FORMER president Thabo Mbeki has dropped a political bombshell, telling President Cyril Ramaphosa and his ANC top brass to do the honourable thing and walk.
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Speaking on the African Renaissance Podcast on Monday, 9 November, the straight-talking elder statesman didn’t mince his words after the ruling party suffered its worst klap at the ballot box since 1994.
Mbeki was reacting to weekend reports that Ramaphosa offered to step down after the party’s poor showing in the 2026 Local Government Elections.
“If President Ramaphosa offered to resign because of this outcome, he is taking the correct position,” Mbeki said, adding that “maybe the rest of the leadership should take the same position”.
Those words hit Luthuli House hard, and IEC numbers show exactly why Mbeki is fuming.
In the municipal polls held on 4 November, the once-mighty liberation movement crashed to a shocking 30,76% nationally.
That’s a steep drop from the 45% it scraped together in 2021, and a far cry from the glory days when the party comfortably ruled with more than 60%.
Out of 213 municipalities across Mzansi, the ANC managed outright control in just 53 councils. Even worse, voters in the country’s biggest economic hubs showed the party the red card.
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The Democratic Alliance (DA) surged to 24,64% nationally, overtaking the ANC as the biggest party in Joburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, and Nelson Mandela Bay, while keeping Cape Town. Meanwhile, the MK party bulldozed its way to the top in eThekwini, leaving the ANC trailing in third place with a tiny 16,43%.
For Mbeki, the writing has been on the wall for years. He warned that citizens are fed up with skyrocketing unemployment, endless crime, worsening poverty, and broken basic services.
“Problems of poverty, problems of unemployment, problems of inequality—none of them was solved, and the situation was getting worse,” Mbeki said.
Even ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula admitted the results were “catastrophic”.
Now, Mzansi is watching to see if Ramaphosa and his Top Seven will take Mbeki’s advice and head for the exit.
