Six things you need to know about the ANC’s National General Council. The ANC closed its National General Council (NGC) with a show of unity as reports of a plot to remove President Cyril Ramaphosa dissipated into thin air. Boosted by a successful G20, Ramaphosa will lead the party’s local government campaign in 2026/27.
The party is trying to stave off a further electoral decline, which stripped it of its overall majority in 2024. This means he will stay in office at least until the party elects his replacement in 2027. “No chairs flew,” said Ramaphosa to laughter and applause as he closed the meeting on Thursday, 11 December, and reflected on earlier rumours in the media.
For now, the Government of National Unity (GNU) in itspresent configuration stays,but with caveats. This includes an emphasis on “progressive policies”, which probably means National Health Insurance (NHI) as well as more muscular land reform. Every branch of the ANC will audit ward-based challenges and make those a priority, said Ramaphosa.
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The party has also started a service delivery hotline and call centre at its Luthuli House headquarters. The ANC said there would not be political interference in local government procurement and appointments – effectively a promise to stop cadre deployment. (This is a promise it will find difficult to keep, given recent history.) Asthis articleshowed today, Mbalula has emerged as a candidate to run for the ANC presidency.
At the NGC, hisorganisational report(a weighty and well-written tome) received an extended standing ovation and singing by almost 1,600 delegates. This means the ANC elective conference in 2027 could include a race between Mbalula and deputy president Paul Mashatile, who was previously regarded as a shoo-in. Mbalula could also be positioning for the job of deputy president, with its twin position in the state also being plum, if the party can stave off further decline.
The latest Ipsos poll has found that if an election were to be held tomorrow, the ANC would get 41% nationally. “The tenderisation and outsourcing of state functions have weakened the democratic state’s capacity to drive development,” said the final NGC declaration. This is important because the outsourcing of state services through procurement is at the heart of State Capture and also of the collapse of local government services, as contractors often do poor-quality work. The state’s procurement budget is more than R1-trillion a year, so it’s not likely to be implemented in full as the state won’t be able to function.
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