The ANC has embarked on a renewal process in a bid to stave off further decline.
ANC members, like football fans, must continue supporting the party even as it faces difficulties, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says.
Speaking in Polokwane in Limpopo on Wednesday, Mbalula compared the ANC to a team that keeps losing matches but continues to have the support of fans.
“You must be like the Kaizer Chiefs’ fans. This club loses every day, but its fans continue to support it. They fill Peter Mokaba Stadium even though they are losing. They do not give up.
“Please do not be disheartened, this thing is full of hope. Kaizer Chiefs do not get disheartened, but they lose every weekend. Their fans will go to Cape Town to support the club even if it’s losing,” he said.
Mbalula said even in the most challenging times, ANC members must be like Orlando Pirates and be “happy people”.
“Love the ANC, do not lose hope,” he said.
Fix the ANC
He also compared the ANC to a boyfriend or girlfriend who is not perfect at the beginning of a relationship.
“You must fix your partner yourself. If it is a man struggling with alcoholism, you fix that man and make him stop his bad habits. One day, people will compliment this man, but they will not know that you are responsible for putting him on the right track,” he said.
“This ANC will be fixed by you,” he added.
He appealed to those gathered at the event to continue supporting the ANC, even as more political parties emerge in South Africa.
“Do not be enticed by what is fashionable. This is an old movement, it is 114 years old and it is still going strong. We are going to make it, comrades. Some of you are volunteers for the ANC and you do not even have jobs, but you love this organisation.”
ALSO READ: South Africa watches as Trump strikes Venezuela
The ANC’s top province
He said Limpopo is the ANC’s current stronghold. It is not in any coalition with other parties in the province and runs most of the municipalities.
“We know that in the coming elections – with the work that you are doing at the level of the provincial government – we are going to win elections in this province.”
Mbalula’s comments come on the eve of the party’s 114th birthday celebrations in Rustenburg in the North West on Saturday.
Electoral decline
For the first time in democratic South Africa, the ANC lost their majority in parliament and now has to share power with smaller parties and its political nemesis, the DA.
In 2019, they received 57% of the vote, but last year, 40%. They have attributed this to the formation of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, a party formed by their former president, Jacob Zuma, in 2023.
Despite Mbalula’s optimism, some analysts predict that the ANC will continue to decline and could fall below 30% in some municipalities, especially in urban areas.
Political analyst Andre Duvenhage said the ANC is at its weakest since coming into power in 1994.
“I will not be surprised if the current trajectory continues that the ANC is definitely going to get below 40% and maybe even below 30% in the national general elections, they are performing weaker when it comes to local government elections in comparison to national and provincial elections.
“The party is in trouble how are they going to finance their election campaign we are talking about 23 000 voting points how are they going to manage that, the question is how are they going to create the momentum and do they have the leadership,” he said.
Duvenhage sad the odds are stacked against the ANC in terms of a number of challenges they face.
He described it as a hopeless situation.
Factionalism and positions
The party has also battled factionalism and the fight for leadership roles.
Mbalula warned party members in Limpopo that they should avoid fighting each other “like cats”.
Mbalula encouraged a spirit of “comradehood” in the ANC. He said this kind of bond unites party members behind a bigger vision of achieving a national democratic society.
He said that sometimes leadership contests in the party create tension among those contesting.
“We, as comrades, must teach ourselves that when we are contesting for a similar position, that does not mean we are enemies. Tomorrow, the person that you are contesting with will wake up, and they will still be a comrade.
“We must learn to be tolerant in the organisation renewal teaches us that,” he said.
Mbalula also said sometimes leadership contestation is not necessary. He said delegates should contest for positions when it is needed.
His comments on contestation come at a time when the party has just hosted its regional conferences and is preparing to hold its national elective conference in 2027.
There is a proposal that this 2027 conference should change the ANC constitution and allow each member of the ANC to vote for the president of the party instead of having delegates who are tasked with voting for the leadership.
Despite what opposition parties and some experts say, Mbalula said the economy is doing well under the leadership of the ANC.
“The economy is doing well, comrades, and it is going to enable us to be able to deliver jobs for our people. Better things are happening for our country under the leadership and stewardship of President Ramaphosa,” he said.
He said the ANC is the home of all South Africans and should be defended.
“We must preserve it with everything in our power,” he said.
NOW READ: What to expect from the ANC’s January 8 statement – and what it should do instead
