Mbeki’s renewal call a race against time for ethical leadership

AS THE ANC’s support consistently diminishes in each election since 2019, former president Thabo Mbeki has been making frantic attempts to try and redeem his organisation from this decline, albeit with minimal success.

- PROF BHEKI MNGOMEZULU

FORMER ANC president Thabo Mbeki preparing to deliver his lecture at the ANC's political school in Durban on September 27.

Part of the reason for the evident challenge in rescuing the ANC from itself is that some of its leaders continuously score own goals, unprovoked, thereby giving the ANC’s political opponents free points.

Among other things, Mbeki has been calling for the audit of the membership of the ANC.

His proposal is premised on the understanding that the party has attracted people who either joined the organisation with ill intentions of self-enrichment or are genuine members of the party but lack understanding about the ANC and what it stands for, since they were never exposed to political education about the party and about politics in general.

Flowing from the above, Mbeki has been calling for the need for political education among ANC members.

During the weekend of September 27, 2025, Mbeki led a landmark political class for the ANC structures in KwaZulu-Natal. This was Mbeki’s maiden political engagement since the reconfiguration of the provincial leadership structure by the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) in February.

Expounding his mission, Mbeki has called for an ANC renewal conference, which would assist the party in its resolve to renew itself. While Mbeki’s views are welcome and understandable, they inevitably raise several questions.