ANC's final throw of the dice to reconnect with its roots

Dr. Reneva Fourie

BUSINESS and neoliberal elites are tightening their grip on South Africa’s political landscape. With a clear strategy to oust the African National Congress (ANC) in the 2026 local government elections, they have found willing allies in the Democratic Alliance (DA) and compliant media outlets and academics. The seventh BizNews Conference, which took place in March, made this abundantly apparent.

Helen Zille, Chairperson of the DA’s Federal Council, pulled no punches at the event. The DA’s role in the Government of National Unity (GNU) is not about national recovery. It is about reshaping the state in the image of capital. Propped up by powerful business interests, the DA is working to complete what it has always longed to do – dismantle the post-apartheid social compact, weaken the state, and privatise its core functions. The consequences will be devastating for the working class and the poor. 

This is why the ANC’s National General Council (NGC) scheduled for the end of the year, is not just another event. It is a potential turning point for the entire country. The NGC must become a site of ideological clarity and political renewal. It must be used to reclaim the ANC’s historic mission, reassert the primacy of its working-class base, and confront the elite forces attempting to hijack the country’s future.

Currently, the ANC appears adrift. Since joining the GNU, the party has failed to assert its policy positions with confidence or coherence. It is failing to lead the state, set the ideological tone of governance, and defend the interests of its core constituency – the poor and working class.

Instead of championing progressive transformation, the ANC has bent under pressure. It has retreated on critical policy issues and conceded ground to the DA and other elite-driven forces. Public sector finance cuts, creeping commercialisation, and the encroachment of corporate influence on public policy have all advanced with little resistance from the ANC leadership.

Even on foreign policy, where the ANC once stood as a proud symbol of international solidarity, there are signs of retreat. The request by President Ramaphosa to review the renaming of Sandton Drive in honour of Palestinian freedom fighter Leila Khaled was a telling moment. It showed that the party is no longer willing to stand firmly by its anti-imperialist roots when it becomes politically inconvenient. 

The neoliberal project currently being advanced has an obvious agenda. It wants a laissez-faire government, fewer protections for workers, a rollback of social protection, more deregulation, and expanding private profit into every corner of the state. It is not a neutral or technocratic shift. It is an aggressive restructuring of power and resources in favour of the elite. 

At the centre of this project is the DA, supported by sections of organised business and amplified by a media and intellectual ecosystem sympathetic to market orthodoxy. Together, they are working to shape public opinion, influence state policy, and present neoliberalism as the only viable path forward. Their alliance is strategic and well-resourced.

The ANC cannot afford to be vague or indecisive regarding this agenda. It must act determinedly and unapologetically. The NGC must become a platform to resist this elite offensive, affirm the state’s role in development, and reassert the ANC’s responsibility to its historical base.

The NGC holds significant authority. As the highest decision-making structure between national conferences, it has the constitutional mandate to review party policies and assess the performance of its leadership. It can amend or rescind existing decisions and is empowered to fill NEC vacancies. This gathering has the power to course-correct and reorient the movement toward its founding principles of social justice, redistribution, and people-centred development.

What is needed is not just organisational introspection but bold and principled leadership with the courage to confront the neoliberal onslaught and recommit to a pro-poor developmental agenda. While the party’s leadership may be preoccupied with internal stability and elite negotiations, communities and its members are watching with growing frustration. The poor are facing unbearable living conditions. Jobs are scarce. Prices are soaring. Public infrastructure is crumbling. Services are being cut. The people feel abandoned.

The ANC’s base is not found in boardrooms or at business conferences. It is found in townships, rural villages and factory floors. This is the core that carried the movement in its fight against apartheid and which continues to look to it for hope. Its patience is wearing thin.

ANC branches across the country are aware of the policy compromises being made. They will not passively accept this ongoing drift into neoliberalism. If the leadership fails to act decisively, it risks an internal backlash that could tear the party apart.

To emerge from this deepening crisis, the ANC must reconnect with its historical allies and rediscover its political soul. The policy congruence with the SACP, COSATU and SANCO must be reinstated, not just for appearances but as a genuine partnership to build a democratic developmental state. These partners have long warned of the dangers of neoliberal capture and have offered viable alternatives rooted in the realities of the working class, providing the only credible strategy to end poverty and inequality in South Africa.

Foreign policy, too, must reflect the values of justice, solidarity and sovereignty. The ANC must not waver in standing with oppressed peoples globally. Retreating from principled positions to appease domestic or international pressure will further weaken the party (and the country).

The ANC has one last chance to reclaim its direction. The NGC must be the moment in which the party reasserts its identity, reaffirms its commitment to the people, and resists the suffocating advance of neoliberalism. If it fails to do so, it will continue to bleed legitimacy and support, opening the door even more widely to the very forces that seek to destroy it. This is no longer a matter of political tactics. Rekindling its primary purpose is a question of survival – for the ANC and South Africa’s majority.

* Dr Reneva Fourie is a policy analyst specialising in governance, development and security.

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.