By Daanyaal Matthews
The results of the national elections are still being studied, with questions still being raised as to how the ANC lost its majority hold over the Republic, a question the party itself hopes to answer in its ongoing National Executive Committee meeting being held in Boksburg.
From the perspective of Fébé Potgieter-Gqubule, head of policy and research at the party, factionalism within the party played a key role in its downfall, an argument that is rather bizarre within the context of the African National Congress that has been marked with factions since its inception, an argument political analyst Dr. Ntsikelelo Breakfast finds puzzling.
“Throughout history, the ANC has had factionalism. For instance, the breakaway of the PAC was caused by factionalism in 1959, the expulsion of the group of 8, the Makiwane brothers, because of their discontentment with the inclusion of other racial categories such as coloured people and white people. So, the ANC has had factional battles throughout history,” said Breakfast.
While the issue of factionalism within the party has always been an issue, one that has most recently seen the former leader of the party, Former President Jacob Zuma, being axed for leading the MK party in the recent elections, the larger concern for the party has been the lack of service delivery, an issue that the President of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa, has admitted played a role in its downfall. However, for Breakfast, while the words of the President are correct, their response to obvious issues has been a key in their failure, stating:
“The ANC has a way of describing problems in the right way but falls short in terms of responding to them. Because I mean, it’s an open secret that the problems of the ANC have to do with the lack of service at the Nevada. But nothing is done to address that.”
For political analyst Tessa Dooms, the ANC is struggling due to the changing paradigm of the Republic, as the party is now working in an environment where the electorate is not querying what new parties will be conceived but rather how parties will affect change within the nation.
“Speaking to a lot of voters before the elections, one of the things that voters kept asking is not which new party is going to come about, but can parties start giving us a sense of how they are going to do things differently but also a sense that they wanted accountability?” said Dooms.
For Dooms, accountability has been key to the ANC’s downfall, with the voting of previous ANC supporters towards nascent parties merely being a symptom of their dissatisfaction with larger parties that don’t adequately represent the needs of the people, arguing:
“The mushrooming of micro parties and small parties is about people seeking a presentation that they can hold accountable, and they clearly do not feel that bigger parties and national level parties are parties that are able to give them a sufficient sense of representation.”
Photo: @MyANC
