ANC on the Brink: Alliance Collapses, Discipline Tightens, and Old Ghosts Resurface Ahead of Local Polls
- Mpho Dube
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief
The Azanian | Truth. Fearless. Unfiltered.
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JOHANNESBURG – The African National Congress is walking into the November local government elections with its alliance in tatters, its discipline machinery firing, and its legacy under attack from within. In 48 hours, the party has gone from snubbing its oldest ally to purging senior members and facing claims of apartheid-era infiltration.
The picture is one of a liberation movement fighting on three fronts: against the SACP, against its own ranks, and against history.
The ANC has declined an invitation to attend the SACP’s “Conference of the Left” later this week, marking the lowest point in relations between the two alliance partners in a decade.
The invitation was for the ANC to deliver a short message of support at the gathering. Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula shut it down, calling the conference “anti-ANC”.
Speaking at Luthuli House on Tuesday, Mbalula said the tone and agenda of the SACP’s meeting made it clear the gathering was aimed at undermining the ruling party ahead of the November polls.
The snub comes as the SACP openly breaks with the ANC on the Phala Phala issue. General Secretary Solly Mapaila told media in April that the SACP would not defend Ramaphosa in Parliament, warning that backing him would destroy the party’s credibility before the 2026 local elections.
While the SACP pulls away, the ANC is turning inward.
The party’s National Disciplinary Committee is set to recommend sanctions against five senior members referred after the Integrity Commission presented its report to the NEC over the weekend. Among them: former Social Development Minister Lindiwe Tolashe and former Police Minister Bheki Cele.
“They have brought the party into disrepute, and the national disciplinary committee is going to recommend a sanction,” Mbalula said.
Tolashe, who was fired by President Cyril Ramaphosa as minister and is also president of the ANC Women’s League, has been ordered to resign as an MP and as league head. Cele faces the same process.
Also referred are City of Johannesburg MMC Sithembiso Zungu, Matjhabeng Local Municipality Mayor Thanduxolo Khalipha, and ANC Sedibeng regional secretary Jason Mkhwane.
Old Ghosts: Mbeki Claims ANC Infiltrated by Apartheid Agents
Just as the ANC tries to clean house, former President Thabo Mbeki has reopened old wounds.
Speaking this week, Mbeki claimed the ANC is “heavily infiltrated by the apartheid intelligence services”, arguing that this infiltration is a key reason for the party’s decline.
The ANC’s problems are piling up: isolation from the SACP and COSATU, high-profile disciplinary cases, and historical baggage resurfacing.
Mbalula has also tried to control the narrative on migration, warning businesses hiring undocumented migrants they will face consequences, and saying anti-illegal immigration protests are “not xenophobic”.
The ANC enters the local elections without the cover of a united alliance, with its top brass under disciplinary cloud, and with its own former president questioning its DNA.
Whether this is a moment of renewal or collapse will be decided at the ballot box. For now, Luthuli House is fighting a war on all sides.
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