The ANC has deployed its bigwigs, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, to KwaZulu-Natal to meet with party structures in regions in the aftermath of the once-governing party’s mediocre performance in the May 29 elections.
The province, which is among the biggest in terms of ANC membership, suffered a heavy blow, only managing to salvage a paltry 16% share of the provincial vote during in the general elections.
This was a plummet of close to 40% when compared to the previous 54% the party had recorded in 2019 national elections.
KwaZulu-Natal was the biggest loser when compared to other provinces with its splinter grouping the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) led by former President Jacob Zuma plotting their demise.
Nothing sinister about visit
But Zuko Godlimpi, the ANC’s acting spokesperson, said there was nothing sinister about their visit to KZN and that similar visits to other provinces will follow.
“We will be doing a similar exercise in other provinces. It was the agreement of the national working committee that we must visit structures of the ANC and talk to branches, talk to regions to understand what happened for us to lose the way we did,” said Godlimpi.
The national working committee, which is responsible for conducting day-to-day operations of the party led by Ramaphosa, kicked off its consultation process in Pietermaritzburg in the Moses Mabhida region. Pietermaritzburg is also the capital city of the province where the legislature sits. The party leaders will be in KZN until Monday, meeting various branch members and visiting regions.
In what was described as a bruising defeat, the ANC was reduced into the third biggest party after the IFP in the legislature with only 14 seats compared to 34 it had won in the previous elections.
The party retained some measure of power through the ticket of the government of provincial unity forged with the IFP, DA and the NFP. The marriage of convenience ensured that the ANC scored three provincial cabinet positions and also the key position of leading government business.
Godlimpi also explained that the ANC had no desire to be in the government of national unity forever and promised the party will show its mettle in the upcoming 2026 local government elections.
“The consultations with structures will give us a clear indication on what renewal programmes we need to engage in leading up to 2026. We have no intentions to be in the government of national unity forever,” he said.
