Renewal not a one-day event, says Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa, seemingly responding to former president Thabo Mbeki, says the renewal of the African National Congress (ANC) should be seen as a continuous process, not a one-day event.

Ramaphosa delivered the closing remarks on the last day of the ordinary meeting of the ANC NEC at Birchwood Hotel on Monday.

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“Renewal should never be seen as a one-day event, it is a continuous process. There are times when we will take five steps forward, and three back, but the commitment that we have made in ensuring that there is renewal in the ANC, is a commitment to which we have said we will not reverse from and we will always seek to move forward. We must keep at it and reposition our organisation,” said Ramaphosa.

“This was a most success ANC NEC meeting which was underpinned by a great spirit of camaraderie, great exchange of views, clearly displaying a continuing sprit of renewal and unity.

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“The appointment of Veterans to lead the Integrity Commission and Disciplinary process is part of engendering discipline and integrity back in the organisation. The Veterans’ League remains at the forefront of the renewal of the ANC and building and strengthening our movement.”

‘No signs of renewal’

The ANC president’s address comes just days after Mbeki’s criticism at a memorial service for anti-apartheid activist and former deputy minister of foreign affairs Aziz Pahad last week.

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The former president said he saw no signs of renewal within the ANC.

“The fact of the matter is that we did not renew the ANC following the party conference resolution of 2017. That resolution was repeated by the conference of 2022. We are now in October and nothing has happened to renew the ANC,” he said.

Mbeki has previously called on fellow comrades to work on the party’s renewal before it “dies”.

Mbeki called on the party to get rid of power-hungry comrades if it is to survive the 2024 elections.

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“We cannot have a situation that you have people popping out who are corrupt. In the ANC people say the ANC is corrupt, The ANC is not corrupt, but it caries within its ranks people who are corrupt. To renew itself, it must get rid of those kinds of people,” said Mbeki.

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