ANC veteran Matthews Phosa has warned that the ANC is suffering from a dangerous intellectual decline that threatens its future survival, saying the governing party has alienated thinkers, weakened political education and replaced merit with populism and patronage.
Speaking during the Brutally Honest Conversations with Sunday World podcast, Phosa said one of the ANC’s biggest mistakes was allowing intellectuals and policy thinkers to drift away from the movement.
“It’s a very sad indictment that we have stopped education,” said Phosa. “If we are doing it, we’re not doing it the way it should be done. Because without political education, we’re losing.”
Deterioration of intellectual leadership
The former ANC treasurer-general said the movement had historically been built and guided by intellectual leadership, but that culture had deteriorated over time.
“It’s a very sad thing that the ANC has lost the intellectuals,” he said. “We call them clever blacks instead of allowing these intellectuals to be the soul of the organisation.”
Phosa argued that the decline of intellectual leadership was directly linked to the broader crisis facing the ANC, including corruption scandals, factionalism and weakening governance capacity.
“When a party loses intellectuals, it’s going to die,” he warned.
Dwindling electoral support
His remarks come as the ANC battles declining electoral support, public anger over corruption and growing criticism that the party has become hollowed out ideologically after more than three decades in power.
Phosa reflected on the ANC’s founding traditions and said many of its early leaders combined political activism with intellectual depth and ethical discipline.
“Look at where we started with the founding fathers,” he said. “They were very much intellectuals.”
He suggested that modern ANC politics increasingly rewarded loyalty, populism and factional strength rather than ideas, competence or principled leadership.
“We don’t need populists in the ANC,” he said. “Merit must be the measure.”
Weakening of ideological and political education
Phosa said the weakening of ideological and political education inside the ANC had contributed to the rise of leaders who viewed politics mainly as a route to personal enrichment.
“What has happened is that to be in politics became the easiest way to make money,” he said.
He contrasted this with an earlier generation of activists who entered politics while already established in professions or business.
“People left and did not concentrate on building careers but decided to build political careers because it would be an easy way to get money,” he said.
Collapse of ethical leadership and internal discipline
According to Phosa, the ANC’s decline could not be separated from the collapse of ethical leadership and internal discipline.
“There’s a collapse of morality and values,” he said. “It’s a failure of leadership on our part.”
He argued that the party had failed to nurture young leaders intellectually and politically, while often treating independent thinkers with suspicion instead of embracing them.
“We must win the intellectuals back to the ANC and not label them all sorts of things,” he said.
SACP ‘no better’
Phosa also warned that the decline of intellectual culture was not limited to the ANC but had spread to its alliance partners, including the South African Communist Party – led by general secretary Solly Mapaila.
“The Communist Party has declined in making those intellectual contributions,” he said. “Joe Slovo was dynamic. We’ve lost that shine.”
He linked the weakening of ideological leadership to the broader corrosion of public institutions, including universities.
The ANC veteran, who previously chaired councils at higher education institutions including the University of South Africa, said corruption and governance failures were now also affecting parts of the university sector.
“University must uphold high moral standards,” he said. “We were not taught at university how to steal.”
New generation of ethical and capable leaders
Phosa said South Africa urgently needed a new generation of ethical and capable leaders drawn from across society, not only from political structures.
“Leadership is not going to emerge from politics only,” he said. “It will emerge from even the private sector.”
He called for merit-based leadership at all levels of government and society.
“Who wants to be led by a fool?” he asked. “People must be able to lead and must prove it.”
Despite his concerns, Phosa said he still believed South Africa had enough capable people to reverse the decline if institutions and political parties were willing to prioritise integrity, education and competence again.
“There are many bright young people in this country,” he said. “We must empower them and not fight for space.”
- ANC veteran Matthews Phosa has warned that the ANC is suffering from a dangerous intellectual decline that threatens its future survival, saying the governing party has alienated thinkers, weakened political education and replaced merit with populism and patronage.
- Speaking during the Brutally Honest Conversations with Sunday World podcast, Phosa said one of the ANC’s biggest mistakes was allowing intellectuals and policy thinkers to drift away from the movement.
- “It’s a very sad indictment that we have stopped education,” said Phosa.
- “If we are doing it, we’re not doing it the way it should be done.
- Because without political education, we’re losing.” Deterioration of intellectual leadership The former ANC treasurer-general said the movement had historically been built and guided by intellectual leadership, but that culture had deteriorated over time.
