David Makhura, who heads the party’s political school, said the loss of its majority in the 29 May general elections was a strategic set back.
The ANC’s loss of its majority in the 29 May general elections was a strategic setback, the head of its political school David Makhura said on Saturday, adding that the need for the party to renew itself had now become a “do or die” priority.
Makhura told a media briefing on the sidelines of a meeting of the ANC’s national executive committee in Boksburg that the government of national unity formed by President Cyril Ramaphosa after the party’s support fell below 50% at the elections was the best option for it to remain in power and ensure that its manifesto was implemented.
“The electoral outcomes of the 2024 elections are very significant for the ANC and for South Africa and we characterised the outcomes as a strategic setback for the fundamental transformation of our country, what we call in our own parlance, our own language, the national democratic revolution,” he said.
“We have to work with other parties. It has already happened elsewhere in municipalities, so we got to work and that is a strategic set back. We must review the strategy and tactics of the ANC,” he said.
The electoral setback meant that the ANC also had to push harder with its renewal programme, which was now a do or die issue, Makhura said.
“We have to renew or we will perish. The many resolutions we have taken on renewal are going to be implemented,” he said.
The party has however struggled to renew itself and has faced criticism for failing to act decisively against some of its members who have been implicated in corruption.
“A party that loses enormous electoral support is forced to step back, we don’t have the luxury we had before,” Makhura warned on Saturday.
“There’s a difference talking about renewal before now because then it was really about the moral, ethical and political necessity. Now it is driven by the need for the movement to survive.”
He said the ANC had considered several options after its share of the national vote plunged to just 40.18% this year, from 57.5% at the previous national and provincial elections in 2019.
“We explored four options (including) going into opposition, establishing a grand coalition which means a coalition of one or two or three political parties that are bigger,” Makhura said.
“We were considering going to opposition, we were not desperate to be in power, we don’t want to be in a government of national unity which will implement nothing or in a coalition where nothing will really work.”
He said the ANC had also considered forming a minority government but decided against it because it believed such a formation would be “permanently unstable”.
Makhura said the ANC was not an arrogant party and would be willing to work with other political organisations as long as they agreed on key principles to make government work.