Ramaphosa: SACP members must recuse themselves from ANC election strategy meetings:
The ANC’s national general council (NGC) has resolved that party members who are also in the South African Communist Party (SACP) must recuse themselves from its meetings on election strategy following its alliance partner’s decision to contest the 2026 local government elections independently.
In closing remarks after this week’s meeting of the council, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa said a number of SACP leaders felt conflicted and therefore believed they should recuse themselves until the two parties resolved their differences.
“All we are saying is that as we continue to engage, particularly on our strategies and tactics for running the elections, they should recuse themselves,” Ramaphosa said.
SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila first announced in December last year that the party’s national executive committee had decided to contest the next local government elections alone. The SACP felt that the ANC had “sold out” by working with the Democratic Alliance in a government of national unity, and was also unhappy that it had not been consulted prior to that decision.
The SACP has previously threatened to stand alone in elections but has backed down after securing concessions from the ANC.
Last week, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula told journalists that the party had failed to persuade the SACP to rethink its decision. This could see the ANC reconsider its stance on allowing dual membership of both parties, Mbalula said on the sidelines of a special meeting of the party’s national executive committee (NEC).
Earlier this week, Mbalula said those belonging to both parties would now have to choose between the ANC and the SACP. He said the SACP’s decision to go it alone in the elections was “erratic and very dangerous” for the national democratic revolution (NDR) project led by the ANC.
On Thursday, Ramaphosa said the national general council had raised deep concerns about the current state of the alliance and its ability to continue advancing the revolutionary agenda to defend the NDR.
“Accordingly, this NGC has supported the NEC’s assessment that the SACP’s resolution to have the SACP field candidates in the 2026 local government elections will not only have technical implications but will also have strategic implications for the alliance as a whole and for the prosecution of the NDR,” he said.
“The NGC has agreed that the alliance leadership must meet urgently to develop a common approach to the reconfiguration and renewal of the alliance in a manner that safeguards unity, cohesion and avoids further confusion, division and conflict among the rank and file on the ground.”
Malema: EFF will vote with MK party to remove Thami Ntuli as KZN premier:
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) will support the motion of no confidence against KwaZulu-Natal premier Thami Ntuli, brought by the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, its leader Julius Malema said on Thursday.
The move will surprise many, as Malema had previously declared Jacob Zuma’s MK — which displaced the EFF as South Africa’s third-largest party last year — as “enemy number one” and accused it of trying to destroy his organisation.
The motion against the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) premier will be heard at the KwaZulu-Natal legislature on Monday.
“There is a motion on the table. Irrespective of who put that motion forward, if it makes sense to the EFF, we are supporting it,” Malema told a media briefing.
“We supported the motion of no confidence in Parliament against Zuma that was brought by the Democratic Alliance, with whom we have serious ideological differences, but the motion made sense at the time, and we supported it.”
In October, MK signalled its intention to enter into agreements with third parties, excluding the IFP. If successful, KwaZulu-Natal could be forced to hold an early election, and the MK party, EFF, as well as the National Freedom Party (NFP) would likely form a ruling coalition that excludes both the ANC and the IFP.
The legislature has 80 members. If MK, EFF, and NFP were to form a pact, it would be divided 40–40, leaving the provincial government unable to pass any legislation. MK has 37 seats, the EFF has two, and the NFP has one. The IFP holds 15 seats, the ANC 14 and the DA 11.
On Thursday, Malema said if the MK party was serious about taking the province, it should begin negotiating with other political parties as soon as possible.
“If they are serious about that motion, Zuma must be part of the negotiation right from tonight. Over the weekend, we are going to speak even to the ANC. We are going to speak to them to see if the ANC is prepared to engage with us formally,” he said.
“If it is not prepared to speak to us formally, nothing stops us from going to individual members of the legislature to speak to their conscience and do what is in the best interest of the people of KZN.”
The ANC’s stance on coalitions is that if a party wins a majority of votes — whether in councils, provincial legislatures, or nationally — it should be allowed to lead coalition formation. The ANC also maintains that where it has the majority, it should be given the mayoral chain, premiership or presidency.
This position is evident in municipalities such as Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, in the Gauteng provincial legislature, and in the national government.
Malema said the EFF cannot dictate to the ANC who it should place in positions of power in areas where they co-govern, even if the red berets disagree with the candidate.
“The MKP has the majority in KZN. The people of KZN have given you a signal. Whether there is capacity in the MKP or not, I’m really not interested. Maybe the people of KZN love them foolishly like that, but who am I to determine what the people of KZN want?” he said.
“They have spoken; they have given us direction, and we ought to respect that — we have to respect democracy.”
The MK party and the EFF recently voted with the ANC in the Gauteng legislature to defend Premier Panyaza Lesufi against a motion of no confidence brought by the DA.
Gauteng has a minority government, which has been kept in power with the support of MK and the EFF.
Insiders in both parties have said that MK and the EFF plan to use this cooperation to persuade the ANC to vote with them to remove Ntulii in KwaZulu-Natal.
“The motion in Gauteng did not make sense. Panyaza has made blunders; Panyaza is not our favourite cup. If there was a way, we would have our own preferred premier as the EFF — but you are not going to use your issues with the ANC in Gauteng to destabilise the government for political expediency. We are not going to allow that,” Malema said on Thursday.
Derision over claim that the ANC is not a corrupt party:
ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri raised eyebrows when she insisted that the party was not corrupt, although some of its members might be.
Asked about the party’s financial woes, Bhengu-Motsiri responded: “I always say that if the ANC was a corrupt party — not individuals — we would not be poor.”
“We would be tapping into the resources of the state as a governing party,” she told a media briefing on the sidelines of the party’s national general council (NGC) in Boksburg.
This was after workers at the ANC’s Luthuli House headquarters protested over their unpaid salaries on the first day of the NGC, the latest signal of financial challenges that saw the sheriff seize some of the party’s property over unpaid debt.
While delivering the ANC political overview earlier this week, President Cyril Ramaphosa said corruption, criminality and factionalism would not be tolerated in the organisation.
Political analysts said the scourge was endemic within the party and challenged Bhengu-Motsiri’s assertion of “a clean ANC”, saying there was no distinction between individuals and the organisation.
The ANC was perceived as “synonymous with corruption, because it has not addressed the elephant in the room — the institutionalisation of corruption”, said Ntsikelelo Breakfast, an associate professor at Nelson Mandela University’s department of history and political studies.
“Corruption is holding back a country from promoting development, with the ANC sometimes deploying to government people who have a history of unethical behaviour – a smack in the face of the electorate. The issue of fighting against corruption is all talk and no action,” he said.
Breakfast cited several disgraced ANC cadres who have been redeployed into government and party structures, with some assisting in election campaigning.
Bhengu-Motsiri’s attempt to differentiate between the individual and party misconduct risks downplaying systemic problems that have allowed corruption to flourish, said Sethulego Matebesi, a professor at the Free State University’s department of humanities and sociology.
“The party leadership must take a collective responsibility to strengthen governance and accountability mechanisms — if they are going to take this particular route about individualising corruption and misconduct,” Matebisi said.
He said Ramaphosa’s frankness about corruption, criminality and factionalism within the ANC was “a necessary acknowledgement of the party’s internal challenges”.
“The real test in what the president has said will depend on the constant and transparent actions to root out these elements — restoring integrity within the ANC,” Matebisi added.
Political economist Dale McKinley also pilloried Bhengu-Motsiri’s comments.
“The ANC cannot pick and choose when it wants to deal with people collectively and when it wants to deal with them as individuals. In that case, the ANC is corrupt in the sense that there is a huge amount of corruption committed by party cadres, deployees and officials wherever they are — something which has been acknowledged,” he said.
“The message to the ANC national spokesperson is: stop beating around the bush and tackle the problem properly – otherwise people won’t take you seriously.”
Asked by the Mail & Guardian to respond to the criticism, Bhengu-Matsiri insisted that “you certainly can divorce corrupt individuals from the party or a company – something which is standard.
“Should somebody at Standard Bank get involved in corrupt practices, you will never say Standard Bank is a corrupt bank. We insist that the ANC is not a corrupt organisation. Individuals found to be involved in corrupt activities must face the full might of the law,” she said.
She also predicted that the party was on course for victory at next year’s local government elections, despite its support slumping to 40% at the May 2024 national and provincial vote, which forced Ramaphosa to form a government of national unity with nine other parties.
“The ANC is well-prepared to fight the 2026 election. We already have an election strategy. Our teams are on the ground and also participating in the by-election processes in different parts of our country,” Bhengu-Motsiri said.
“We have also taken all our potential candidates into the political training that is required.
The ANC electoral committee is currently focused on a very rigorous candidates’ selection process. We will claw back, and we are able to do so – forging all our arsenal to ensure that we win the election.”
But analysts expect another poor showing from the former liberation movement next year.
“It is unlikely that the ANC will claw back all that support it lost. It might be possible that it gets back some. There may probably be people who will say that things are better than they were previously,” McKinley said.
“Depending on the area, they might claw back in small amounts. You are likely to see ANC support in Limpopo and in the Eastern Cape, where the party is quite dominant. In places like Gauteng, KZN and the Western Cape, where there is a lot of competition — where the ANC has done badly in past polls — I doubt there will be a clawing back of that support.”
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