Minister in the President's Office, Khumbudzo Ntsahvheni. (Jairus Mutule/GCIS)
aAs the ANC continues to discuss which parties it will form a coalition with nationally, National Executive Committee (NEC) member Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said the party has a majority and should be allowed to lead the new government.
Ntshavheni was speaking on the sidelines of the announcement of the 2024 election results by the South African Electoral Commission on Sunday.
“The ANC has the most votes, it is the party with the most votes, supported by over six million South Africans. The ANC has the responsibility to lead the country,” she said.
The party's national activities committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, while the national committee is scheduled to meet later in the week. A key item on the agenda for the national committee meeting will be a discussion on who the party will form a coalition government with across the country.
This week's source: Mail & Guardian President Cyril Ramaphosa and his closest allies within the ANC believed the only path to stability was through a cooperation agreement with the Democratic Alliance (DA).
However, there has been backlash within the ruling party over the president's choice of the Democratic Alliance over the Economic Freedom Fighters party or the Umkhonto we'Sizwe party.
Ntshavheni said the ANC would meet to reflect on the election, discuss the way forward and consider how the party would rebuild in the wake of the election results.
“The 2026 local elections are approaching, [we have to discuss] “How do we prepare to bounce back with the number of municipalities where we're not leading,” she said.
Some in the ANC believe the party's seven top brass should be sacked after failing to secure a majority for the first time in 30 years in power.
But on Sunday Ntsahavheni did not respond to a question about whether he thought the top seven should be held responsible for the failure.
“I am a member of the NEC and if the leader has to be removed then that means I have to be removed too,” she said.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said at the weekend that President Ramaphosa and seven other top leaders would not step down over the poor election results.
Mbalula also said no government could be formed without consulting the ANC, adding that the ANC would not be intimidated by coalition talks and would work sensibly in the best interests of democracy, South Africans and a stable government.
“This is not an arrogant statement, it just means that the six million people who voted for us want us to continue to lead,” he said. “They still want us to remain in power and we have to respect that. They did not want us to be completely removed from power, otherwise we would have disappeared politically.”
He said forming a coalition at home would not be easy, but the party had the framework for it.
“Among other things, we are saying that if a party wins, it must take the lead in terms of forming a government, but if that falls apart, we have no choice. We will work with whoever wants to work with us.”
Mbalula said the ANC was open to discussions with all parties to find the best coalition partner because it had not won outright.
