If the ANC were a sick patient, ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula’s diagnosis on Monday would reveal that the governing party suffers from systemic dysfunction and multiple interconnected ailments that threaten its survival and effectiveness as a political movement. The diagnosis includes:
- Chronic internal fragmentation and dysfunction:
Symptoms: Factionalism, leadership disputes, gatekeeping, corruption, and weakened organisational cohesion.
Cause: Persistent internal competition for resources and power. Lack of discipline, poor cadre development, and erosion of revolutionary morality.
Severe public trust decline
- Severe public trust deficiency and disconnection from constituencies:
Symptoms: Declining voter confidence and low electoral turnout. Loss of support in traditional strongholds, and disengagement from youth and urban middle strata.
Cause: Poor governance, corruption and service delivery failures. Lack of visible leadership accountability, and failure to address socio-economic challenges.
- Youth disengagement syndrome:
Symptoms: High youth unemployment, low voter registration, and apathy toward political processes.
Cause: Economic exclusion, lack of meaningful opportunities, and disconnection from the ANC’s historical legacy.
- Coalition instability disorder and governance paralysis:
Symptoms: Governance paralysis in coalition-led municipalities and municipal dysfunction. Service delivery failures and inability to address crime, unemployment, and infrastructure decay.
Fragmented political landscape
Cause: Fragmented political landscape, lack of structured coalition management frameworks, politicised deployments, and weakened ANC dominance.
- Organisational atrophy and fatigue:
Symptoms: Weak branch functionality, irregular branch meetings and weak mobilisation. Declining membership and limited activism outside election cycles.
Cause: Poor branch discipline and insufficient political education. Lack of grassroots mobilisation and focus on internal power struggles.
- Governance performance deficiency:
Symptoms: Service delivery failures, infrastructure decay, and financial mismanagement.
Cause: Weak administrative capacity, corruption, and lack of accountability mechanisms.
