ANC will die if it doesn’t renew itself, says Mbeki

FORMER President Thabo Mbeki says unless the ANC renews itself, it will gradually die and cease to exist as a governing party.

Mbeki, a veteran of Africa’s oldest liberation movement, was speaking at the memorial service of the late struggle stalwart Rita Ndzanga in Soweto, Gauteng.

“If we don’t renew the ANC, the ANC will die,” said Mbeki.

The renewal process, which Mbeki says will be painful, seeks to return the ANC to its former glory following widespread decline of the governing party at most of the local government elections.

Mbeki reiterated that the renewal of the ANC would be a painful process because the party was attracting the wrong people in its ranks.

He said many new ANC members viewed the joining the party as a stepping ladder to power, which is why people wanted to be seen as members.

“We are beginning to attract people who think that