Corruption, unpaid salaries, and economic despair expose the ANC’s hollow claims of renewal and threaten its credibility.
South Africa’s economy is crippling its people, draining hope and leaving citizens trapped in a cycle of survival.
Work is scarce and those fortunate enough to have jobs often find themselves working simply to afford the costs of getting to work.
Petrol prices consume savings, vehicle maintenance and insurance drain households further and every month feels like an exhausting repeat of barely making enough to keep breathing.
The nation is on its knees and rising again feels harder with each passing day.
Against this backdrop, the ANC hosts its national general council while workers within the party protest unpaid salaries. Yet the leadership insists the show must go on.
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Their spin – that if corruption were truly entrenched, salaries would at least be covered – rings hollow. The timing is strategically disastrous, exposing the disconnect between leaders and the workforce that sustains the movement.
Meanwhile, revelations from the Madlanga commission and ongoing trials of alleged drug cartel leaders paint a disturbing picture of political influence traded for enrichment, protection and jobs for allies.
These are not isolated scandals but interconnected acts that reveal a broader culture of impunity.
The ANC, as the governing party, inevitably carries the burden of public perception.
Whether fair or not, the association is automatic and South Africans are watching closely.
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The party’s rhetoric of renewal cannot mask the reality: governance is sustained not by slogans or conferences, but by workers whose labour and belief have kept the movement alive through years of turbulence.
Yet these very workers are overlooked, undervalued and unpaid.
Leaders glide past them in luxury vehicles, speaking of rebirth and renewal, while ignoring the roots that hold the tree upright.
A movement cannot claim renewal while starving the roots that give it life.
South Africans will not forget the corruption, neglect and betrayal that have crippled the economy and eroded trust.
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The ANC faces a reckoning: either confront corruption, restore accountability and value the workers who sustain it, or continue sliding backwards, dragging the country deeper into despair.
