The ANC is set to use its annual planning meeting to devise a plan aimed at clawing back from the party’s successive electoral losses ahead of what is expected to be the toughest election for the party since 1994.
The ANC has governed SA for the past three decades but has warned that state capture, corruption, poor planning and governance could erode its support in this year’s elections.
Voter support for the party has declined consistently since 2009, but its most dramatic drop was in 2021 when it lost about a third of the country’s 257 municipalities and five of its eight metros.
The two-day lekgotla is set to map out a plan of action “aimed at changing the mood of the country, [restoring] confidence in the future, campaigning for a decisive victory and the renewal of the ANC mandate in the elections”.
In a concept note prepared for the lekgotla, which begins on Monday, the ANC concedes that stubbornly high unemployment, the rising cost of living, load-shedding and the crisis in the country’s logistics sector are dragging economic growth down and could threaten its position as the governing party.
“Critics speculate that the demise of the ANC is imminent and that it will not secure an outright majority,” the concept note reads.
Several polls, including by the ANC itself, suggest its electoral support could fall below the 50% mark during the 2024 general election.
The election plan, which the ANC wants to implement over the next five months, has various priorities including strengthening the economy and resolving the energy crisis.
The lekgotla “must ensure that the programme set for the next few months is part of the rounding up tasks of the sixth administration. It must at the same time strengthen local government and the capacity of local government,” said the concept note.
The lekgotla, which is also attended by its alliance partners and ANC-appointed people in government departments and state agencies, follows the two-day ANC national executive committee (NEC) meeting where the discussions included the Zondo commission report, ANC members implicated in corruption and their appearance before the Integrity Commission.
Though the official date of the 2024 national elections has not yet been announced and no party has had its official campaign launch, parties have begun their election campaigns.
The ANC, DA and EFF, the three largest political parties, are due to release their election manifestos in February.
The ANC faces competition from the multiparty charter, a group of opposition parties that banded together to oust it. The coalition was formed in 2023.
The charter comprises the DA, Freedom Front Plus, ActionSA, IFP, ACDP, United Independent Movement, the Spectrum National Party, the Ekhethu People’s Party and the United Christian Democratic Party, as well as the Independent SA National Civic Organisation.
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