‘What has he got to show?’ Mbeki delivers a damning verdict on Ramaphosa’s presidency

Ask AI 5minFormer president Thabo Mbeki says President Cyril Ramaphosa would be making the right decision to resign if reports of his possible departure are true.

Former president Thabo Mbeki has weighed in on speculation surrounding Cyril Ramaphosa’s future as ANC leader, saying the president would be right to resign if reports that he is considering stepping down following the party’s bruising 2026 Local Government Election performance are true.

Mbeki said there was “nothing positive” to show for Ramaphosa’s time at the helm of both the ANC and the country.

Speaking on the African Renaissance Podcast hosted by former EFF MP Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, Mbeki said the ANC’s current leadership should take responsibility for the party’s electoral decline.

He said the party’s top seven leaders should reflect on their performance and consider whether they were still the right people to lead the organisation.

“That’s an important question, and I think, in fact, that question needs to be posed to the Top Seven themselves. What’s your view of yourselves?” Mbeki said.

The ANC’s top seven comprises Ramaphosa, deputy president Paul Mashatile, national chairperson Gwede Mantashe, secretary general Fikile Mbalula, first deputy secretary general Nomvula Mokonyane, second deputy secretary general Maropene Ramokgopa and treasurer general Gwen Ramokgopa.

Mbeki was responding to reports that Ramaphosa had raised the possibility of resigning following the ANC’s disappointing election performance.

He said that if the reports were accurate, he believed Ramaphosa was taking the right position, adding that other senior party leaders should consider doing the same.

“And when I saw that, I said I think he’s taking a correct position. Because normally, in all of these democratic countries where you have a major disaster like that, the leaders resign. They take responsibility. We are at fault for this, what Mbalula called a catastrophe,” he said.

“How do you continue to lead if you are responsible for a catastrophe? So I thought what is being reported about, if it is correct, what President Ramaphosa’s position is, is correct. And maybe the rest of the leadership should take the same position.”

Mbeki questioned what positive developments could be attributed to Ramaphosa’s presidency since he became ANC president in 2017 and president of the country in 2018.

“We are now in 2026. What has happened between 2018 and 2026 of a positive nature, that you can point to, to say during this period, positive, positive, positive, nothing. There’s a lot of negativity,” he said.

He pointed to the country’s struggling economy, rising unemployment, poverty, violence and crime, as well as the ANC’s declining electoral support.

“Isn’t it time for that Top Seven to say, like President Ramaphosa seems to be saying, we can’t continue to lead having produced a negative outcome of this kind? Maybe that’s what they should say. I’m not saying they must, but maybe they should say that,” Mbeki said.

He added that the ANC leadership needed to be brave enough to accept responsibility for its failures.

“I’m part of the leadership of the ANC. I’m a member of the National Executive Committee of the ANC. We have to take responsibility for what has happened, including that Top Seven. And it may very well be indeed that when we say ANC renewal, we are giving the task to renew the ANC to wrong people,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mbalula has rejected reports that Ramaphosa is considering stepping down, insisting that there is no such discussion within the party.

The denial followed claims by at least five National Executive Committee (NEC) members that Ramaphosa had raised the prospect of resigning due the ANC’s poor performance in the 2026 local government elections.

According to the reports, Ramaphosa suggested that the party’s top leaders should take responsibility for successive electoral setbacks. He was also reportedly prepared to resign alone if the rest of the leadership did not step aside.

Some insiders reportedly warned that his departure could put the Government of National Unity (GNU) at risk.

“There’s no such consideration in the ANC,” he said.

He said the party was preparing a report for the NEC to guide its response to the election results.

“We are going to the NEC to get a report which we are working on now, and we characterise it as a doctrine that will guide us to respond to the moment,” Mbalula said.

He added that the ANC would examine how its election campaign was conducted and identify the reasons behind its poor performance.

The ANC has been left reeling after its national share of the vote dropped from 45.59% in the 2021 local government elections to 30.76% in 2026.

Although it remained the biggest party nationally, the Democratic Alliance (DA) followed with 24.64%, while the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party secured 9.76%.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) received 6.22%, followed by ActionSA with 5.67%.

The ANC secured outright majorities in 53 municipalities and emerged as the leading party in 128 municipalities.

The DA secured outright majorities in 12 municipalities and emerged as the leading party in 32 municipalities. The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) secured outright control in five municipalities, while the MK Party won three municipalities outright.

The ANC also lost its leading position in metropolitan municipalities.

The MK Party took control of eThekwini, while the DA made significant gains in Gauteng’s key metros, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane, where no party secured an outright majority.

On Sunday night, following the announcement of the election results, the ANC dismissed claims that Ramaphosa could resign following the party’s bruising performance.

The president also questioned the source of the reports.

“I do not know where these rumours are coming from; I mean, whoever came up with a rumour like that is preposterous,” Ramaphosa said.