ANC to hold election workshop as it prepares for 'decisive victory' in next year's elections

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the ANC will hold an election strategy workshop next month as it prepares for a “decisive” victory in next year’s general elections. 

Ramaphosa was delivering closing remarks at the end of the party’s national executive committee (NEC) four-day meeting. 

He said the NEC expressed deep concern regarding the chaos and dysfunctionality of local government coalitions across the country. “We also noted that the current level of instability has undermined service delivery in a number of municipalities as well as effective administrative management.” 

He said the NEC reiterated the four principles adopted at the party’s national conference in December to guide its approach to coalitions. 

These included the primary objective which was to achieve a decisive electoral victory.  

“This means that the ANC in the first instance is working to achieve an overwhelming victory in the next elections.  

“Second, where there are coalitions, we must ensure these coalitions put the interests of our people first which must of necessity include a stable government with a minimum programme which can improve service delivery and push forward the transformation agenda.” 

He said the ANC cannot participate in a coalition which is “simply about the sharing of the spoils of office” and where it has performed badly in elections, it should be principled enough to go into the opposition to build anew, rather than be part of a coalition government that undermines the foundational principles and values of both the ANC and the constitution. 

In recent weeks, the ANC in Gauteng has worked with small opposition parties to topple the DA in the metros but the party has not taken up the leadership roles. Instead it supported the small parties’ candidates for leadership positions. 

Ramaphosa said as mandated by its last national conference, the NEC adopted a guideline framework for managing coalitions at local government level. This framework is about ensuring that local governments across the country are stable, functional and prioritise the provision of basic services to communities. 

He said ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula will co-ordinate the engagements with other parties and civil society.  

“We must make it clear that we are working hard to regain the trust of the majority of South Africans as the ANC so that our country does not find itself in the unfortunate position of being governed by unstable and incoherent pacts or coalitions at local level which would drive the development, transformation and structural reforms that we are pursuing to come to a halt. 

“Right now, South Africa cannot afford this disaster and our people cannot afford it as well.” 

He said the road map for the selection of candidates for parliament and the legislatures at provincial level was tabled by the electoral committee and adopted by the NEC. 

TimesLIVE