South Africa’s ruling African National Congress’ internal squabbles, corruption, factionalism and the dismal performance of ANC-run municipalities in the past pushed voters away from the party, President Cyril Ramaphosa has said.
Ramaphosa was addressing ANC volunteers at a “Thank You” rally held at the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto campus on Monday, a week after holding local government elections in which the party performed poorly – winning less than 50 percent of the vote.
The ANC president said the party’s declining voter support to less than 50 percent for the first time since 1994 when Nelson Mandela swept to power, “was not unexpected given its internal problems and those of its government.”
“People also raised the issue of corruption sharply and the issue of patronage within the ANC itself. These are the issues that have had a significant impact of voters’ attitudes towards the organisation,” Ramaphosa said.
He, however, said “the party was confident that it was not all doom and gloom because millions of voters chose to stay away instead of giving their votes to other parties.”
This was a wake-up call to the ANC to get its house in order before it was too late, he said, adding that “people raised the issues of disunity and factionalism within our own ranks.”
Changes were on the way, and chief among them will be the interview process for those ANC members deployed to stand as mayors of cities in the country, Ramaphosa said.
“They should be free of charges of corruption, must be qualified and have an understanding of the workings of local government — and possess basic economic skills,” he said.
But above all, all ANC deployees at local government, including councillors, will have to sign “deployment contracts” with clear stipulations of what was expected of them in public office.
“For the first time, all ANC councillors will sign deployment contracts which clearly outline their roles and responsibilities,” Ramaphosa said.
He added: “No ANC councillor will be sworn in – I am talking about the more than 4,500 of them – without entering into a deployment contract. The ANC will recall any councillor who does not honour this contract.”
NM/jn/APA