The end of the ANC

Freedom Front Plus leader Corne Mulder said the African National Congress (ANC) is imploding and that people may witness the party’s end.

He shared his views on the ANC’s decline over the last two decades in an interview with Alec Hogg on Biznews.

The ANC had a significant rise in the first fifteen years of democracy, increasing its voter support from 62.65% in 1994 under Nelson Mandela to 69.69% under Thabo Mbeki.

However, since then it has been on a downward trajectory. By 2014, under Jacob Zuma, the ANC’s support declined to 62.15%.

In the 2019 general election, under Cyril Ramaphosa, the party dipped below 60% for the first time, achieving only 57.50%.

However, the big shock came in 2024, when the ANC’s support plummeted to 40.18%, resulting in the loss of its parliamentary majority.

This forced the party to negotiate power-sharing arrangements to govern through a government of national unity (GNU).

This trend is not slowing, and most experts predict that the party will continue to lose support in upcoming elections.

Many critics went as far as saying that the ANC is in terminal decline and that it will become irrelevant in time.

Political analyst and author Prince Mashele is one of these critics, saying that the ANC is a dead horse beyond any possibility of internal reform or renewal.

He said that most people within the ANC are corrupt and predicted that South Africans will move past the party completely.

Political economist Moeletsi Mbeki was more measured, but he also said that the ANC is in terminal decline.

He cited the loss of its urban middle class and internal factionalism as causing the party’s structural decline.

Corne Mulder comments on the ANC’s decline

Mulder told Biznews that it has been obvious that the moment that the ANC will essentially die would eventually come.

“We are witnessing an implosion of the ruling party, which we see on a daily basis, and it is making things very fragmented,” he said.

“I watched the ANC come into power. I was there on that historic day after the 1994 election.”

“It was fascinating to witness Nelson Mandela, FW de Klerk, General Constant Viljoen, Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, and all the key leaders together.”

He added that he might just be around to see the ANC’s end as well. This means he would have witnessed the rise and fall of the once-revered liberation movement.

“It is a fascinating trajectory, seeing how a former liberation movement came into power and how drastically things have gone downhill since,” Mulder said.

He added that many of the ANC’s recent reckless statements are a direct symptom of this collapse.

“The ANC is under intense pressure because they are imploding right in front of their own eyes. Their trajectory remains in a downward spiral,” he said.

This decline was predictable. Mulder cited a 1994 incident in which the Freedom Front Plus reached out to the ANC, offering its help to make South Africa a success.

“That gesture was never taken seriously. Later, particularly during Thabo Mbeki’s presidency, it became clear why,” he said.

“They viewed our offer as arrogant, as the ANC thought it was capable of doing everything on its own. Rejecting that offer was a monumental mistake.”

Mulder said that another mistake was the changes made in the civil service, where expertise was simply pushed aside.

“The transformation of the civil service essentially paralysed it, bringing us to where we are today,” he said.