As the African National Congress (ANC) convenes its crucial mid-term National General Council (NGC) meeting tomorrow, a leading political analyst has launched a scathing indictment of the party, describing its internal battles as a criminal contest for loot rather than ideological debate.
Political analyst Sandile Swana, in a televised interview ahead of the four-day NGC, stated unequivocally that there is “no ideology in the ANC in the first place,” dismissing the notion of unity as “farfetched” and “a joke.”
“The every other fight in the African National Congress… is that they are competing among themselves for who can loot in the shortest amount of time and also to clear the way,” Swana said. He alleged that those who stand in the way of accessing “the national coffers, the farms, the lands” are killed or moved out “in some way that is usually… not peaceful.”
His comments come as the ANC’s highest decision-making body between national conferences meets to review the party’s performance and electoral decline, and to outline future strategies. The gathering is meant to focus on accountability and the implementation of past resolutions.
Swana argued that the party’s renewal program is in “disarray,” pointing to unresolved branch disputes in provinces like the Free State, Western Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal. He linked the internal chaos directly to governance failures, citing the recent liquidation of seven municipalities in the Free State, unemployment rates exceeding 50% in the Northwest, and widespread non-delivery.
“The president has visited there several times. There is no improvement. Poverty is increasing. It’s escalating. It’s out of control,” Swana said of the Free State.
When asked about the party’s ability to address corruption through mechanisms like the state capture commission led by Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, Swana was dismissive. “They are killing witnesses as we speak today,” he claimed, adding that the party was trying to sabotage the process.
He extended his criticism to the realm of coalition politics, which will be pivotal in upcoming local government elections. Swana attributed instability in municipalities like Johannesburg and eThekwini to “political gangsters and gangster politicians.”
“We’re not in politics. We’re in crime. We’re not in political science, we’re in criminology,” he stated.
The analyst also delivered a bleak assessment of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s leadership, drawing a sharp distinction between the President’s personal political success and the nation’s trajectory. Swana noted that while Ramaphosa had risen from number 30 on the ANC list in 2007 to the presidency, the period had been marked by the party’s depletion, record-long-term unemployment, and stagnant economic growth.
“The nation has been failing rapidly and consistently under Ramaphosa… But his star as a politician has been rising whilst the overwhelming majority of South Africans are sinking into crime, sinking into poverty and unemployment,” Swana said.
He suggested that any challenge to Ramaphosa’s leadership would require sufficient “financial firepower to dislodge white monopoly capital which keeps Ramaphosa in power and sponsors [him].”
The ANC has consistently promoted a narrative of unity ahead of the NGC, with Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula and other leaders emphasizing cohesion. Swana’s analysis presents a direct counter-narrative, framing the NGC not as a strategic planning session but as a gathering of a faction-ridden party engaged in a violent struggle for state resources, with profound consequences for governance and service delivery across South Africa.