Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za
3-minute read | 18 November 2025 | 08:00 CAT

📸 President Cyril Ramaphosa faces mounting internal pressure as factional battles intensify within the ANC, with renewed calls for his removal and proposals for former President Thabo Mbeki to lead a national task team.

Mounting tensions within the African National Congress (ANC) have reignited long-standing factional battles, as renewed calls to remove President Cyril Ramaphosa gain momentum. This follows a letter reportedly circulated among senior ANC members in the Eastern Cape, outlining a proposal to “oust Ramaphosa, disband the NEC, and replace the leadership with a national task team led by former President Thabo Mbeki.”

Ramaphosa directly confronted his detractors during a heated political overview at the ANC’s NEC meeting on Friday. According to reports, the president challenged his critics to abandon “whispering in dark corners” and instead state a clear date for his resignation. His unusually bold stance has drawn national attention and signalled the growing strain in the party’s upper ranks.

Political analyst Dr Ntsikelelo Breakfast confirms that such upheaval is not unprecedented in the ANC: “It has become the political culture of the ANC that the president doesn’t complete his second term, a case in point is former President Mbeki himself and Jacob Zuma.” He adds that internal instability routinely peaks as leadership terms draw to a close.

Dr Breakfast argues that the ANC’s current leadership crisis is exacerbated by the disbanding of two provincial structures due to “a downward electoral trajectory” without corresponding accountability from the NEC. “The ANC under the current leadership has not been doing well,” he notes, underscoring the legitimacy of the internal revolt.

Central to the unfolding drama is the unexpected re-emergence of Thabo Mbeki as a preferred figure to lead a national task team despite his own turbulent exit from power. Dr Breakfast attributes this to unresolved historical tensions between Mbeki and Ramaphosa, observing that Mbeki appears to be “settling a political score” rather than acting solely out of concern for the party.

Yet questions remain whether the ANC can survive another leadership overhaul. While polls suggest Ramaphosa retains strong favourability among ANC voters, Dr Breakfast warns that the party’s overall prospects are “bleak.” He asserts that the ANC “doesn’t have the cream of the crop in terms of leadership,” adding that the movement is “terminally ill and I don’t think it will bounce back to power.”

Ramaphosa’s challenge to his opponents inviting them to openly demand his resignation may have strengthened his public posture, but analysts caution that the depth of division within the ANC signals an organisation at a critical crossroads. As Dr Breakfast succinctly concludes: “What goes around comes around.”

Listen to the full interview on The Daily-Round Up with Moulana Junaid Kharsany and Dr Ntsikelelo Breakfast.