By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former president Thabo Mbeki says the African National Congress (ANC) should align itself with the people on the ground to understand their challenges and get a clear understanding of issues faced by the masses.
Mbeki spoke at the closing session of the ANC Gauteng’s renewal workshop on Sunday.
“To win back the confidence of South Africans, we need to address the challenges facing ordinary South Africans, such as crime, jobs, electricity and so on,” the former president said.
Mbeki said the 2024 election results are a threat to the democratic revolution and the ANC.
“This outcome constitutes a threat to the democratic revolution, constitutes the threat to the leader of that democratic revolution, the ANC and, therefore, the question that arises immediately is, what do we do to defend the ANC? We have to focus on and ensure that wherever the ANC serves in government, national, provincial and municipal levels, it turns the page and actually delivers the goods and services expected.”
Mbeki said the party should ensure that wherever it governs whether national, provincial, or municipal level, it delivers what is expected from the government.
The Gauteng ANC received 34.76% in the May elections, which saw it dip below the 50% plus one percent required to govern the province outright.
This has forced the party to work with other parties to form a minority government which could be unstable in the future because it relies on other parties not in government to vote for it in the legislature to pass bills or budgets.
The party has also formed a working relationship with ActionSA which recently paid off as the ANC now has a mayorship in Johannesbrg. The ANC is also involved in talks with ActionSA and the Economic Freedom Fighters in Tshwane with a view to ousting the Democratic Alliance mayor, Cilliers Brink.
Mbeki said the party was leading the government in Gauteng and had control of the majority of the municipalities in the province and therefore the ANC should use the fact that state power was in its hands to deliver, which would pay off when voters went to the polls again.
“Let’s use that strength and the position that we have, state power is in our hands. Why don’t we use that state power to produce these outcomes and to turn the page,” Mbeki said.
Mbeki said it was clear that there were many cases in which the ANC had failed to abide by the law where it governed and that it was this which had cost the party votes in May.
During the two-day session, Mbeki said recalling councillors in municipalities who did not perform was a legitimate course of action for it to take to address issues around credibility and lack of delivery.
The party needed to ensure that members deployed at these levels work to produce the outcome of good service delivery.
He added that to win back the party support in the province, it was “obvious” what they needed to do as the ANC provincial leadership had already done research before the 29 May elections in which they identified the challenges faced by people including crime, unemployment and electricity.
“Let us make sure we use the capacity we have in those areas in which we have state power in our hands to address exactly the matter that was identified in our research. Are we confident as the ANC that we can do that?”
Making his closing remarks, ANC Gauteng chairperson Panyaza Lesufi said the only message they wanted to send to Mbeki was that: “this time we won’t disappoint.”
Lesufi said their agenda was renewal and in the process if they create enemies, history would apologise on their behalf.
He said the party came out of the session determined to reposition the ANC as a more effective vehicle to better peoples lives.