Will January 8 Reflect on How the ANC Intends to Close the 'Social Distance' With Its Constituency?

By Junior Lebese

Cape Town will be pulsating with the ANC’s celebratory activity this week, particularly its annual “January 8” celebration. The celebration marks a watershed moment as the party emerges bruised from a historic “below-50” performance in the 2024 national elections. This January 8 statement isn’t going to be just another political ritual—it’s a defining moment for both the ANC and many South Africans, a make-or-break moment.

The nation awaits President Ramaphosa’s Khayelitsha speech with bated breath, seeking signals of the party’s posture since its electoral setback. Back in 2015, at a five-day ‘Alliance’ summit, then-Secretary General Gwede Mantashe (now National Chairperson) diagnosed that “crass displays of wealth and arrogance are among the problems facing the ANC,” noting the “growing social distance between the leadership and the people” they were meant to serve.

Almost a decade later, that “social distance” manifested starkly at the ballot box. The result wasn’t merely voters creating a social distance; it looked like a full-blown divorce—a political bloodbath. In its aftermath, the ANC entered into an unlikely marriage with the DA, flanked by other parties serving as “strooimeisies” (bridesmaids) in what was a coalition dressed up as a Government of National Unity (GNU). It was a watershed development that would reshape South African politics.

This GNU has emerged as a lightning rod within the ANC. Implemented without grassroots consultation or voter sensitisation, it thrust the DA—the ANC’s ideological enemy—into the corridors of power. Many party members who resisted this ANC-DA coalition were compelled to swallow the bitter pill, like someone on a hunger strike being force-fed jollof rice. Despite the trumpeted “successes of the GNU”, it remains an open wound in the ANC’s political image.

Past conferences, especially the NDR and Strategy and Tactics documents, have consistently identified ANC’s real and ideological enemy: the DA and its right-wing allies, now peculiarly ‘partners’ in the GNU. The DA’s counter-revolutionary politics and policies have historically stood in direct opposition to the ANC’s core principles and policies. That posture never changed, even post-GNU.

The strategic objective of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) remains unchanged: creating a united, non-racial, non-sexist, and democratic society. At its heart, this means liberating Africans in particular and black people in general from political and economic bondage, while elevating the quality of life for all South Africans, especially the poor. The ANC’s new bride and its ‘strooimeisies’ have shown no interest in these transformative ideals.

Recent and past electoral results paint a grim picture of growing disillusionment among ANC voters. The party’s performance in KZN (17%) and Gauteng (34%) was nothing short of catastrophic. Even traditional strongholds like Mpumalanga and Free State barely scraped above 50%, signalling vulnerability ahead of the 2026 LGE, and 2029.

As Ramaphosa takes the podium this coming weekend, the ANC’s rank and file and its voter base will be listening intently for concrete plans to bridge the “social distance” that has widened over the years. The ANC-DA coalition, thinly veiled as a government of national unity, demands more than superficial explanations. The rank and file deserve more than public relations gymnastics used to sell and “force-feed” this arrangement to members and the public.

Ramaphosa must square the circle by explaining how the ANC, guided by the NDR, justified forming a coalition government with its ideological enemies. If these fundamental questions go unanswered, voters who abstained or defected in recent elections will feel vindicated.

With the electoral trajectory pointing to a downward trend, Ramaphosa’s speech must transcend ordinary political rhetoric to rekindle the ANC’s fighting spirit, especially with Local Government Elections coming next year. “Soft campaigning” will begin this year, and volunteers will face tough questions about the DA coalition during door-to-door campaigns.

The haemorrhaging of urban provinces reveals the ANC’s disconnection from the middle class—both working professionals and SMME owners. The party’s halfhearted approach to economic transformation has failed to deliver on economic liberation for blacks, let alone address the “triple challenges” it identified as critical.

Meanwhile, banks and other sectors operate with impunity, arbitrarily closing black people’s and black businesses’ accounts under the pretext of “reputational risk”. The National Assembly’s Economics Cluster oversight committee, led by Mzwandile Masina, has summoned the banks to address issues affecting industrial growth and economic transformation, including account closures and interest rate policies.

The ANC’s slow response to many issues has been cause for concern. Workplace discrimination and racism remain a daily reality for many black middle-class professionals in corporate South Africa. As these unresolved challenges accumulate, the voters are keeping score.

The election results have proven one truth: voters judge us by what we do, not what we say. An ideologically hollow ANC in coalition with the DA risks becoming merely a tri-colour logo party, stripped of any substance and conviction. No amount of “GNU” marketing and propaganda can obscure this reality.

Many, including myself, await clear articulation of how the ANC plans to close this social distance—a gap widened by years of drift and, most recently, by its abandonment of NDR principles and going into bed with the DA.

* Junior Lebese is a pseudonym of a long-serving member of the ANC in good standing, and a social commentator. He writes in his personal capacity.

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Independent Media or IOL.