STATEMENT OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS FOLLOWING THE

MEETING OF THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE HELD ON THE 11 TH TO THE

14TH AUGUST 2016
Johannesburg, 14 August 2016
The National Execitive Committee of the African National Congress met from the 11 th to
the 14th August 2016 at the St. Georges Hotel, Irene, Tshwane. The National Executive
Committee completed a vigorous, honest, open and thorough assessment of the local
government election outcomes.
In particular the NEC analysed the ANC overall performance and appreciated the
winning of wards in many municipalities. We were nevertheless disappointed at the loss
of a number of key municipalities and failing to retain our majority in the metropolitan
municipalities of Tshwane, Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay, Ekurhuleni and other
municipalities.
The NEC reaffirmed the commitment of the ANC as the liberation movement and
governing party since 1994, to continue the agenda of transforming South Africa from an
oppressive and exploitative society to a democratic South Africa that is free, united, nonracial, non-sexist and prosperous. It was noted that our poor performance in the 2016
local government elections is a serious setback to the cause of social transformation.
The NEC unanimously agreed to take collective responsibility for the poor performance
of the ANC during the elections and resolved to take immediate and bold actions to
address the weaknesses and shortcomings that led to the decline of our electoral
support.
We are convinced that the African National Congress remains the hope of the vast
majority of South Africans, black and white, and particularly those who are still trapped in
poverty and other social ills inherited from apartheid colonialism.

The NEC viewed the outcome of the elections as a clarion call of the people to the
liberation movement to urgently take steps to speed up the programmes of change, and
rectify the many subjective weaknesses affecting its capacity to play its historic role.
This requires serious, objective and robust introspection within the movement itself,
starting with the leadership at all levels.
The NEC believes that arresting the electoral decline would require the ANC to
immediately and courageously embark on bold strategies to re-energise our structures
and supporters. This will require us to deal with perceptions of the ANC being arrogant,
self serving, soft on corruption and increasily distant from its social base.
As a result the National Executive Committee resolved to take measures to address the
challenges experienced during the campaign some of which are reposnsible for our poor
performance. The people have spoken and we acknowledge and accept the message.
In this regard the following are measures the ANC will be implemented with immediate
effect;
1) The NEC will visit all provinces to meet with ANC and Alliance structures;
different sectors and communities to deal with the concerns being raised by the
people;
2) The NEC will investigate and act on all instances where there was violation and
even manipulation of the Candidate Selection Process (including where the
choice of communities was undermined). We will take action against all who were
involved regardless of positions they hold in the organisation.
3) The NEC resolved to task the National Officials and the National Working
Committee to take urgent measures to rid the movement of factionalism across
the board - including in the NEC.

4) The NEC mandates the National officials to lead the process of establishing
cooperation with other parties that share and pursue a progressive transformation
agenda to better the lives of our people.
5) The organisation will immediately embark on training of our councillors to ensure
that they lead our municipalities in the interests of the people, provide services to
the people and maintain high levels of revolutionary discipline and integrity;
6) The NEC resolved to put in place mechanisms that would monitor service delivery
across all spheres and ensure accountability of all deployees for actions or
inactions in the execution of assigned responsibilities.
7) Although these were local government elections, some national issues dominated
public discourse. NEC resolved to mandate government to take urgent steps to
bring stability and policy certainty in State Owned Companies such as SAA,
SABC and ESKOM. Relevant government deployees are expected to report on
these matters at the next NEC meeting.
8) While noting the efforts to rid our society, government and the private sector of
corruption and its associated consequences, the NEC calls for an approach that
will effectively deal with this cancer, without fear or favour;
9) Government will accelerate the implementation of the NDP and other agreed
programmes to stimulate economic growth to create jobs, particularly for young
people. This must include implementation of youth empowerment programmes
outlined in various government departments;
10) The NEC calls for an accelerated interaction between government, the private
sector, organised labour and other sectors of society to develop a partnership
programme for youth empowerment and increasing productive investment in key
sectors of the economy.

11) Government has been mandated to speedily conclude the NEDLAC process on
the National Minimum Wage.
12) The NEC resolved that the principle of no-fee increase in universities should
remain in place to give chance to a consultative engagement with all stakeholders
in order to arrive at an economically viable and affordable cost of higher
education;
13) The NEC resolved to increase organisational capacity in its structures,
particularly Organising, Political Education, Communications, Elections, Research
as well as Monitoring and Evaluation. Part of these measures must ensure that
the ANC fast tracks the implementation of resolutions and decisions taken at
different platforms of the ANC.
14) The NEC resolved that to effectively deal with the triple challenges of
unemployment, poverty and inequality, government in the coming Cabinet
Lekgotla must reprioritise the budget to give effect to the imperatives of the NDP
and the 9 Point Plan in particular as an instrument of implementation.
The NEC regards its four-day meeting as the start, rather than the end, of a continuing
process of introspection with the aim of re-engineering the ANC. A number of issues
were raised and deliberated upon, some organisational and others policy oriented, all of
these will be consolidated and processed within the structures of the organisation
Our society is in a continuous process of change and continuity, and our movement is
part of that. We call on all sectors of society (including urban and rural workers, youth,
women, professionals, intellectuals, religious community and business community) to
continue participating in the national project to build a united, non racial, non sexist,
democratic and prosperous society.

As we rise from the NEC and having reflected deeply on the outcome of local
government elections. We are emboldened by and thank the millions of South Africans
who continue to have confidence in the ANC. This we do not take for granted.
The ANC also expresses its deep appreciation to all our volunteers, supporters and our
Alliance Partners who worked diligently and tirelessly during the election campaign. A
special word of appreciation to the Independent Electoral Commission for once again
delivering free, fair and credible elections.
While the Elections were relatively peaceful, the ANC condemns in the harshest possible
terms incidences of violence leading to the elections, which led to a number of killings.
The NEC sends its deepest condolences to the bereaved families and calls on the law
enforcement agencies to act speedily to bring the perpetrators to book.
The NEC has listened to the voice of the people as reflected in the election results
and, with humility we have heard them and accept their judgment.
We remain confident that this 104 year old organisation, working with the people, has the
political will and capacity to overcome its challenges and re-energise our people for the
tasks that lie ahead.
We reaffirm our deep commitment as the ANC to leave no stone unturned to make sure
that as we advance towards next national and provincial elections and beyond, we will
continue to work together with our people to address all the socio-economic challenges
that still bedevil our land.

Issued by
Gwede Mantashe
Secretary General

African National Congress

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