WATCH: ANC leadership discussions could ‘divert’ party, says Mbalula

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said that discussions about who will take over from party leader Cyril Ramaphosa are enough to “divert” the organisation from its objectives to get back on track after the setback in the 2024 general elections.

Mbalula made the remarks in conversation with author and broadcaster Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh on Thursday night during a broad discussion about the budget and the ANC’s shifting power dynamics hosted by the Friedrich-Naumann Foundation’s Freedom Dialogue in Parktown, Johannesburg.

Paul Mashatile

With the next general election in 2029, ANC veteran Tokyo Sexwale told Mpofu-Walsh last week that he wants Paul Mashatile to become the next president of South Africa.

“I said the president (Cyril Ramaphosa) is in the departure lounge. His suitcases are being packed every day. Mashatile is going to arrive. Will he be the president? I wish he [would] be. You know why? Because I saw what we did at Polokwane.”

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Mbalula’s discussion with Mpofu-Walsh comes two weeks after the party’s national leadership decided to reconfigure its provincial structures in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal following a dismal performance during the 2024 general elections, which also saw Zuma’s MK party become the third largest political party in the country.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC lost its majority in last year’s national and provincial elections. Gauteng’s voter support fell to 35%.

Watch: Fikile Mbalula’s discussion with Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh

ANC SG @MbalulaFikile on how the ANC is preparing itself to avoid a succession battle in 2027…pic.twitter.com/IRi4EWiqWl

— Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh (@SizweMpofuWalsh) March 9, 2025

Tokyo Sexwale

With the ANC elective conference scheduled for 2027, Mpofu-Walsh asked Mbalula how the party will try to avoid “blood on the floor” like it did in Polokwane in the battle between former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, and the battle between Nkosazana-Dlamini Zuma and Ramaphosa at the first Nasrec ANC conference.

“Tokyo shouldn’t be saying that because he’s just polarising the debate. I saw him throwing names and so on, nothing wrong. But as the leader of the ANC, he must be responsible; we are in danger here. You know, if you want to divert the ANC, just discuss the next leader.”

ANC leadership battle

Mbalula said that while the debate about the next leaders is important, the party had decided not to address the leadership battle at this time. Instead, it chose to wait until after the 2026 local government elections, which the ANC intends to use as an opportunity to regain lost ground.

“We said it’s an easy discussion, but you can’t pursue your membership in that direction when you are a 40% party because we will be discussing the next leader of the ANC after 2026 when we are probably a 30% party. You need to discuss that question when you have shown that you are on a path of recovery.

“We have agreed that we will prepare for that discussion so that there are no surprises. We might as well arrive at that discussion and conclude that we don’t need a contest because we are going to turn against each other politically — there’s no need because we have recovered so much from the 40%. We need to consolidate going forward, “ he said.

Mbalula said his name has also been thrown in the mix for president of the ANC.

“Before you put personalities, who is going to lead? And I see the comparison because I’m also thrown into the mix. I took two years and a half since being elected SG, and people already want me to be president, that’s a great achievement,” Mbalula said, to the laughter from the audience.

Mbalula said people should be talking about “Paul [Mashatile]. That should be the man under pressure because he’s on the doorstep, you know, he’s knocking.”

ANC task

Mbalula said his task is to “get the ANC on track” and the leadership debate is not something that will be easily resolved.

“Tokyo is starting something that he knows can divert us from this path. So, he needs to be focused, to an extent that he’s overstepping discipline. I’ll have to check.

“We have given an order to all members, an instruction, and that is democratic centralism, ‘don’t talk about leadership’,” Mblula said.

Mbalula urged members to allow the ANC to “reflect, to renew and to transform”.

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