By Thapelo Molefe
African National Congress treasurer-general Gwen Ramokgopa has warned the party against what she says is costing the party support at the polls.
Delivering the keynote address at the Northern Cape ANC’s 10th provincial conference, Ramokgopa said the party was failing to communicate its achievements and goals to the masses.
Instead, the party was bogged down in bitter bickering and factional fighting, which was a turn-off to the support base, she said.
“Our people are not interested in political bickering, they want service and progress,” she said, pointing out that 60% of eligible voters stayed away from the polls in the 2024 national and provincial elections.
Ramokgopa called for improved coordination within the ANC-led alliance and confirmed ongoing engagements with the SA Communist Party, which has indicated that it wants to independently contest the 2026 local elections.
Ramokgopa urged delegates to strengthen political education, improve communication and localise the ANC’s national programme of action at branch level.
She said after failing to win the majority support at the polls and dropping to 40%, the ANC was compelled to enter into the Government of National Unity.
Ramokgopa, like other ANC leaders, described the party’s participation in the GNU as a tactical response rather than a long-term solution.
She said the GNU was necessary to avoid the party being relegated to the opposition benches and stressed that it needed to regain majority support by 2026.
“We must work towards making the GNU a painful history that we want to bury. We have to make it work for the sake of those who voted for us,” she said.
Ramokgopa also defended the ANC’s track record since 1994, highlighting progress made in housing, infrastructure, healthcare and social welfare.
However, she warned that a lack of political education and public awareness was contributing to vandalism and the erosion of developmental gains.
“There are clinics and schools that were built post-democracy, but are now in ashes because people were not made to appreciate the progress,” she said
Ramokgopa called on the Northern Cape ANC to urgently capitalise on its vast mineral and energy resources and deliver to the people to help stop the party’s declining support.
The treasurer-general described the province as “one of the richest in the world”, with its large deposits of manganese, copper, zinc and iron ore, as well as significant renewable energy potential.
She said this economic wealth must be used to advance shared prosperity and reverse electoral setbacks.
“The Northern Cape holds the largest deposits of manganese globally. What are you doing with the 49%? Are you using it optimally?” she asked.
The Northern Cape conference is the first of nine provincial gatherings ahead of the ANC’s 2027 national elective conference.
It takes place as the party grapples with declining support, having dropped to 40% nationally and losing outright majorities in key provinces, including Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
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