It’s do or die time for the ANC: Ramaphosa

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