Withering away of the ANC: membership declines by 50% in 5 years

The ANC’s organisational report shows that its membership declined from a peak of 1.2 million in 2017 to 600 000.

ANC elective conference 2022

According to the report presented by Deputy President David Mabuza, although the governing party has one million members “at any time,” weaknesses encroached on the proper management of its system.

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Inactive branch members, buying of members who never become active, a slow card membership system, decline in quality and disciplined members were some of the reasons attributed to decreased membership.

Mpumalanga, whose membership was at 158 598 in 2017, has lost 62% of members to date. The province shed the most members compared to the others.

Gatekeepers abuse new technology

The new technology system was meant to ensure speedy delivery of membership cards, allow online renewal and discourage gatekeeping, among others.

However, this has since exposed illegal practices, such as branch leaders refusing to process membership applications and abusing their powers as administrators.

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“This is a challenge that is receiving attention. Some use tactics to bypass or work against the system by employing all sorts of tricks to convene meetings, in contravention of the guidelines and the constitution of the ANC.

“This is not about the system, but rather a subculture that the ANC will definitely have to deal with in order to transform such behaviour. If individuals resist, then the ANC must ensure that appropriate disciplinary processes are followed to rid itself of such behaviour and the individuals.”

Thuma Mina spirit ‘abandoned’

Following his election in 2017, Ramaphosa kicked off his presidency in Parliament with the “Thuma Mina [send me]” slogan, borrowed from the late musician Hugh Masekela’s jazz hit.

The organisational report noted that ANC officials took the campaign across all provinces and interacted with South Africans. These engagements were however jilted.

“The campaign played a major role in the 2019 election campaign and gained wider support beyond the ANC. However, in that election, we managed to reach a negligible percentage of less than 15% of ANC supporters through our door-to-door work, rallies and smaller activities.

“After the elections, we largely abandoned these engagements with the people, although we maintained our elections capacity.”

The party says it finds it difficult to organise in urban areas in all provinces, and, unlike the working class and the poor – the middle class has not been consistent in their support for the ANC, read the report.

“Their support is contingent on what is perceived to be material interest. We see this in the larger towns and metros, where support is at its lowest and has consistently been so over the last number of elections.”

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