The ANC has acknowledged that despite three decades of progress, SA still grapples with entrenched fault lines of unemployment, inequality, and poverty.
To address these pressing concerns, the ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC) has resolved to form a Government of National Unity (GNU) that will prioritise cooperation and collective action.
The party’s secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, addressed the media on Thursday at the party’s headquarters, Luthuli House, in Johannesburg following their NEC meeting that was followed by a Lekgotla.
Mbalula revealed the outcomes announced of their six-day meeting, intimating that the party had re-analysed itself.
He emphasised the need for the GNU to root out complacency and arrogance and adopting a zero-tolerance stance on corruption and incompetence.
“By working together, political parties can pool their resources and expertise to create an inclusive, viable, and stable government that truly serves the people's needs and advances the transformation agenda.”
He said the ANC's initiative marked a significant shift towards a more collaborative approach to governance, recognising that the country's complex challenges required a united response.
By putting aside partisan interests and working towards a common goal, the GNU aims to make meaningful progress on the socio-economic front and improve the lives of all South Africans.
In a surprise turn of events, Mbalula announced that the party had resolved that it would back the resuscitation of the VBS bank and return the money the party may have benefited from.
Last month, former VBS board chair, Tshifhiwa Matodzi, revealed that ANC’s former treasurer-general in 2016, Zweli Mkhize, had requested R2 million from the bank to pay an ANC service provider.
The bank was looted of over R2.3 billion by officials and politicians, leaving scores of individuals, mostly the elderly, counting their losses.
Mbalula also conceded that the party had defaulted in service delivery in the last 30 years of governance.
“In diagnosing the moment, the ANC NEC agrees that the national fault-lines of unemployment, inequality and poverty have persisted despite progress over the past 30 years, with serious negative impacts on all segments of the motive forces,” he said.
He said that the ANC was ready to cleanse itself saying the party would have to investigate its branches to check whether or not they were in good standing, intimating that there were some branches that had participated in previous party elective conferences but were not eligible.
He said the party was going to look into why KwaZulu Natal, the Northern Cape, Gauteng and Mpumalanga had performed badly during the May 29 elections.
However, he discouraged the call by some party heavyweights to disband these provinces.
Mbalula vowed to protect structures of these provinces, saying the party was aware of its problem ahead of the elections.
“With the ANC going into this election, it was very clear that we have weak structures, and there are various reasons why the organisation is weak on the ground. We started to see that with the selection process, with most of the branches, when we started to do things differently, responding differently.”
Saturday Star