VEDHAN SINGH: ANC’s greed, opulence and disconnect on display

SA’s former liberation party, the ANC, hosted its first national executive committee (NEC) meeting earlier this week in preparation for its traditional January 8 statement. Yet, this inauthentic event is just proof of the widening chasm between the ANC’s leadership and the realities faced by ordinary South Africans.  

The January 8 statement, traditionally seen as setting the tone for the year and outlining ANC government priorities ahead of the state of the nation address (Sona), has lost its resonance in the wake of the party losing its majority in the May election. Many view it as a redundant spectacle, with whispers among insiders suggesting that this is likely to be the last electoral-governance cycle where the same individual delivers both the January 8 statement and the Sona. This points to a future where the ANC president may no longer hold the state presidency after the next national and provincial government elections. 

As NEC members arrived for the preparatory meeting, their ostentatious display of wealth and privilege was impossible to ignore. Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa paraded into the meeting draped in high-end luxury brands, while others flaunted designer handbags and backpacks that cost more than what many SA families earn in a year. 

This tone-deaf display comes amid crippling electricity tariffs forcing businesses to close and households to choose between purchasing prepaid electricity or paying municipal bills. Ramokgopa’s visible affluence was a particularly stinging affront to the millions of South Africans struggling to survive amid the highest unemployment rate in the world and an economy still reeling from infrastructure collapse. 

Take a disgraced and controversial figure like Nomvula Mokonyane. The first deputy secretary general of the ANC, she epitomises the ANC’s transformation into a party defined by pseudo-elitism and image-driven leadership. Her scandals are well-documented by credible media and investigative outlets, yet she remains unapologetic, continuing to flaunt designer clothing, expensive wigs and elaborate makeup. This behaviour is entirely at odds with the lived realities of ordinary SA women, who face daily struggles to secure the basics for survival. 

For many, the sight of ANC leaders indulging in luxury while the country grapples with deepening poverty is infuriating. Parents are agonising over school fees as the academic year looms. Youth unemployment is soaring, with many students unable to pay university registration fees or settle historical debt, leaving them disillusioned in a nation that offers little hope. Amid this, the ANC’s leadership struts in designer gear, insulated from the struggles of those they purport to serve. 

Yet this is hardly surprising, as the ANC thrives in an echo chamber of excess and entitlement. The disconnect is staggering. While South Africans wrestle with the pain of water shedding, stagnant wages and crumbling infrastructure, ANC elites gather in comfort and extravagance, insulated from the consequences of their damning governance failures. 

This NEC moment shows us only one thing: the ANC of today is a far cry from the movement that once promised equality and justice. It has become a symbol of unchecked power, greed and detachment, more focused on personal gain than on addressing the systemic challenges that plague our country.

If the NEC meeting is anything to go it is only a taste of the luxury spectacle of greed, opulence and disconnect set to be on full display at the weekend January 8 rally, only this time around it is highly probable that the people will reject this performance, as they did at the polls in May.  

• Singh is an independent governance, peace and security expert and a commentator on politics and human rights.