The ANC may have lost its electoral dominance, but it remains far from death and President Cyril Ramaphosa is “safer than critics think”. This is according to political scientist and author Prof Susan Booysen and executive director and associate professor at the University of Johannesburg’s politics and international relations department Prof Bongani Ngqulunga. They joined Sunday Times deputy editor Mike Siluma for a wide-ranging discussion on the party’s future, recorded while the ANC held its national general council (NGC) this week.
Booysen, who has been observing the NGC proceedings on the ground, said South Africans should pay close attention to the gathering. “The ANC, despite its decline, is and remains the biggest party. It is a party in decline but a party far from collapse,” she said.
Ngqulunga argued the ANC’s internal culture continues to prioritise power dynamics inside the organisation over accountability to citizens. “The ANC leadership may not be listening to ordinary South Africans, but it is listening to [internal] power holders, regions and branches. Those are the people who decide who leads the party.” He said the party’s biggest challenge is the erosion of its once-strong intellectual backbone.
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“They do not have new ideas. The intellectual capital the ANC depended on before 1994 is gone. The academics are now analysts, not ANC thinkers.” Despite failing to secure an outright majority in the 2024 elections, Booysen said the ANC is setting the policy agenda within the government of national unity (GNU).
“Life is very easy for the ANC in the coalition. They are being challenged in court and forced to negotiate, but for a party without a majority, they have found a very easy ride.” On Ramaphosa’s political future, amid murmurs of dissatisfaction within the ANC national executive committee, Booysen said the president remains secure.
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