Ramaphosa Is Going Nowhere, ANC Declares — Bhengu Shuts Down Resignation Rumours After Vote Slump

On Wednesday, the leader of the governing party in South Africa, Mahlengi Bhengu, took the stage and made sure everyone heard the message. When asked by reporters about the rumours circulating around President Cyril Ramaphosa’s political future, the African National Congress spokeswoman left no room for doubt. Her remarks were abrupt, unequivocal, and to the point. She maintained that there was absolutely no truth to the rumours.

According to Bhengu, there is no internal pressure on Ramaphosa to step down from his position within the ANC leadership group. She denied rumours that high-ranking Luthuli House officials had been agitated after the party’s humiliating victory. “The president is going nowhere,” she said. With a record low of less than 40% in the 2024 general elections, the ANC sparked heated controversy about leadership responsibility, marking the first time the party has lost support since Nelson Mandela led the liberation struggle to triumph in 1994.

According to Bhengu, the party’s national executive committee has not formally instructed anybody to challenge Ramaphosa’s continuation as party president. Not a single motion, note, or emergency meeting. Despite the presence of cameras, the regular deployment of SAPS officers outside Luthuli House was unabated. Beyond the prepared words that were previously provided, the ANC communication department chose not to provide any more details.

After coalition talks revealed divisions within the ruling alliance, speculation over Ramaphosa’s hold on power grew. The election failure, according to critics, who included outspoken uMkhonto we Sizwe Party members, necessitated new leadership. During prior budget deliberations this year, members of the Democratic Alliance in Parliament made similar demands, pointing to governance failures such as load-shedding and widespread municipal breakdown in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal as examples.

A Soweto schoolteacher who had retired shook her head slowly outside the briefing location as she clutched a crumpled piece of the morning newspaper. “Listen, these folks chat. She said as she folded the sheets twice and tucked them under her arm, implying that tomorrow they would behave differently.

The question that has not been resolved is whether the communal allegiance that Bhengu outlined would be able to withstand the next NEC meeting, when provincial bodies that are harbouring intense grievances are anticipated to propose resolutions calling for tangible change. Today, the spokeswoman exuded confidence. Still, the ANC’s internal consensus tends to fade away subtly, long before the change is picked up by any microphone. The one who, in the end, determines when enough is enough.

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