The party's political science head, David Makhura, said losing its majority of seats in the May 29 general election was a strategic setback.
ANC political science chief David Makhura said on Saturday the party's loss of a majority of seats in the May 29 general election was a strategic setback, adding that the need to refresh the party had now become a “life or death” priority.
Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of an ANC national executive committee meeting in Boksburg, Makhura said the national unity government, formed by President Cyril Ramaphosa after the party's support in elections fell below 50 per cent, was the party's best option for staying in power and ensuring it could implement its manifesto.
“The outcome of the 2024 elections is very important for the ANC and South Africa and we see it as a strategic setback for the fundamental transformation of our country, for what we call in our language, the National Democratic Revolution,” he said.
“We need to work with other parties. It is already happening in other municipalities and we have to address it, but this is a strategic setback. We have to reassess the ANC's strategy and tactics,” he said.
The electoral defeat also means the ANC must press ahead with its renewal plans, which are now a matter of life and death, Makuhura said.
“We must renew or we will perish. Many of the resolutions we have adopted on renewal will be implemented,” he said.
But the party has struggled to revamp itself and has faced criticism for failing to take firm action against some of its members allegedly involved in corruption.
“Political parties that lose significant support in elections will be forced to backslide. They will not have the same leeway as before,” Makhura warned on Saturday.
“It's different now because before we talked about regeneration, we were talking about a moral, ethical, political necessity. Now it's driven by the need for the movement to survive.”
He said the ANC had considered several options after its national voter turnout plummeted from 57.5% in the last general and provincial elections in 2019 to just 40.18% this year.
“We looked at four options, including going into opposition or forming a grand coalition government with one, two or three larger parties,” Makura said.
“We were considering becoming an opposition party. We were not desperate to take power, but we didn't want to be a unity government that didn't get anything done, or a coalition government that didn't work.”
He said the ANC had also considered forming a minority government but abandoned it, believing such a government would be “permanently unstable”.
Makula said the ANC was not an arrogant party and was ready to work with other political organisations as long as they agreed on the core principles for making government work.