Ramaphosa calls for ethical leadership as NC ANC launches ‘war council’

ANC PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa said all party leaders would undergo ethical training, during the recent induction of ANC provincial executive committee (PEC) members at the Mittah Seperepere Convention Centre in Kimberley 

He cautioned against appointing cadres to positions for which they had no skills or knowledge.

“This is knowing full well that they are going to fail. We need competent people who are hard-working. Leaders need to be held accountable and subjected to consequence management,” said Ramaphosa at the event held on May 16.

He added that local government had a “weak underbelly”, where people were elected to create jobs despite having “no clue what they were doing.

“We must urgently correct incompetence, mismanagement and corruption whenever it occurs. If we don’t, our misfortunes at the polls will continue. We cannot expect people to return us to power when we fail to attend to their basic needs. We cannot have water and sewage running down the streets.”  

Ramaphosa attributed the decline in voter support to the poor performance of the economy.

“People often ask themselves why they should vote while they are still poor. The ANC is under attack from up-and-coming political parties.”

Meanwhile, the ANC in the province has established a “Northern Cape war council” to prepare for the 2026 local government elections in an effort to “turn the tide” in favour of the party.

ANC provincial chairperson Dr Zamani Saul said if the ANC won the upcoming O’Kiep and Sutherland by-elections on May 28, it could gain full control of the district.

He noted that the ANC’s victory in the Nama Khoi municipal by-election on May 14 was a “titanic battle”.

Saul added that next year’s municipal elections would be among the toughest the party has faced.

“If the premier is not voted in or the mayor is not voted in, they must go. They will have the toughest time if they are not part of the PEC. We will be punished at the polls if we make the wrong decisions.”

He pointed out that although the ANC only received 49 percent of the vote in the national general elections in the Northern Cape, the party still retained power.