ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula. (@MbalulaFikile/X)
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa would have betrayed its members if he were to resign from his position, secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said on Tuesday, describing him as an asset to the party.
“He has played a leadership role under difficult circumstances, including economic challenges and all of that,” Mbalula told journalists.
His remarks came as allegations surfaced within the ANC that some members of its national executive committee (NEC) were calling for Ramaphosa to resign at the national general council which will be held in December.
During his closing remarks at an NEC meeting held last weekend, Ramaphosa told the party’s executive that anyone calling for his removal should do so to his face rather than in private corners. He added that he would have no problem with resigning should members feel that he should do so.
On Tuesday, Mbalula said there were a few party members who believed Ramaphosa should resign and were hoping to use the national general council to advance their agenda.
He said Ramaphosa told NEC members that those plotting to remove him were wasting their time because if he were to go, he could leave at any time.
“He will not go because he was elected by members of the ANC, not by those who are peddling negativity. There’s nowhere the president is going. He is doing very well and leading a collective,” Mbalula said.
“I explained that there are people who have such intentions and are trying to drive them through our structures, and that has failed. These are tendencies in the party that want to derail the organisation. They don’t want this Ramaphosa because they were defeated at ANC conferences successively.”
Last year, some in the ANC believed the party’s leadership and the NEC should be dissolved after the party failed to win the 2024 general elections outright, forcing Ramaphosa to form a government of national unity with several parties including the former official opposition Democratic Alliance.
Names such as former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe were proposed to lead the party as a national task team until an elective conference. This would however require a two-thirds majority at the national general council to happen.
Mbalula said only former ANC Youth League deputy president Andile Lungisa had raised the issue of Mbeki and Motlanthe possibly taking over from Ramaphosa on an interim basis.
“It was only him who raised that issue, but it became a big topic,” he said.