Senior cabinet member, Malusi Gigaba, says that the African National Congress (ANC), is in danger of losing power in the national elections in 2019.<\/p>\n
The minister of Home Affairs told Bloomberg<\/a>: \u201cIf the situation stays as it is, the risk of losing power is there.”<\/p>\n \u201cThe ANC is divided. The center doesn\u2019t seem to be holding. We need to address that,” Gigaba said.<\/p>\n It follows comments made over the past weekend by former president Kgalema Motlanthe, who said that, if the ANC continues to ignore its people, it faces becoming irrelevant.<\/p>\n The ANC has seen its national support decline from 61.9% in 2011 to 53.9% in the 2016 local municipal elections; while the DA climbed from 23.9% in 2011 to 26.9% in 2016; and the EFF obtained 8.2% of the vote.<\/p>\n The DA also obtained power in three key metros, namely Johannesburg, Tshwane, and Nelson Mandela Bay.<\/p>\n \u201cRenewal cannot be just tampering with the structures. It means we must think very deeply about what the challenges are that our people face today. The ANC exists for one purpose only, and that is to address the problems of our people.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it [the ANC] is no longer addressing the problems of our people, we might as well begin writing the obituary of the ANC,\u201d Motlanthe said.<\/p>\n Gigaba told Bloomberg that \u201cthe elections drove a cold and brutal message that we can never take the support of the people for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou have an unprecedented level of people who are feeling pessimistic, who feel the country is not going in the right direction. They say there are no jobs, there are high levels of corruption, crime is high.\u201d<\/p>\n The minister said that a police investigation into finance minister Pravin Gordhan, has made things worse for the ANC.<\/p>\n Read: Hawks probe aims to remove Gordhan: ANC economics head<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Gigaba called for the Gordhan matter to be dealt with more speedily. \u201cIt needs to be dealt with. Let those who are investigating speed up their investigations so that the matter is closed. It must not hurt the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n Read: Early ANC elective conference not a bad idea \u2013 Mantashe<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The minister warned against the call for\u00a0 the ANC’s next major policy conference to be brought forward from late 2017. He said an early conference \u201cwould replace one problem with a new one”.<\/p>\n \u201cThe worst thing the ANC can do is rush into an elective conference without a proper analysis of the challenges it\u2019s facing, occasioned by the recent elections. We shouldn\u2019t jump the gun. We\u2019d be making a terrible mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n ANC may become \u2018irrelevant\u2019 former president warns<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n This is who could replace Zuma as president of the ANC \u2013 and South Africa<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n ANC admits Zuma hurt the party as it plots next move<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nMore on the ANC<\/h3>\n