‘Get us 90’ says Ramaphosa as he looks to Limpopo for local elections victory

Over the weekend, President Cyril Ramaphosa travelled to Limpopo, the ANC’s kingmaker province, to speak at the provincial elective conference while internal squabbling in the Eastern Cape meant its conference didn’t get off the ground.

On Sunday in Polokwane, Ramaphosa made an impassioned plea to Limpopo’s newly elected leadership to deliver a decisive victory in the upcoming local government elections, expected to be held later this year.

He was speaking at the closing of the 11th provincial elective conference, where more than 1,300 delegates had gathered, in a province where the ANC is at its most organised and finds its most loyal support.

In the 2024 elections, it polled at more than more than 73%, the highest provincial share for the ANC.

This is a province that Ramaphosa has now anointed as the exemplar for unity and stability and a “template” for how other provinces should conduct their conferences.

He also praised how united the province was in electing leaders and how focused it was on discussing ANC policies.

“Limpopo is the home of the ANC. You must make it a real home of the ANC by giving us 90% in the coming local government elections,” he said.

Limpopo municipalities will be crucial for the ANC in the upcoming local government elections as it steadily loses support in the metros, where poor service delivery, governance lapses and coalition politics are shaking voter confidence.

The party’s second deputy secretary general, Maropene Ramokgopa, earlier echoed the same sentiments, saying that the plus-70% victory the party received in the province in the 2024 elections stabilised the ANC after its national support fell to 40%.

“It is for this reason that the ANC will always want to guard what is happening organisationally here in the province because the ANC depends on the ANC of Limpopo to be able to stand, but also to be able to have a margin that is decisive nationally.

“So you must know that whatever it is that you do becomes important because it’s not only going to affect the organisation in Limpopo or politics in Limpopo, but it has a bearing on what happens nationally,” Ramokgopa said.

The conference was unlike most ANC events – it was highly organised, from delegate registration to the programme running on time, with leaders elected unopposed.

Incumbent Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba was elected unopposed as the first female provincial chairperson of the ANC in Limpopo, replacing Stanley Mathabatha, who had served three terms.

The conference produced a unity slate, with all branch-nominated candidates elected unopposed: Polokwane Mayor John Mpe as deputy chairperson, Reuben Madadzhe returned as provincial secretary, Pule Shayi elected deputy provincial secretary and Eddie Maila as provincial treasurer.

The only two stumbling blocks were, first, an urgent court bid that sought to interdict the conference over the verification of delegates from Ward 10, Collins Chabane sub-region. The argument was that the verification had been procedurally irregular.

The branch general meeting for verification of delegates was held in November last year. The Polokwane High Court, however, dismissed the matter, giving the green light for the conference to proceed.

SACP woes

The second stumbling block was the SACP’s decision to contest elections independently of the ANC, which almost brought the conference to a standstill.

Initially, the Tripartite Alliance partner had said it would contest the local elections set for later this year. However, it then made a U-turn and began contesting by-elections in late 2025.

Shortly after the conference began, and as leaders of organisations were delivering messages of support, delegates refused to receive a message from the SACP’s Percy Ndlala, heckling, booing and even attempting to chase him away.

After a commotion, a regional leader in the province, David “Che” Selane, formally raised the grievance.

“You are now allowing the SACP to come and give a message of support, but we as the ANC here in the province have a problem, especially when we do door-to-door, we are suffering because these communists are contesting the ANC,” Selane said.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the conference, Ramathuba suggested that the SACP should rather contest elections in other provinces where the ANC was not as strong and was experiencing challenges.

“Why now do you contest here? Why are we not focusing on those particular provinces where we have a huge challenge? And yes, we expect the ANC to briefly resolve this matter with the leadership of the South African Communist Party (SACP),” Ramathuba said.

Asked by Daily Maverick when exactly the party intends to finalise the SACP matter, given issues raised by delegates and upcoming elections, Ramaphosa said:

“The NEC will discuss the matter and come to a real, final conclusion of what should then happen.”

Last year, the SACP won 1% in a Polokwane by-election and neither did it generate excitement among voters in the Fetakgomo Tubatse municipality, near Burgersfort. They finished 119 votes behind the third-placed Defenders of the People (DOP). The SACP will want to work to prove that this emerging trend is an anomaly.

It will need to be far more selective when choosing places to contest by-elections, because this and the Polokwane result suggest that the ANC will not need to rely on the SACP in the next election in Limpopo, at least.

In his closing remarks, Ramaphosa warned that there would be consequences for those who did not campaign for the ANC because they also had an SACP membership.

“When you have aligned yourself with another organisation, and you don’t campaign for the ANC, and we see you campaigning for another party, now you are going to get yourself into big trouble with us, and first of all with me, because I expect you to campaign for the ANC,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa’s posture suggests that those who are members of both the ANC and SACP and are deployed in several positions will have to pick a side.

Among those who may be forced to choose where their allegiance lies include Ramathuba herself. Nationally, this status applies to, among others, Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela, Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe, and Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande.

Succession debate

Ahead of the 2027 elections, when the ANC is meant to elect a new national leadership after Ramaphosa has finished his second term, Limpopo will have a bigger say in who next leads the party.

Mpe, the ANC’s provincial deputy chairperson, however, said the party was focused on renewal and continuity.

“What we would appreciate is that there must be discussions with the current leadership and the way forward; it must not just come from the floor or the ground. We have a top seven that is working very hard to renew the organisation,” he said.

This could possibly signal support for Deputy President Paul Mashatile to succeed Ramaphosa.

“The main question is, do you want to lead a dying organisation or do you want to be a part of a growing, prospering organisation,” Mpe told Daily Maverick.

Meanwhile, in Eastern Cape, the provincial ANC leadership must organise yet another elective conference in the next two weeks, due to a court battle.

The postponement of that conference on Friday came after disgruntled party members were granted an interdict by the high court in KuGompo.

The ANC was pinning its hopes on appealing against the ruling so that the conference could go ahead as planned, but it later conceded after provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukaitobi agreed to put the matter into abeyance until court processes were concluded. DM

Additional reporting by Andisa Bonani.