Time to hit reset button on ANC? Ramaphosa resignation would be the right thing, says Mbeki
Former president Thabo Mbeki has criticised Cyril Ramaphosa following the ANC's election losses.
Sara-Jayne Makwala King
Former ANC president Thabo Mbeki campaigns for the ANC at the Jabulani Mall in Soweto on 25 April 2024. Picture: Katleho Jiyane/Eyewitness News
Katleho Jiyane/Eyewitness News
Former president Thabo Mbeki has slammed President Cyril Ramaphosa's leadership following the ANC's worst electoral performance since the dawn of democracy in South Africa.
The party received just 30.7% of the national vote in the local government elections, with secretary-general Fikile Mbalula describing the result as 'catastrophic'.
Speaking on Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi’s podcast this week, Mbeki said he was made aware of a report in which it is claimed that Ramaphosa offered to resign as a consequence of the results.
“And when I saw that, I said, I think he’s taking the correct position," he told the podcast host and former EFF politician.
Speaking to CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit, Stellenbosch University Professor Zwelinzima Ndevu said Mbeki's criticism was justified.
"If a leader fails to achieve predetermined goals, that leader should therefore take responsibility, and responsibility might include failing on your sword. So from that context, President Thabo Mbeki was actually not out of order."
But Ndevu added that Ramaphosa's resignation alone wouldn't solve the ANC's problems.
He believes the party needs a complete overhaul.
"They must collapse all the structures from the branch level to the NEC and ultimately the president and start afresh because the failure is not only at the top; I think the failure is everywhere.
"If there was a possibility of pressing the reset button, I would press the reset button," he added.
Ndevu said the election results showed that the ANC had failed to connect with voters and address their long-standing concerns.
"Committees on the ground were not able to mobilise people enough, or the message that they were sending out there did not resonate with the people, or the councillors they've put up are not what the people are looking for."
He suggested Ramaphosa could step down as ANC president while remaining president of the country.
"If he does resign, it would mean that the ANC, NEC, the top seven and all the NEC would also resign and therefore you have an interim structure."
Ndevu said it would be important that the interim structure should leave government arrangements intact.
"So they should not interfere with government arrangements, especially because they are working effectively. So it would mean that for the next three years, until the next election, President Ramaphosa would remain the president of the republic."
And that wouldn't be a bad thing, said Ndevu, who believes Ramaphosa has made some progress in stabilising government, despite the ANC's poor performance at the polls.
"On that score, he has not done so bad. There are challenges. Certainly, there are challenges. But he has stabilised. We've seen signs of the growth of the economy."