By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) officially launched the mandatory internal course during its four-day National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni.
Over the years, the ANC has been plagued by ill-discipline and factionalism, which have affected its ability to govern effectively.
The erosion of the ANC is evident as it suffered major electoral losses over the past few years, reflecting a decline in public support. In the 2019 general elections, the party secured just 57.5% of the vote, a drop from 62.2% in 2014.
This downward trend continued in the 2021 local government elections, where the ANC garnered only 46.5% of the votes, marking its worst performance in the history of democratic South Africa. In the May 2024 national elections, ANC support dipped to just 40.2 %.
ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the course, aimed at advancing party renewal, will be required for all ANC members and public representatives.
All current ANC members, new and old, will have to attend physically and complete Five Modules of the Foundation Course by December 2026:
1. The History of the ANC 2. The vision of the ANC for South Africa 3. The Country and the World we live in Today 4. The Constitution, the Bill of Rights and Government 5. The work of the ANC Branch and the tasks and conduct of an ANC Member.
Ramaphosa said it would help its members and the party in many ways, including getting rid of factionalism.
“There is evidence that when we do spread political education, our comrades become much sharper, much more committed, and it also sharpens and straightens out the ethics and the morals and the values of our organisation.
“It enables comrades to even rid our organisation of tendencies such as factionalism, it rids our organisation of deviant tendencies that could prevail, because in the main comrades will now be focusing more and more on the real issues that affect our organisation,” Ramaphosa said.
The head of the ANC’s political school, David Makhura, said all members old and new would be required to attend the course physically and to complete five modules.
The course would also be used as an induction programme and requirement for new applicants who were serving probation for six months, according to Makhura.
The course would help capacitate ANC leaders with skills to respond to the issues that communities grapple with, said Ramaphosa.
“This will help in ensuring that our comrades in addressing the challenges of our people are able to demonstrate depth, able to demonstrate knowledge, and are able to analyse all problems in greater depth, and with good understanding as well.
“Armed with this, the ANC is going to emerge much stronger and go back to the effectiveness that OR Tambo spoke about,” Ramaphosa said.