President Cyril Ramaphosa has hailed the ANC in Mpumalanga for hosting a disciplined and unified provincial conference, but warned that the party must urgently rebuild trust, fix failing municipalities and reconnect with voters ahead of the local government elections.

Delivering closing remarks at the ANC’s 14th Mpumalanga Provincial Conference at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday, Ramaphosa stressed how the party’s disconnection from its supporters led to the present political situation.

Ramaphosa said the party’s disappointing 2024 electoral performance was self-inflicted and must serve as a turning point.

“All I want to stress on is that comrades, the last 2024 elections, I think, was lost by us. We are the ones who lost it. We are the ones who did not perform well. We did not go out to reach our people, we were negligent,” he said.

He warned that renewal was no longer optional, reiterating his call of “renew or perish”, adding that the ANC must once again “make itself attractive to the voters” after losing its outright majority and being forced into the Government of National Unity.

Ramaphosa said the party could not afford to repeat past mistakes, stressing the need for aggressive voter registration, door-to-door campaigning and visible grassroots work.

“We cannot approach the 2026 local government elections as we have done before, we must go out and win decisively,” he said.

He urged ANC branches to become the first point of contact for communities facing daily challenges such as water outages, sewer spillages and crime.

“Even if it is to explain the challenges, our people must know that we are taking action,” he said.

The president emphasised that unity would be critical to regaining public confidence, praising Mpumalanga delegates for holding a “disciplined” and “dignified” conference.

“Those who thought that there would be chairs flying around and delegates fighting are disappointed,” he said.

A central pillar of Ramaphosa’s renewal message was the urgent need to stabilise local government, which he described as the frontline of service delivery and economic growth.

He cited the collapse of the Ditsobotla municipality in the North-West, which led to the closure of a major Clover facility and job losses in 2022, as a warning of the consequences of poor governance.

Ramaphosa criticised the outsourcing of basic services, arguing that it weakens the state and fuels corruption.

He called for municipalities to insource critical functions and end practices such as water tanker “mafias”.

The president said that renewal must include professionalising the public service and ending political interference in appointments, warning against deploying unqualified individuals to key positions.

He called for intensified efforts to combat corruption and gender-based violence, saying ANC structures must lead community-level interventions.

Earlier, re-elected Mpumalanga ANC chairperson Mandla Ndlovu similarly acknowledged the party’s electoral decline and called for unity and discipline.

“Coalition governments are not ideal, therefore we must work harder than ever before to rebuild the trust of our people,” Ndlovu said.

He emphasised that while robust debate had characterised the conference, the focus must now shift to implementing resolutions.

“Now that decisions have been taken, we must unite in their implementation. There must be unity in command,” he said.

Ndlovu warned against arrogance among leaders, particularly those elected unopposed, and criticised leaders have become detached from the organisation and are pursuing personal agendas.

“Leaders elected without contestation sometimes begin to believe they are untouchable… that is not the ANC that we are building. We have not been elected to pursue personal agendas, but implement the collective programme of the ANC,” he said.

Ndlovu said communities were demanding basic services and dignity, including water, jobs, electricity, healthcare and safety, highlighting frustration with corruption and mafias in construction and water provision.

He described the upcoming local government elections as urgent, warning that the ANC has a narrow window to recover lost ground.

Ndlovu also outlined longer-term priorities, including preparations for the 2027 ANC national conference and improving performance in the 2029 general election, after Mpumalanga delivered just 51.2% for the ANC in 2024.

“We did not come this far to merely participate, we came to win,” he said.

Both Ramaphosa and Ndlovu framed the conference as a critical step in rebuilding the ANC, with unity, discipline and service delivery at the centre of its recovery strategy.

Ramaphosa expressed confidence that Mpumalanga could lead the renewal process, describing delegates as a “beautiful flower”, capable of attracting voters back to the ANC.

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The contempt of court case involving several ANC leaders — including secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, for allegedly undermining an interim interdict halting the Eastern Cape provincial conference — has been removed from the urgent roll, while the conference itself has been suspended until further notice pending the resolution of legal disputes.

The matter, heard in the Eastern Cape High Court in KuGompo City, was removed from the urgent roll on Saturday and postponed for later hearing on the ordinary opposed motion roll after the ANC agreed to stop the conference while the court challenges continue. Costs were reserved.

The case was brought by ANC members Lwazi Rotya, Sinethemba Mpande, and Nompumelelo Mzothwa against senior party leaders, including Mbalula, National Working Committee member Mmamoloko Kubayi, Eastern Cape ANC chairperson Oscar Mabuyane and others.

It followed an interim court order issued on Thursday interdicting the conference amid disputes over branch processes, delegate accreditation, QR codes, and alleged manipulation of the membership system.

Speaking outside court, attorney Sinawo Makangela, representing the applicants, said the ANC had effectively conceded to their demands.

“They’ve just returned to us to say, look, we concede, we agree that we’re now going to stop with the conference completely so that we allow all other processes to unfold,” Makangela said.

He added that while the urgent aspect of the case had been set aside, the contempt proceedings themselves remain active.

“We’re just removing it from the urgent roll… but still they have to respond to the allegations in our papers,” he said.

Makangela said the matter would now proceed through the normal court process, with the parties expected to exchange further affidavits before it is enrolled on the opposed motion roll.

He stressed the seriousness of the case, describing contempt of court as a threat to the rule of law. “Once you undermine a court order, that is urgent. It’s very urgent… the courts have to guard against anyone who wants to tamper with that space,” he said.

One of the applicants, Lwazi Rotya, said the decision to halt the conference was necessary given what he described as continued defiance of the court order.

“We are coming out here to tell everyone at home that the conference is discontinued,” Rotya said.

He added that members had approached the court after witnessing ongoing conference activities despite the interdict.

“There were activities on the conference, registration and so forth… that is precisely why we filed for contempt,” he said.

Rotya also criticised the internal processes within the ANC in the province, saying members had long raised concerns about irregularities.

“The process was never clean… we want a conference, but it must be a credible process, a lawful process,” he said.

“We must go back to the drawing board and fix what we need to fix… make a clean process, make a credible process, make a lawful process.”

The ANC had already indicated on Friday that the elective conference would be put on hold, and delegates who had travelled to KuGompo City were later told to return home.

Provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi confirmed in a notice that the conference had been postponed until further notice.

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