The ANC’s big year
ANC’s Game of Thrones hots up
Election losses in key metros and ever-widening internal divisions have the governing party on the ropes a year before it chooses a new president to replace Jacob Zuma
The race to succeed President Jacob Zuma as ANC president is in full swing, overshadowing the party’s anniversary statement last Sunday — at a time when Africa’s oldest liberation movement is in desperate need of inspiration and renewal from the annual presidential address which spurred its members on during the fight against apartheid. The ANC has seen off a bruising 2016, with the loss of key metros and a clear sign that its role as the "leader of society" is in terminal decline. Flitting through "introspection" and engagement with its structures after the constitutional court judgment on Nkandla and following its drop in electoral support in the local elections, it simply glossed over the malaise it faced for the sake of "unity". A bid to remove Zuma as president of the country by senior party leaders also fell flat when the ANC national executive committee reaffirmed its support for him. That meeting, however, was a clear indication of the deep divide in the party and that its r...
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