Former South African president Thabo Mbeki has cautioned that factionalism and careerism within the African National Congress (ANC) pose the greatest risks to the party's future. Speaking at the ANC Veterans League’s Political School in Nelson Mandela Bay, he urged a full renewal of membership and stricter leadership vetting. Veterans highlighted internal divisions and proposed measures to restore ethical leadership.
Thabo Mbeki, former president of South Africa and the ANC, addressed delegates at the ANC Veterans League’s Political School in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, where he identified factionalism and careerism as the primary threats to the party's survival. He emphasized the need for complete renewal, including re-application for membership and stricter vetting of leaders across all provinces, to counter anti-revolutionary forces within the organization.
Mbeki stressed that the ANC cannot address the country's challenges without renewing itself and restoring ethical leadership, starting at the branch level. 'Its positions in order to access resources and put them in their pockets—the factionalism is based on that and the obvious question that arises from that is, are these people ANC? They are not. You cannot be ANC, but your mission is to get power in order to enrich yourself,' he said.
The event focused on the party's declining electoral support, internal factionalism, and leadership quality. ANC veteran Thami Ntenteni noted, 'Being in power is rapidly becoming a source of political bankruptcy in that numbers of the ANC fight for deployment, either as counsellors and MPs respectively, as if there is no tomorrow. It is foreign to our movement for comrades to see deployment as a source of material benefit rather than the reason to serve the people.'
Leadership disputes have fueled regional instability in Nelson Mandela Bay. ANC Regional Chairperson Babalwa Lobishe stated, 'There was an evocation of whether we want to move forward with the organisation as it is and not yield positive results or whether we want to change. I think our general commitment was that all of us agreed to a pledge of renewal and in that renewal, it means that we will have to do away with factions because they are not political factions.'
The Veterans League proposed a national renewal programme featuring re-application for membership, stricter vetting, and expanded political education to strengthen the party and resolve divisions.