MANYANE MANYANE
The possibility of the ANC being out of power in 2024 is giving President Cyril Ramaphosa sleepless nights.
Ramaphosa on Friday used his opening speech at the party’s elective conference to warn members that failure to respond appropriately to the looming reality could spell the governing party’s demise.
According to Ramaphosa, based on previous trends in 2019 and 2021, the 2024 national elections are likely to be worse.
"According to our analysis of the past trends, we managed to halt the decline in the 2019 national and provincial elections. This was thanks to hard work, effective campaigning, and a positive response to actions arising from the national conference.
"The 2021 local government elections were, however, a significant setback for the organisation,“ he said.
The ruling party won 46% of the vote, down from 54% in 2016.
"For the first time in the history of our democracy, our share of the national vote dropped below 50%. Another grave concern is a substantial decline in the proportion of young people registered to vote," said Ramaphosa.
He said in the 1999 election, 41% of people aged 18–19 were registered, but the number fell to 9% last year. Ramaphosa warned that this trend is likely to continue unless it is reversed.
He said branches must work to broaden the membership base, partner with a range of civil, community, and progressive groupings, and be grounded in communities. He added that the branches must also lead campaigns to make people’s lives better.
Ramaphosa said the Letsema campaign has become the flagship campaign leading up to the 2024 elections.
"Our branches must put this campaign to good use as it has proven that it has good capacity to reconnect the ANC with our people. Communities must see an ANC that is in touch with them and involved in the issues that affect them," he said.
However, the conference got off to a shaky start as delegates from KwaZulu-Natal refused to listen to Ramaphosa’s speech.
The delegates expressed their dissatisfaction with Ramaphosa. The group kept shouting "change", "Phala Phala," and "load shedding".
As the group sang, many delegates banged on tables.
Sunday Independent