Reversing terminal decline a tall order for besieged ANC

THE ANC has released its National General Council (NGC) policy document, ahead of the gathering scheduled for December 8 to12 at Nasrec in Johannesburg. The 49-page document demands serious political engagement and intellectual patience.

- ZAMIKHAYA MASETI

Most certainly, members of the ANC have historically demonstrated the capacity to assimilate and comprehend documents of this magnitude. I have no doubt.

My cursory review of this 49-page document highlights its frankness in addressing the gravity of the moment, while also exposing areas where false theoretical assumptions are made. This is what makes the document demanding, for it requires not only reading but rigorous engagement, critique and ideological clarity.

The forthcoming NGC will test not only their ability to process complex policy but also their resolve to confront the harsh realities of the present conjuncture. Historically, the NGC has functioned as a political instrument of review, a midterm mirror held up to the movement itself. It assesses how far the ANC has travelled in implementing the policy resolutions of the last conference, which ushered in a serving national leadership for a particular epoch.

For over 30 years, ANC members have wielded this mechanism not only to shape government but also to craft the strategic direction of the state. Its election manifesto has always drawn nourishment from the deliberations of the NGC.

Yet the current conjuncture imposes a new and sobering reality. This year’s NGC convenes under the shadow of a Government of National Unity (GNU). According to my own Political Economy Dictionary, the GNU represents regression. It is a confirmation that the ANC’s National Democratic Revolution is partially deconsolidated in the aftermath of the May 29, 2024, national elections.

The ANC’s parliamentary and governmental hegemony has been decimated with its 40% electoral outcome, translating into a humiliating loss of five million voters. From a once unassailable majority, the ANC now commands just 159 seats in the National Assembly out of 400, compelled to negotiate every policy shift and every legislative instrument.