Ramaphosa considers quitting as ANC reels

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Opens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowEnter fullscreen mode displaying this image.ExpandAt least five senior NEC members have told the Sunday Times that Ramaphosa suggested he should step down. Picture: Freddy Mavunda Story audio is generated using AI

The ANC’s devastating showing in Wednesday’s local government elections has led President Cyril Ramaphosa and other senior leaders to discuss the possibility of falling on their swords and resigning from top party posts.

According to several ANC national executive committee (NEC) members, the president raised the prospect of resigning as party leader after the ANC’s poor election performance, triggering an extraordinary discussion among the party’s top officials about who should take responsibility for its electoral collapse.

ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu said she was “not aware of such a discussion by national officials”.

The conversation was reportedly prompted by the ANC’s head of elections, Mdumiseni Ntuli, who said in media interviews that the NEC — the party’s highest decision-making structure — should reflect on the ANC’S electoral outcomes.

In a podcast interview with The Political Arena, Ntuli said it would be “inconceivable that in the leadership of the ANC [someone] would stand up and say please elect me to be the next president of the ANC despite its performance”.

At least five senior NEC members have told the Sunday Times that Ramaphosa suggested he should step down, arguing that the party could not suffer two successive election defeats under his leadership without consequences.

What I’m hearing is that the president felt that under him and the officials, the party had lost two elections and there needed to be consequences.

His proposal was reportedly met with resistance from second deputy secretary-general Maropene Ramokgopa, who urged him to calm down and instead consider an early national conference in April.

“What I’m hearing is that the president felt that under him and the officials, the party had lost two elections and there needed to be consequences,” one NEC member said.

So serious was the discussion, according to NEC members who were briefed, that Ramaphosa even said that if the ANC’s top seven national officials were not willing to vacate their posts, he could resign on his own.

“I’m told that he told them that if they are not supportive of his suggestion for all the top seven members to resign, he can resign alone,” said another ANC NEC member.

Asked what Ramaphosa’s resignation would mean for the government of national unity (GNU), this NEC member said it would spell the end of it.

“He can’t resign as ANC president and still lead the GNU. It means the GNU collapses. Because, anyway, who supports this arrangement at this moment? How is it assisting us?”

These are the second consecutive elections in which the ANC, under Ramaphosa’s leadership, has lost its majority.

I’m told that he told them that if they are not supportive of his suggestion for all the top seven members to resign, he can resign alone.

In the 2024 national and provincial elections, the ANC dropped from a comfortable 57.5% in 2019 to 40.2%.

In this week’s local elections, the ANC has lost its majority in all the Gauteng metropolitan municipalities and Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape to the DA, and in eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal to the MK Party.

The ANC’s national footprint in the local polls has also dropped significantly, from 49.9% in 2021 to 36.9% in 2026.

ANC’s rise and fall However, Ramaphosa’s call is said to have been rejected by several ANC leaders, including the party’s deputy president, Paul Mashatile and Ramokgopa.

“Paul [Mashatile] said no, let’s not resign, there’s no need, let us take time and reflect and that they should not be emotional. He basically was saying that resigning is not an option,” said a senior NEC member aware of the discussions.

Another NEC member corroborated this, saying Ramokgopa rejected the suggestion because she was “thinking about her deployment”.

“Maropene [Ramokgopa], I hear, was saying that we should go to an early conference and not resign, and that the conference could be held as early as April. She was also suggesting that we don’t do the whole branch process and that we just ask the branch leaders to send two delegates each,” the NEC member said.

Ramaphosa is said to have insisted that the national officials could not escape accountability for the ANC’s disastrous showing, even if the party opted for an early conference.

Another insider said the exchange was initially between Ramaphosa and Ramokgopa before Mashatile and secretary-general Fikile Mbalula intervened to persuade the president against what they viewed as a drastic move.

“I think it was an emotional response. I don’t think it’s thought through. Yes, the NEC as a collective must take responsibility, but a decision for the president to step down would be catastrophic for the ANC,” the insider said.

Treasurer-general Gwen Ramokgopa also reportedly weighed in, arguing that if the national officials were to be held accountable for the election outcome, they should not resist if the NEC called for them to step down.

This is the second time Ramaphosa has threatened to resign as ANC president. The first was in 2022, on the eve of the party’s national conference, after a parliamentary panel led by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo found that he had a case to answer over the Phala Phala scandal.

Ramaphosa summoned his allies to Tuynhuys — his official residence in Cape Town — where he announced that he intended to step down.

Mantashe, who was seeking a second term as ANC chair as part of Ramaphosa’s faction, subsequently reached out to other NEC members close to the president in an effort to persuade him to reconsider.

The episode, which had been the subject of years of media speculation, was confirmed last year by Mbalula at a party event.

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