The ANC’s leadership must decide to confront or defer a decision on the fate of former president Jacob Zuma as it convenes a crucial meeting on Thursday ahead of the governing party’s January 8 statement.
Zuma, who was the ANC’s president for 10 years, was recalled by the party’s national executive committee (NEC) as head of state in 2018, and has since consistently undermined President Cyril Ramaphosa’s leadership of the governing party.
He is now threatening to overshadow the ANC’s January 8 statement, which is an address meant to serve as a clarion call by the party’s leadership ahead of the 2024 general election.
Zuma caused much consternation when he announced recently he would not vote nor campaign for the ANC in the 2024 election, and joined the newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, which styles itself as an alternative to the governing party.
ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile, secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and national chair Gwede Mantashe all weighed in on the Zuma matter in media interviews ahead of a meeting of the ANC’s top brass and the NEC on Thursday.
Mantashe said there was no need to expel Zuma as he had “walked way”, Mbalula said Zuma was as good as gone and Mashatile confirmed that the ANC’s top seven would meet on Thursday to discuss how the party’s leadership had responded to Zuma thus far.
Despite Mbalula this week mostly fuelling Zuma’s announcement that he would remain an ANC member but campaign against the party ahead of the upcoming national and provincial ballot, the ANC secretary-general tried to set a different tone on the eve of the NEC meeting on Thursday — which is meant to finalise Ramaphosa’s speech.
Mbalula said the governing party, which is beset with financial, administrative and operational challenges, would rule forever if it resolved to deal decisively with service delivery and other socioeconomic challenges that burden South Africans.
Answering questions from Business Day after a walkabout at Emjindi township in Barberton, Mpumalanga, on Wednesday evening, Mbalula said the party faithful were not asking much from the ANC, which is celebrating its 112th anniversary in Mbombela on Saturday.
“Our people are not asking much from us, they just want a visible hand of service delivery. And the ANC, if it does so and resolves issues [of] electricity, water [supply] and all of that, it will remain in power forever,” Mbalula said.
“This is what our representatives and government [have] got to do. Our job, as Luthuli House and [the] ANC, is to be behind our public representatives [and] hold them accountable, guide them to do the right thing, to reach out to the people and bring a better life for all of our people.”
The ANC leaders have been criss-crossing the Mpumalanga province ahead of the January 8 celebrations, addressing communities, meeting traditional and church leaders and planting trees.
He said people applauded the ANC’s call that graduates must get on-the-job work experience. “People applauded interventions the government has made, things you take for granted, like the R350 SRD [social relief of distress] grant, and so on. But people don’t want to live on handouts, they want to do things for themselves,” the secretary-general said.
The ANC’s electoral support has been on a downward trajectory in Mpumalanga. In the 2004 election the party received 86.3% of the vote, in 2009 (85.5%), 2014 (78.2%) and 2019 (70.5%).
Mbalula, however, was adamant on Wednesday, saying people were “renewing their vows to the ANC”.
“The commitment of the people of this province is unbelievable. They are really unshaken, they are committed to the ANC, they welcome their party and they say they will come out in their numbers on Saturday.”
Several surveys, including one by the ANC itself, indicate the party’s electoral support is likely to fall below 50% for the first time since 1994. But Mbalula said the former liberation movement did not envisage a situation where “we will get to a point where the ANC must negotiate [a] power [sharing agreement with opposition parties].
“We are going to work flat out for [an] ANC victory and [electoral] majority. People are renewing their vows to their party, the ANC. We are encouraged by that. But, nonetheless, we don’t take any election lightly. We work for our victory. We go to our communities, we engage with them. We are the incumbent [governing party] we must resolve people’s issues, wherever they arise. We must resolve people’s issues, we must attend to them at local government level.”
Mbalula admitted the ANC made mistakes during the so-called nine wasted years under Zuma’s tenure, saying: “In the past five years, we have met challenges along the way. But we define this period as a period of recovery. We are a party that is on the mend. When we went to people, we said vote for us, we have committed mistakes. The past nine years of us being in power was something that we could call the nine years of the good and the bad, but we are committed to self-correct.”
In the 2019 national and provincial election, the ANC received 57% of electoral support. He admitted the 2016 local government elections in which the ANC lost several metros, including Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, to the opposition was a “blow”.
“We have admitted that our people did not turn out to vote, they sat at home and did not even vote for the opposition. Maybe that is what has given our opponents hope, that maybe the moment of the ANC to be obliterated politically has arrived. We believe it has not. And we will work for victory to prove to all the ANC is a party that remains with the masses,” said Mbalula.
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