President Cyril Ramaphosa’s opening remarks at the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting at Lakewood in Ormonde on Friday included a stern warning to senior members to park their 2027 leadership ambitions to
focus on next year’s local elections.
NEC sources told Sunday World that Ramaphosa’s sentiment is that senior members should be on the ground to ensure that the ANC does not continue its downward spiral.
“The president was encouraging NEC members to focus on the task ahead in terms of 2026,” a mole said.
The likes of ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, Deputy President Paul Mashatile, and billionaire businessman Patrice Motsepe have already been touted to succeed Ramaphosa, while the ANC Women’s League has been agitating for a woman to be elected to the party’s top office.
The leadership debate is seen to be insignificant in the wake of the reality that the ANC only has a majority in two metros, namely Buffalo City and Mangaung.
The ANC is part of coalitions in Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, and has had to share leadership roles with smaller parties as a compromise.
The party only managed to woo 45.59% of voters in the 2021 elections compared to the 53.91% in 2016.
Ramaphosa used his opening statement to remind NEC members of the reasoning behind the party’s decision to partner with the DA to form a government of national unity (GNU).
He emphasised the importance of carrying out the objectives of the GNU statement of intent.
However, Sunday World understands that senior leaders in the party have expressed their annoyance with the DA federal council chair Helen Zille’s “conservatism”.
Zille is seen to be overstepping her role in the GNU when the DA only garnered 20% in the 2024 polls.
“They cannot understand the rationale of how she behaves. The view is that John Steenhuisen is more stable, but unfortunately, he has a turbulent relationship with Zille,” according to the source.
Ramaphosa also touched on the relationship between the ANC and its alliance partner, the SACP, which he believes can be repaired.
He told the NEC members that they should be finding ways to maintain strong ties between the two organisations, adding that the ANC would continue bilateral talks with the SACP.
“The idea is to try and find a model that can work for both parties, but it is not going to be easy because the decision that the SACP took to contest elections is a conference decision.
“The other thing is that Solly [Mapaila] is set on the decision,” the source explained.
The ANC NEC’s economic transformation committee presented a report on ways to improve the country’s economy, where they put forward a beneficiation strategy.
This has been a stance shared by Ramaphosa that the country should prioritise the processing of SA’s mineral resources locally and export finished products rather than raw materials.
