Dismal electoral support, SACP tensions expected to dominate Cyril's ANC Jan 8 address

ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to use his January 8 statement this weekend to outline how the party intends to recover from a bruising electoral decline, the decision by the SACP to contest the upcoming elections independently and the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. 

This is according to political commentator, Professor Ntsikelelo Breakfast, who said nothing much will come out of this much-anticipated address judging from Ramaphosa's previous January speeches. 

Ramaphosa's address at the Moruleng Stadium in the North West also comes as the party is battling big electoral declines amid simmering ANC/SACP tensions, which have been compounded by the communist party's recent policy directive to go at it alone at the polls later this year.

"I think the speech is going to be twofold: It will focus on the domestic issues, issues of underdevelopment, issues of gender-based violence, and issues of corruption. I think because we're in the build-up to the upcoming local government elections, he's also going to say a thing or two about the state of readiness of the ANC for the local government elections.

"But also because of what is happening at the moment on a global scale in terms of the conflict that has broken out between the US and Venezuela, Ramaphosa is expected to say something on this," said Breakfast.

He said that despite delivering a successful NGC and G20 events, Ramaphosa's helm at the top is not as secure.

Breakfast cited the recent National General Council in December, saying that the fact that Ramaphosa's closing address was done during a closed session, suggests 'trouble in paradise'.

"It is clear that Ramaphosa delivered a successful G20 Summit, and I think the beauty of that summit is that it was able to put us as a country on the map on a global scale. But the problem is that there might be a pushback from his own party. He might not complete his term of office," he added.

Political analyst, Dr Levy Ndou believes Ramaphosa will give a sharp focus to reclaiming lost ground in the upcoming 2026 local government election.

“The ANC, in my view, must be able to develop a general program that must talk to all the members of the ANC and the ordinary citizens at large in terms of what the ANC has in store for them in 2026. We also know that the ANC will be going to its policy conference, but the clear areas of priorities in terms of approaching local government elections are one of the issues that the National Executive Committee should be able to outline to people," Ndou told the SABC.

Cape Times