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Mbalula - High possibility parties will bail out, but GNU will last five years

Mbalula - High possibility parties will bail out, but GNU will last five years
Nonkululeko Njilo
By Nonkululeko Njilo
29 Oct 2024
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Amid public spats between the ANC and DA over government policy, ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula says it is likely parties will leave the GNU.

ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula says there is a high possibility that certain political parties may leave the government of national unity (GNU), but it will not collapse and will withstand its five-year term.     

He was addressing members of the media at party headquarters Luthuli House on Tuesday, 29 October 2024, on the outcomes of a recent special National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.   

The GNU, according to Mbalula, is not the end of the ANC, but rather a “tactical manoeuvre”. 

“The possibility that other political parties can choose to leave the GNU is high, but the GNU will not collapse,” he said. 

The remarks come amid significant policy differences among some GNU partners which have led to public spats, the most recent over the signing of an agreement on visa waiver with Ukraine, which has been in the pipeline since 2020.

The agreement, if signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, will enable South African officials to travel to Ukraine for peace formula meetings without logistical visa impediments.

On Sunday, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber announced on social media platform X that he was delighted to have signed the agreement which will allow Ukrainian diplomats visa-free access to South Africa.




On the same platform, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Mangwenya quickly dismissed the announcement, saying that it had yet to be signed.

“It is unclear how the minister can announce the signature of an international agreement without prior formal authorisation to do so,” Magwenya said.



While Minister of International Relations Ronald Lamola echoed Magwenya’s sentiments, Mbalula said that the President would not sign the agreement. 

“Leon Schreiber claims to have signed the Ukraine agreement. He is crazy and overly excited. Comrades are angry, but I’m not bothered because I know the President won't sign it,” he said.

On fallouts and public disagreements with the DA, Mbalula said the GNU was not a grand coalition between the ANC and DA, lamenting what he said was disrespect for the ANC.

“The DA disrespected us from the door, and they won’t stop disrespecting us. But why are they disrespectful? It’s because we did not win power. We did not win an outright majority, but it doesn’t mean that even with the less we have, we will succumb,” said Mbalula.

Read more: A hundred days later, the ANC side of GNU is still adjusting — and it may take a while

‘Actions, not words’

Mbalula described the special NEC meeting as “methodological, clinical, and straight to the point” as it dealt specifically with the integrity and rebuilding of the ANC.

One of the main discussion points was the party’s electoral performance in the May 2024 elections. ANC support dipped nationally to just 40.2 %, its worst performance in the history of democratic South Africa.  

In analysing its defeat, it concluded that the formation of the GNU was not the end of the ANC, but rather a “strategic setback” in that the ANC remained a key player as it garnered the majority of the votes.     

Mbalula said although the ANC had a strong record of “transformation”, it ought to acknowledge that many of its supporters did not vote for the party due to its failure to adapt quickly to current challenges.

“We no longer have the luxury of taking our support for granted. We need to earn it through our actions, not just our words,” he said.

‘Purging impure members’


Beyond electoral losses, the NEC also discussed the sharp decline in membership. Daily Maverick previously reported that in 2017, the ANC had 989,000 members. By 2020, under the leadership of now-expelled secretary-general Ace Magashule, membership rose to 1.4 million. However, in 2022 the party had just 600,000 members in good standing – those who have paid their required membership fees.

Mbalula could not be drawn into revealing the latest numbers. 

“The NEC noted that there has been a decline in the membership of the ANC due to deserters and disruptors, and we acknowledge that revolution is swift once an impure load has been offloaded.

“The renewal programme aims to ensure that the ANC purges and strengthens itself as part of ensuring we have a truly committed crop of activists and cadres. In pursuance of this resolution, all members will need to write a motivation letter and state why they should be accepted as returning members or accepted as new members into the ANC branches,” Mbalula said. 

While the ANC has struggled to keep some of its affairs private owing members who leak important information and documents discussed in NEC and national working committee (NWC) meetings, Mbalula said this might soon be a thing of the past as the NEC had resorted to establishing a standing committee to investigate leaders who leaked party secrets to the media.   

“This permanent committee will conduct forensic audits of information leaks by the NEC and NWC involving internal ANC decisions and discussions. And in most instances, these discussions and decisions are distorted,” Mbalula said.

The standing committee was an important milestone, according to Mbalula, as he said the ANC had a responsibility to defend itself against distorted information and faceless sources masquerading as credible leaders. 

“This decision will be implemented to defend equally the integrity of ANC information because the ANC speaks for itself and does not speak through third parties,” he said. DM

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