Ramaphosa dismisses ANC list crisis as ‘little hiccup’, says party is growing

President Cyril Ramaphosa has brushed aside the ANC’s candidate-list crisis as a “little hiccup”, saying it affects only about three percent of the names the party was required to submit for the November 4 local government elections.

At the same time, Ramaphosa rejected claims that the ANC was “dying a slow death”, insisting the governing party remained a strong political force with deep-rooted structures across the country.

Speaking during an ANC campaign in Tembisa on Wednesday, Ramaphosa was asked about the party’s legal challenge against the Electoral Commission of SA’s (IEC) rejection of candidate lists in six municipalities.

The ANC has approached the Electoral Court seeking to overturn the IEC’s decision, arguing that its candidate information had been uploaded to the commission’s system before the 5pm deadline but that technical problems prevented the lists from being formally submitted.

Ramaphosa declined to predict the outcome of the court case.

“I will never second guess what will happen in court. Once we lodge papers in court, we leave it up to the judiciary. The judiciary must have the last word,” he said.

But he sought to play down the scale of the problem, saying it affected only a small portion of the party’s nominations.

“The ANC is going ahead with the processes to resolve this little hiccup that we have picked up, which only affects about three percent of the names that we have to submit. And I’m sure that this will be forthcoming,” Ramaphosa said.

The ANC’s court action comes as the party races to resolve the dispute before the elections, after the IEC rejected nominations in six municipalities.

Ramaphosa said he would not disclose discussions among ANC officials about the crisis.

“I will never come and tell you about what we discuss as officials,” he said, likening the discussions to cabinet deliberations, which he is bound by an oath not to disclose.

The president was also asked about claims that the ANC was facing a slow decline and stiff competition from parties such as the EFF and ActionSA.

His response was unequivocal. “The ANC is growing,” he said.

Ramaphosa said the ANC’s membership remained strong and that its structures were deeply rooted across the country.

“The ANC is a better brand. The ANC operates more across the length and the breadth of the country, and it has deep support structures that work, that are well rooted amongst our people,” he said.

He dismissed those hoping for the ANC’s collapse as living in a “pipe dream”.

“It’s a pipe dream, and it will never happen. The ANC lives, and the ANC will continue to lead,” Ramaphosa said.

He said the party welcomed competition from opposition parties because it forced the ANC to perform at its best.

“We’ve always faced stiff competition from other parties, and we welcome that. Competition is good, and we operate at our best when there is competition, because that’s when we know that we’ve got to beat the competition,” he said.

Ramaphosa said the ANC was “well geared” to take on its opponents and claimed its campaign was receiving an enthusiastic response from voters.

“Our people’s enthusiasm to continue voting for the ANC, and even those who are a bit doubtful, are indicating that they will vote,” he said.

The president was campaigning door-to-door in Tembisa, where residents raised concerns about the cost of electricity and unemployment.

He said the campaign had been encouraging, including among young people.

“Even young people are demonstrating that they will come out in their numbers to vote for the ANC,” Ramaphosa said.

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