By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) is gearing up for its fifth National General Council (NGC), set to kick off on Monday, 8 December 2025, at the Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng.
ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula briefed the media on the party’s state of readiness for its fifth NGC on Sunday.
The four-day gathering, running until 12 December 2025, will bring together over 2,000 delegates to review progress, sharpen policies, and strengthen the party’s role in driving change.
On the agenda for the three-day NGC is the political overview of the ANC, policy implementation, and governance matters.
It is a mid-term assessment by the party between its national conferences. National conferences hold significant importance as electoral gatherings, whereas an NGC serves a different purpose: it assesses policy and evaluates the party’s progress in fulfilling its resolutions.
However, NGCs have been a proxy for how well the party’s president is doing and what the rank and file are thinking about the president’s performance.
At previous NGCs, it was possible to perceive the growing discontent surrounding former president Thabo Mbeki, signalling the emergence of the Jacob Zuma era.
Mbalula expressed confidence in the ANC’s setup for the NGC, saying all logistics are in place with no hitches. Accreditation is running well, and delegates have arrived in large numbers, ready to start by 10:00 on Monday.
The setup includes a plenary hall, commission rooms, caucus areas, a media lounge, and security points—all fully up and running.
Over 687 media personnel have signed up, showing strong local and global interest in the ANC’s path forward. Mbalula led a guided tour for journalists to check the venues, ensuring openness and smooth coverage. “We thank the media fraternity for your cooperation in the buildup and for your continued service to democracy,” he said.
Mbalula also said he is aware of intended protests but assured the salary matter for junior staff had been resolved, with only payments to senior managers, including himself, outstanding.
“We intend to work around it to ensure this mishap of non-payment of people is resolved. It does not give us a good image as an organisation, and we intend to resolve it permanently using our fundraising mechanisms.”
The ANC needs to service a total salary bill of R20m per month for all its members. Mbalula said the Political Parties Funding Act has particularly affected the ANC because of its size, arguing the model used to fund political parties has had a negative impact on the organisation.