill-discipline within the organisation, saying that it must be tackled.
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