The African National Congress’s National General Council meeting this week laid bare a party grappling with internal dissent, a crisis of implementation, and a looming leadership contest, even as its top officials delivered a message of continuity that analysts describe as out of touch with political reality.
The tensions surfaced visibly following a marathon two-and-a-half-hour midterm report by ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg. As he concluded, a faction of delegates broke into song—an act interpreted by observers as a public show of support for Mbalula as a potential successor to President Cyril Ramaphosa, despite official denials that succession was on the NGC agenda.
Research Fellow at the University of the Free State, Dr. Harlan Cloete, who analyzed the proceedings, said the moment was telling. “He is one of the people being touted as successors to Cyril Ramaphosa. That moment particularly caught my attention,” Cloete stated.
The scene underscored a meeting characterized by distraction and discontent. Cloete noted that during Mbalula’s lengthy address—which he described as an “executive summary” of a 200-page document—delegates were observed sleeping, holding private conversations, or on their phones, prompting the Secretary-General to admonish them to listen if they wanted to leave on time.
Beyond the theatrics, a more profound critique emerged regarding the party’s direction. Both Cloete and the analysis pointed to a lack of meaningful introspection following the ANC’s loss of its parliamentary majority in the 2024 elections. The speeches by Ramaphosa and Mbalula were noted for their striking similarity, with Cloete suggesting they felt like a “copy and paste exercise.”
Central to the criticism is the party’s acknowledged but unresolved “disease of non-implementation.” Cloete argued that while the party sets policy, it is the government—staffed by ANC deployees—that fails to execute. “The ANC prides itself in being a champion… of the poor. But if you look at the reality… we are sometimes even worse off,” he said, citing World Bank data naming South Africa the world’s most unequal country.
President Ramaphosa, now in his final term, faced particular scrutiny for failing to project a decisive break. “He’s got a few years left… something that signals change… you didn’t get a sense that anything was about to change anytime soon,” the analysis noted. Cloete concurred, stating Ramaphosa appears to “enjoy the title, but not really prepared to stick his neck out,” remaining a compromiser trapped between party factions.
The NGC failed to produce a clear plan to arrest the party’s decline, with Cloete warning the ANC is now “firmly in election mode.” He predicted the ANC would remain the majority party but would no longer command over 50% of the vote, forcing it into perpetual coalition politics. Internal factions are now split between those favoring closer ties with the DA within the Government of National Unity and those looking to the EFF and MK Party for support.
“The brand is in trouble,” Cloete asserted. “The ANC has lost such a lot of credibility… it has almost become synonymous with corruption.” He emphasized that changing this perception requires a fundamental change in behavior and accountability, notably through prosecutions for corruption exposed by state capture inquiries—a process that has so far yielded few high-profile convictions.
As the council closed, the image left was of a liberation movement struggling to govern, its internal succession battles simmering just below the surface, and its leadership unable to project the transformative energy it admits the country desperately needs. The song for Mbalula may have been a fleeting moment, but it echoed in a hall where the party’s future direction remains deeply contested and unclear.