By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
“We need to ask ourselves what is it that they are doing that is better than what we are doing. And there is nothing wrong with us saying we want to go and see what Cape Town is doing,” he said Monday, referring to the municipality run by the DA. “We need to be moving up the ladder at being good at what we do. We cannot stay forever at the bottom. It hurts me deeply.”
That unusual public candor drew widespread criticism, including from quarters of the ANC, for providing ammunition to his rival.
The President, in his interview on Thursday, said he should have pointed to the progress made in transformation that is visible in municipalities run by the ANC, while clean audits of DA-run councils “does not mean clean streets.”
Ramaphosa admitted that he should have explained his position on this matter more comprehensively when he met with councillors.
“I should have talked about the full equation. The full equation is that there are compliance issues and there are the transformative issues. Both need to go hand in hand, and when I made the example, I should have made a comprehensive one,” said Ramaphosa.
The party has nosedived in recent polls, particularly in the metros, and it summoned every single one of its councillors from across the country to Johannesburg for a “roll call” on Monday, 15 September.
Around 4,600 of the ANC’s nearly 5,000 councillors made it to FNB Stadium. Ramaphosa framed the event as “a turning point for the entire movement”.
The ANC won 45.59% in the 2021 local government elections, down from a high of 66.3% in 2006. Of SA’s eight metros, in 2021, it only won over 50% in Buffalo City and Mangaung. The party still leads coalitions in all of the metros except for Cape Town, but this will no longer be the case should its decline continue.
Ramaphosa also touched on pressing issues from the legacy of anti-apartheid icon Stephen Bantu Biko to the state of South Africa’s economy and the ongoing Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into criminality in the justice system.
The Black Consciousness leader, tortured and killed by apartheid police in 1977, has his inquest reopened on September 12, 2025, at the Gqeberha High Court.
The president hailed the process as vital for healing, noting Biko’s legacy of self-awareness endures in the fight for shared prosperity.
Turning to the economy, Ramaphosa stressed reforms as the key to unlocking growth, citing Operation Vulindlela’s progress in fixing electricity, logistics, and visas.
“One of the things that has contributed to our low growth is the lack of the reforms… State capture held us back,” he said, pointing to Phase II’s Q1 2025-26 report showing gains in freight (up 5%) and power (119 shed-free days).
On the Madlanga Commission, “Ramaphosa defended its setup: “It’s going to lead to a number of changes so that the rule of law is properly consolidated. He said of the commission’s early evidence, committing to act on its findings to transform the criminal justice system.
Watch live in the video below:
Video Courtesy of MYANC.