THE ANC has challenged its members to take personal financial responsibility for attending the upcoming January 8 celebrations in Khayelitsha at the weekend in a move seen as signalling the party’s financial woes.
The decision is seen as a desperate attempt to alleviate the financial burden of hosting large-scale events and bypassing the costs on to its members, the ANC is effectively admitting that it can no longer afford to foot the bill, say insiders.
The party sources said the ANC's financial woes are not entirely surprising, given a history of financial mismanagement and corruption.
The decision to make members pay their own way may be seen as a pragmatic move, but it also raises questions about the party's ability to deliver on its promises to its members and the broader South African public, they said.
Political analyst, Dr John Molepo, an Associate Professor at the University of the North West, said that the move signals a significant pivot in the ANC's operational strategy, pushing back against past practices and financial dependencies.
“Breaking with its customary practice of transporting members en masse to national festivities, the ANC is now urging its followers to pay their own way. This unprecedented shift has ignited a conversation about self-sufficiency ahead of the big jamboree this coming weekend in Khayelitsha township in Cape Town,” he said.
However, ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula, drumming up support for the bash, said that the party would go on despite factions.
“In the lives of our people by continuing to progress the souls of people when we come here it's not an accident,” Mbalula told IOL.
He added that the party ”in the name of continuing with the work you are doing has to go on”.
The ANC is gearing up to celebrate its 113th anniversary on Saturday but this year’s event is expected to be one of the smallest in over three decades.
The party has chosen the Mandela Park Stadium in Khayelitsha as the venue, which has a capacity of only 2 000 people.
In comparison, last year’s event was held at the Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga, which has a capacity of 43 000 people, and the previous year’s event was held at the Petrus Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein, which has a capacity of 22 000 people.
Despite the reduced turnout, Mbalula insisted that the Khayelitsha Stadium was the party’s first choice due to its strategic location.
The ANC’s 113th anniversary celebration will mark the first time the party has held its birthday rally in the Western Cape since 2015.
Addressing the media this week, ANC Dullah Omar Region chairperson Ndithini Tyhido said the party was ready for the event.
“We are very far above the target that we were given… contrary to what is said out there, the ANC is going to show force.
“We have volunteers who are activating the communities to come and join us for the celebrations… The whole point is to make the ANC attractive again.
“The celebrations are happening, interestingly, where the people are in Khayelitsha, the year where the ANC will be marking the 70th year of the launch of the Freedom Charter,” Tyhido.
At a social gathering in Khayelitsha, near the venue of this year’s ANC 113th anniversary rally, policy analyst Nkosikhulule Nyembezi asked a resident what he expected from the speech. “Nothing!” he snorted.
Nyembezi said a ruling elite has completely “marginalised the masses”.
“At a social gathering in Khayelitsha, near the venue of this year’s ANC 113th anniversary rally, I asked a resident what he expected from the speech. “Nothing!” he snorted. He was sorry, he added, that it meant he would wait longer to get a house, as the local councillor once more pushed down his name after unilaterally rearranging the housing waiting list.
He sounded miserable like many others who have low expectations after many years of unfulfilled ANC promises to address even the less complex chronic challenges facing the diverse communities in South Africa.
“Many communities are trying to realign with the ANC because of the historic ties and lack of a strong alternative. But many distrust ANC pledges to move forward as they complete their alignment tasks. Take the example of the much-awaited national dialogue that is supposed to inform this January 08 statement, but faction politics and poor leadership count for more.
“The problem is more complex than any one national agenda item. We have a ruling elite that has completely marginalised the masses. Many people perceive the ANC has no real appetite for community-led socio-economic development, and its reluctance undermines pro-democracy and pro-developmental state forces and strengthens narrow political interests,” he said.
Nyembezi said it was a “troubling perception” that the speech must address.
“As Ramaphosa’s GNU administration enters its eighth month, the contradictions of the ANC’s unity government strategy are piling up. It is to attempt to achieve two goals inherently in conflict, pursuing a fundamental shift in prioritising pro-poor socio-economic policies without upending the national economic growth and debt reduction targets. The administration is falling short on both of these objectives.”
Political analyst professor Sipho Seepe added that the ANC has failed to acknowledge that it has “betrayed the black people”.
“The ANC of Ramaphosa has mastered the art of reinventing history and also believing its own lies. It has so failed to acknowledge that it has betrayed the black people in general and Africans in particular. The outcome of the 2024 general election was a referendum on Ramaphosa's presidency. Instead of acknowledging failure, Ramaphosa has tried to reframe failure in a positive light by saying voters have suggested parties must work together, hence the formation of the GNU. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Cape Times