Top party officials are gathered at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg on Gauteng’s East Rand for the ANC’s 5th national general council. During his political overview, President Cyril Ramaphosa stressed the importance of stamping out corruption as fundamental to the party’s renewal agenda. 

A renewed ANC must enforce discipline within its ranks. Ramaphosa emphasised those whose conduct conflicts with the values and principles of the ANC, the corrupt, criminals, careerists, extortionists, factionalists, and those actively working against the party should find themselves outside in the cold.

NWU analyst Prof. Kedibone Phago said the real problem lies in the quality of leadership the party has produced over time. The current state of the ANC and the country is not new. 

It’s been coming for some time due to poor governance, lack of job opportunities, and the deteriorated state of national institutions, with senior officials increasingly implicated in high-profile cases.

“This is why we are actually witnessing many challenges in our security clusters. You saw there is an inquiry where the national director of public prosecutions director is giving testimony on one of the senior officials, Adv. Andrew Chauke. 

“And then we have this Madlanga commission and parliamentary problems in our justice system, especially police, and how they are being corrupted,” he said. 

“One would have thought that the current government would have really been more agile, more robust in dealing with these ANC leadership problems in government, where the state paralysis has been very clear.”

Ongoing activities such as the Madlanga Commission and parliamentary inquiries are not enough to convince South Africans that the ANC is addressing the country’s socio-economic challenges, Phago said. Citizens are still waiting to see meaningful action that would restore public confidence in the party and in government.

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OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi mvh